Why is gender transition such a busy topic these days? Here’s why: we live in a time when those in the LGBTQIA+ community are finding their voices, and doing the hard work of honoring who they are and the beautiful lives they’ve been given. And our society, itself always in transition, isn’t used to it and is having a hard time.
Doing this work of self-discovery can be a disorienting and lonely time for those who experience it. And that shouldn’t necessarily be the case, but it is.
That’s why Nia Chiaramonte and her partner Katie Chiaramonte co-founded Love in the Face, walking alongside transgender individuals, allies, and communities embracing free and full lives of hope. Nia and Katie’s story and their work has been featured in a Hulu documentary”We Live Here: The Midwest” which explores the lives of LGBTQIA+ people in the Midwest.
Together, Nia and Katie have also co-authored a book Embracing Queer Family: Learning to Live Authentically in our Families and Communities (2024) from our friends at Broadleaf Books.
And now, Nia Chiaramonte is going to be releasing with Lake Drive Books her own story, a memoir that aims to bring understanding to the transgender community as a whole, acknowledging that empathy builds better allies for LGBTQIA+ individuals.
Tentatively titled, I Hardly Knew Me: Moments in Gender Transition is a moment-to-moment look at gender transition. Born out of a need to process the overpowering emotions that accompany coming out as a transgender woman, it captures not only the small moments inside of transition but the overarching moments leading to transition, including the navigation of changing relationships and a changing faith.
Releasing in the summer of 2025, the book will explore a narrative from the birth of the author to the present day including real-time emotional logs (emo logs) from the last four years since coming out, offering heavy emotional themes, and weaving its way into a story about human resilience and the capacity to love.
I hope you’ll watch for updates on this new book from Nia by subscribing to her newsletter here or perhaps following her on Instagram here.
David Morris, Publisher
