Honoring International Trans Day of Visibility with Paula Stone Williams

For centuries, transgender and non-binary people around the globe have faced significant cultural, legal, and economic challenges that have not only stressed their daily social lives, but have also invalidated their humanity. Nevertheless, for centuries, trans and non-binary folks have continued to raise their voices, live openly and authentically, and fight for visibility, power, and equality.

In honor of International Transgender Day of Visibility, we not only celebrate the lives of transgender and non-binary people everywhere, but we amplify the call for full equality. There is still much work to do in service and recognition of trans and non-binary people —so much legal work that needs to be done that respects and protects the human rights of the trans and non-binary community, so much cultural work that is necessary in our workplaces, schools, and on our streets. To do the work of liberation for all people, no matter and because of how they identify in terms of gender, together, we must be willing to pull back the curtain on our gendered landscape and have an honest and critical conversation about how gender and power operate in America and worldwide.

Our very own Outspoken speaker, Dr. Paula Stone Williams, is one of the leading transgender voices disrupting oppressive gender norms in America and bringing awareness to gender inequity. In her upcoming memoir, As a Woman: What I Learned about Power, Sex, and the Patriarchy after I Transitioned, (to be released by Simon & Schuster on June 1), Paula chronicles her past life as a father of three, a husband, and prominent evangelical speaker and leader. Though she knew at the tender age of 3 or 4 that she did not identify as a boy, the “gender fairy” she was expecting to come and grant her wish to be a girl never arrived.

After spending decades as a powerful White male executive, Paula found the courage to become who she had always known herself to be: Paula.  She describes her loss of power and privilege as nothing less than staggering. Paula says, “How could I not have known just how much the world was tilted in my favor?”  Instead of keeping her insights to herself, Paula decided to help men understand just how privileged their life is, and help women understand that they are not crazy—the world really is harder for them than the men in their lives.

In As a Woman, Paula shares insights about her lived experience as a man and woman and she uses the backdrop of her transition journey to examine gender in America and its impacts on the LGBTQ community.

With this work, Paula commits herself, again, to walking boldly in her truth, raising awareness around gender inequities in America and reaching across political, religious, and gender spectrums to build a more inclusive and equitable world.

We see Paula, and we are grateful for her life and work!

Check out her upcoming memoir here. Or watch Paula’s viral TED talk on her transition and story with over 4 MILLION VIEWS!