I’m participating in the Trans Rights Readathon this year which is March 17 – 31st.
Check out the main page here with all the info.
The Trans Rights Readathon is an annual call to action to readers and book lovers in support of Trans Day of Visibility (TDOV) on March 31st. This year’s Trans Rights Readathon will take place from Tuesday, March 17 to Tuesday, March 31, 2026.
Founded by author Sim Kern and initially started as a small movement, the Trans Rights Readathon raised over $234,000 dollars for trans supporting organizations in 2023 — with 2,669 participants reading 7,800 books across 43 countries.
They have infographics and pre-made flyers and posts making it super easy if you want to participate and get the word out/share.
HOW DOES THE READATHON WORK?
During the two weeks of the readathon (March 17-31), read trans* books and donate to trans* organizations.
This is a decentralized fundraiser, so how you participate is up to you. You can read 1 book or 20 books. You can donate to a large organization or a personal GoFundMe. We have new plans coming this year, and can’t wait to share them with you closer to March.
I’ll be donating to a rights organization based in my state currently fighting a TON of legislation that is harmful to trans people and the LGBTQIAP+ community. I’d also like to add that the anti-trans legislation harms everyone, especially bathroom bills that allow profiling of all citizens. It’s disgusting.
Call to action: Read, support, review, and uplift books written by and/or featuring trans, genderqueer, nonbinary, gender-nonconforming, and 2Spirit authors and characters.
Make content: Tag the new official @transrightsreadathon accounts on Instagram and Tiktok and @trreadathon on Twitter, and use #transrightsreadathon and #TRR26 when you post.
Donate: We encourage decentralization! Participants are welcome to fundraise for trans aid organizations in their communities. If you don’t know of any organizations near you, suggestions are available on our website.
There is also a StoryGraph challenge if that works better for you!
Check it out here!
My TBR for the Trans Rights Readathon
1. Transmasc and Trans Man Representation
An author and/or main character who identifies as a trans man or on the masculine side of the trans experience, which can include people who view their gender along the expansive nonbinary spectrum.
This year, we encourage readers to read a transmasc book by a BIPOC author.
Books you’ve added (2):
2. Transfemme and Trans Woman Rep
An author and/or main character who identifies as a trans woman or on the feminine side of the trans experience, which can include people who view their gender along the expansive nonbinary spectrum.
This year, we encourage readers to read a transfemme book with multiple trans characters for this prompt.
Books you’ve added (1):
3. Nonbinary, Agender, Genderqueer, and Other Gender Expansive Rep
A work by an author and/or featuring a main character who exists outside of the gender binary. This includes nonbinary, agender, genderqueer, genderfluid, and other gender expansive identities. For some people, this may mean identifying as both masculine and feminine; for others, it means being neither masculine nor feminine; and in some cases, this means identifying as a midpoint (or multiple shifting midpoints) between masc and femme.
This year, we encourage readers to read a gender expansive rep book with diverse body representation for this prompt.
Books you’ve added (1):
4. Intersectional Trans+ Rep Outside Your Own Experience
A work by an author and/or featuring a main character who falls under the greater trans umbrella, including trans men, trans women, nonbinary, and other gender expansive identities, and who ALSO holds another intersectional identity, such having a different racial or cultural background than your own, or a disability you have not personally experienced.
Books you’ve added (1):
5. 2Spirit, Indigiqueer and Indigenous Gender Expansive Rep
A work by an author and/or featuring a main character who holds a gender identity or cultural role outside of the gender binary, and which exists outside of Western definitions of transness and/or queerness. Please note that these identities and terms are specific to the culture in which they originate. Examples include two-spirit identities in Native and First Nations cultures, hijra in South Asia, waria in Indonesia, and other indigenous identities that predate Western colonization. For this prompt, we do not require the author or character to self-identify as trans, but we DO require that the author be writing from their own cultural experience (in other words, no white authors telling 2S stories, etc.).
Please be mindful of the language you use for each of these books as these identities and concepts do not always map one-to-one with Western LGBTQIA+ labels, and existed long before Westernized ideas of gender and sexuality.
Books you’ve added (2):
6. A Book Featuring Trans Joy, Love, and/or Resistance
The annual International Trans Day of Visibility is a day to celebrate trans joy, love, and resistance. Please use this prompt to read a work celebrating trans life.
Books you’ve added (1):
7. A Book About Trans Youth and/or Imagining Trans Futures
A work featuring Trans youth or imagining trans futures. This can be speculative fiction or sci-fi, a Young Adult/Middle Grade/Children’s book, or any work celebrating trans youth and/or the building of a better world for trans people.
Books you’ve added (1):
8. A Book by or Featuring Trans Elders, or a Trans History Book
A work by or about trans elders, like a memoir or biography, or a trans history book.
Books you’ve added (1):
9. A Book Recommended by a Friend/Bookseller/Librarian
A book recommended to you by a friend, a bookseller, or a librarian. The Trans Rights Readathon can be your friend! If you’d like one of our recommendations, check out our databases or social media profiles here. If you’d like recommendations from booksellers but don’t know where to start, try these lists from trans-owned bookstores like The Nonbinarian, A Room of One’s Own, Small Trans Library Dublin, or Firestorm Books. If you don’t have a local library, you could use these resources from the Queer Liberation Library, the Ottawa Trans Library,Chicago Public Library, DC Public Library, New York Public Library, QUEERmdb Deutschland, TU Dublin Library, or from any library or librarian you find.
Books you’ve added (2):
