In their new book American Teenager, Nico Lang chronicles the lives of seven transgender youth nationwide. Each with its own unique story, the stories told in American Teenager highlight backgrounds of all kinds.
What is rarely seen in the media are the lives of transgender and nonconforming kids simply living. As the fight for trans rights across the United States and in Texas continues, stories of what it is like to actually grow up trans today are is what needed most. Lang’s new book proves it.
From accepting queer communities in California to mosques in Illinois, the stories told by Lang provide a deeper context of what it means to be transgender in society today.
American Teen paints a picture of honest, different, and diverse youth. In Texas, Ruby lives the life of most teenagers. She regularly attends her place of worship, where she affirms her faith through community. She meets a nervous young boy who wants to make a longing impression on her. She is also trans and through her family, friends and church members, is respected as such. Ruby’s family compared her experience to that of Schitt’s Creek, where prejudice against the LGBTQ community is nonexistent.
“Ruby, she’s had a little bit of a similar experience in that growing up in her church, she hadn’t experienced any kind of like anti-rans backlash, like for the most part, people were really cool and she had her coming out party at the church,” Lang said. “They had a renaming ceremony and for the most part, everybody’s just been really lovely and supportive. These stories of pain and rejection that you hear from other trans kids- that just hasn’t been Ruby’s story.”
Set to be released on Oct. 8, Lang’s book coincides with their upcoming appearance at Pride Frisco’s annual festival. The event celebrates the LGBTQ community across the Dallas suburb and the Dallas Fort Worth metropolitan area.
Additionally, valuable resources provided by GLAAD, the Human Rights Campaign, ACLU Texas, Equality Texas and numerous local organizations like Finn’s Place, a trans advocacy organization, HELP Center, an LGBTQ clinic based in North Texas, the North Texas LGBT Chamber, and many others will be at the annual festival.
For Lang, being in spaces and telling stories in places like Texas is important to ensure that visibility matters everywhere, not just in certain areas.
“It’s not enough for this book to have been written. It needs to get out to the people who need it,” Lang said. “Agreeing to [speak at Pride Frisco] was about making sure the people who need that message of hope are able to hear it.”