Shon Faye: The Transgender Issue

Shon Faye: The Transgender Issue – in conversation with Kellie Turtle
Join Shon Faye as she discusses her Sunday Times bestselling book The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice with leading local academic and activist Kellie Turtle.

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In her powerful book, Shon Faye reclaims the idea of the ‘transgender issue’ to uncover the reality of what it means to be trans in a transphobic society. In doing so, she provides a compelling, wide-ranging analysis of trans lives from youth to old age, exploring work, family, housing, healthcare, the prison system and trans participation in the LGBTQ+ and feminist communities, in contemporary UK and beyond.

The Transgender Issue is a landmark work that signals the beginning of a new, healthier conversation about trans life. It is a manifesto for change, and a call for justice and solidarity between all marginalized people and minorities. Trans liberation, as Faye sees it, goes to the root of what our society is and what it could be; it offers the possibility of a more just, free and joyful world for all of us.

Shon Faye was born in Bristol and is now based in London. After training as a lawyer, she left the law to pursue writing and campaigning in the charity sector with Amnesty International and Stonewall. She was an editor-at-large at Dazed, and her writing has been published by the Guardian, the Independent and Vice, among others. Faye recently launched an acclaimed podcast series, Call Me Mother, interviewing trailblazing LGBTQ elders.

Shon will be in conversation with Kellie Turtle who is an academic and feminist activist from Belfast. She is a researcher at Ulster University and is currently undertaking a PhD exploring progressive faith discourse on abortion in Northern Ireland. She has been involved in numerous grassroots feminist campaigns with Belfast Feminist Network, which she co-founded in 2010, Alliance for Choice and Reclaim the Agenda.

‘Few books are as urgent as Shon Faye’s debut … Faye has hope for the future – and maybe so should we.’ Independent

‘Unsparing, important and weighty … a vitally needed antidote.’ Observer

‘Fundamentally not a culture-war book. It operates outside the narrow coverage of trans people in the mainstream, and lays bare the inarguable facts.’ New Statesman.

A moving and impressively comprehensive overview of trans life.’ Vogue

‘Monumental and utterly convincing – crystal clear in its understanding of how the world should be.’ Judith Butler, Professor, University of California Berkeley

‘An extraordinary achievement. A smart, academic and yet totally accessible and patient analysis of what it is to be trans in the UK today and a convincing argument for how we can and must improve… I urge everyone to read it.’ Joe Lycett