Queer Lit backs campaign for trans/non-binary guide for schools

More than 300 copies of What’s the T? by Juno Dawson (pictured below) have been sent to schools around the country by Manchester-based Queer Lit bookshop after a tweet from author Sophie Anderson, who wanted to buy three copies for schools, inspired others to do the same.

What’s the T?, illustrated by Soofiya, is described as a no-nonsense guide to all things trans and/or non-binary for teens by publisher Wren & Rook (Hachette Children’s Group), which published the book in February. Anderson ran a Twitter give-away, offering to buy three copies for schools. Other people then joined in to buy another three copies, or 10 copies, and the campaign “snowballed” from there, said Anderson.

Queer Lit, an independent bookshop based in Manchester, then got in touch with Anderson saying it would sell the book for cost price. Many authors and publishing professionals have bought books, including author Jo Cotterill and Macmillan Children’s Books marketing manager Charlie Morris, and Darren Styles, owner of Attitude magazine, donated £500 to the cause. At the time of writing, Queer Lit had sent out 309 copies of the book, but some donors used other independent bookshops to supply schools, and Anderson and Queer Lit founder Matt Cornford estimate that 350 copies of the title have been delivered in total.

“Other people have said they will make a donation to Gendered Intelligence,” said Anderson. “It’s a kindness ripple that has spun. It has become really big, and it’s heartening to see. The majority of people don’t support prejudice and they want to do something to combat it, and education and books is a really nice way of doing that. It’s an easy thing to sort out—I just pair people with schools.”

Hitting home
Librarians have contacted Anderson privately to say What’s the T? has helped students who are trans, or think they are trans, while others have posted photos of displays featuring the book in their schools. Cornford, who also donates £100 of books to schools every month, added: “We’re a community bookshop. Our community is vast but hidden. The more books we can put in the hands of those who need them, or who need to understand people who are thinking about their gender, the better.”

Dawson told The Bookseller: ”My favourite thing about this is that I had nothing to do with it! A number of cis authors felt powerless in the face of overt transphobia in the UK and decided to do something kind and generous. That’s how you combat prejudice, I think. We can’t change the world overnight, but for teens in the libraries which have been gifted copies, I hope What’s the T? offers hope for a more inclusive future.”

Photography: Eivind Hansen.