ABOUT

Welcome to Tilly’s Trans Tuesdays!

Coming out publicly as a transgender woman in the summer of 2020, in the middle of a once-in-a-century global pandemic, wasn’t easy. Despite the difficulty, I realized I was still remarkably privileged. My wife and son fully supported me, I didn’t lose any friends or family, or my home, or my job. I live in a state that’s very protective of trans people. And as your first bit of education here, let me just tell you all of that is sadly incredibly rare.

I’m also white (just so, so white), so while I face plenty of hardships as a trans woman, nothing is made more difficult by the color of my skin. When transitioning, I was painfully aware of the privilege I was giving up in moving through the world as a (seemingly) cisgender man. So the agreement I made with myself was that if I was going to transition, I had to find a way to use my privilege to help people.

Well, I’m a writer. It’s what I do. And so I thought I’d chronicle my transition on social media under the Trans Tuesday hashtag, and also talk about aspects of life you might not have realized if you’re not trans. Imagine my surprise that they were still going strong over one hundred installments in, covering everything from basic trans issues and terminology, to trans rights, to trans rep in media, and everything in between. 

So many people have reached out to let me know my threads helped them better understand themselves, or their trans kids, or to be a better ally. And that’s meant the world to me. But there are so many of them now, and the old ones can be difficult to find. 

And so I’ve made this repository, where they will all be categorized to hopefully help you find exactly what you’re looking for. Many of them interlink to others, as everything’s related. You’ll see me mention “untangling the knot”  many times, because our transness touches so many aspects of our lives. Follow the sub-threads as you encounter them if you’ve not already read them, they’ll have related info you need.

You may also find some essays linked in multiple sections below, as they are relevant to more than one category. Please note that these are living documents, and some will have addendums and revisions.

I’ve divided them into four sections:

THE TRANS 101 PACK – all the basics

THE TRANS LIFE PACK – what life is like existing as a trans person

THE ALLYSHIP PACK – everything you need to understand what being a true ally is

THE TRANS MEDIA PACK – examinations of trans representation and themes in media

I hope you find them helpful.

If you’re unsure where to start, try:
What is trans tuesday?

BEGIN TRANSMISSION: THE TRANS ALLEGORIES OF THE MATRIX
This book began as a series of 24 Trans Tuesday essays! Now revised, compiled, and expanded in book form!

The Intentional Trans Allegories of The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, The Animatrix, and The Matrix Resurrections, taking you through the incredibly layered, deep, specific, detailed, intentional trans allegories of the entire Matrix franchise. We track one person’s transition journey… from Thomas Anderson, to Neo, to Trinity.

Available now in hardcover, paperback, digital, and audiobook wherever books are sold! Request it from your library! 

If you get a copy (thank you!), please take a moment to leave a quick review on Amazon no matter where you purchased it from. It helps the book’s sales and longevity so much more than folks realize. Thank you!

(if you’re looking for the original social media versions of those essays, they’re still up on Twitter and Facebook. my intent is to leave them up free forever.)

YOU CAN NOW GET SIGNED HARDCOVERS, PAPERBACKS, AND BOOKPLATES DIRECT FROM MY KO-FI SHOP! CLICK HERE! I’ll even personalize them for you!

Moving everything over here from the old Google docs could not have happened without the help of Calista White, Duna Csandl, Janet Logan, Jennifer Leigh Wallace (shiny, amazing admin of The Tillyverse Discord server!), Nicki, and Tonya Marie. Thank you all so much for the help!

There are a lot of essays on this site, and moving them over was a lot of work. If you find any broken links, please shoot me an email and let me know!