Dietz, Thomas and Cameron T. Whitley. (Forthcoming Fall 2018). “Inequality, Decisions and Altruism.” Sociology of Development. We argue that sociological analyses of inequality could benefit from engaging the literatures on decision-making. In turn, a sociological focus on how contexts and structural constraints influence the outcomes of decisions and the strategies social groups can use in pursuit of their goals could inform our understanding of decision-making. We consider a simple two-class model of income and the need of capitalists and workers to mobilize resources to influence the adaptive landscape that shapes responses to decisions. We then examine the implications of the rational actor model and the heuristics and biases literature for class-based decision-making. We consider the importance of altruism in mobilizing collective action, and we offer some evidence that altruism is most common in the middle ranges of income and that altruism is a major influence on support for redistributive policies. These results, while tentative, suggest the value of having scholars of development and inequality engage with the literatures on decision-making.
Bowers, Melanie and Cameron T. Whitley. (Forthcoming Fall 2018). “Assessing Voter Registration Among Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Individuals.” Political Behavior. Although public attention to transgender (trans) politics has increased dramatically in recent years, the scholarly community still has a limited understanding of how trans and gender non-conforming (GNC) individuals participate in the political system. Trans/GNC individuals are faced with a dual reality. On one hand, they are part of a highly organized and activated group whose rights depend on political engagement; on the other hand, individuals often face barriers to political participation including a lack of proper identification and low socioeconomic status. In this paper, we explore the effects of these competing forces on trans/GNC voter registration. We use the theory of oppositional consciousness to hypothesize that being part of a political and highly mobilized population helps trans/GNC individuals overcome barriers to participation. Using data on over 5,000 self-identified trans/GNC individuals from the 2011 National Transgender Discrimination Survey we show that, though individuals are less likely to participate if they lack gender-conforming identification, on the whole trans/GNC individuals in this survey register at rates that are consistent with or higher than the general population. The evidence points to the importance of the trans political movement in activating and developing oppositional consciousness in its members. We explore the implications of these findings and what they mean for future research.
Whitley, Cameron T., John Beasley, Bruno Takahashi, Adam Zwickle, Alisa Lertpratchya. 2018. “Sustainability Behaviors Among College Students: An Application of the VBN Theory.” Environmental Education Research 24(2):245-62. While Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) theory has been widely applied to various populations, it has seldom been tested on college students. This study extends VBN theory to examine what socio-psychological factors influence sustainability behaviors among university students. Undergraduate students are an interesting and novel population, as they are still forming their values and beliefs, and therefore may be more open to engage in sustainability efforts. This study assessed five sustainability behaviors: (a) support for political candidates who say they will strengthen environmental policies, (b) recycling, (c) electricity use, (d) food selection, and (e) transportation choices. Findings support the notion that one’s values matter in environmental decision-making, but that different values are associated with different behaviors. Those who adhere to biospheric and altruistic values were more likely to engage in a range of sustainability behaviors whereas those who adhere to egoistic values were less likely to engage in most behaviors. Those who adhere to traditional or openness to change values showed mixed results. We discuss the theoretical application, practical recommendations for behavior change campaigns, and offer suggestions for future research.
Lertpratchya, Alisa P., John Besley, Bruno Takahashi, Adam Zwickle, Cameron T. Whitley. 2017. “Assessing College as an Environmental Communication Channel.” International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 18(7):1060-75. PurposeThe
purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of higher
education institution as a sustainability communication channel. The
theory of planned behavior was used to examine the degree to which a
student’s tenure at a large university with active and visible
sustainability initiatives is associated with changes in views about
sustainability and changes in reported sustainability behaviors. Design/methodology/approachThis
study involved a campus-wide online survey on undergraduate students at
a large mid-western university. A direct measurement approach to the
theory of planned behavior was used to measure changes in attitudes,
normative beliefs, perceived behavioral controls and self-reported
behaviors on five different environmental sustainability behaviors. FindingsOverall
findings support the notion that higher education institutions can be
effective communication channels for sustainability issues, as students
who have been in college for a longer period of time reported somewhat
more positive attitudes, normative and efficacy beliefs and more
sustainable behaviors. Practical implicationsBy
measuring specific components of the theory of planned behavior, this
study provides insights on specific areas in which campaigns targeting
college students in different college years could become more effective. Originality/valueFew
studies have assessed college as an effective sustainability
communication channel despite the fact that it is potentially a powerful
channel to reach a large population at their critical age. This study
also measures specific components to sustainability behaviors by using
the theory of planned behavior as a guiding framework.
Whitley, Cameron T. and Thomas Dietz. 2018. “Turking Statistics: Student Generated Surveys Increase Student Engagement.” Teaching Sociology 46(1): 44-53. Thirty years ago, Hubert M. Blalock Jr. published an article in Teaching Sociology about the importance of teaching statistics. We honor Blalock’s legacy by assessing how using Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) in statistics classes can enhance student learning and increase statistical literacy among social science gradaute students. In addition, we assess whether using MTurk has an impact on student ability to make professional progress. We find that, compared to traditional teaching methods, using MTurk increased student performance, perceptions, and outcomes. In addition, using MTurk resulted in a measurable increase in statistical literacy. We recommend that instructors teaching statistics consider how MTurk or similar technologies can be used in their classrooms.
Whitley, Cameron T., Ryan Gunderson, and Meghan Charters. 2018. “Public Perceptiveness to Policies Promoting Plant-Based Diets: Social Psychological and Structural Influences” Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning 20(1): 45-63. Governmental and non-governmental organizations, social movements, and academics have called for reductions in meat consumption due to the environmental, animal welfare, and public health consequences of industrial animal agribusiness. An impactful move toward plant-based diets would require changes in public policy. First, we assess if there are different social and structural factors that influence support for policies that promote plant-based diets. We look at four categories of policies (action frames) that will likely reduce meat consumption: environmental, animal welfare, public health, and direct meat reduction. Second, we use a manipulation rhetorical frame to see if support can be altered by providing individuals with information about meat reduction, framing the issue in terms of environmental protection, animal welfare, or public health. Different social and structural factors predict support for different policy groupings, meaning that it matters how policies are enclosed in action frames. However, providing information to individuals about a particular impact (rhetorical frame) has limited influence on policy support.
Hula, Richard, Melanie Bowers, Cameron T. Whitley, William Issac. 2017. “Science, Politics and Policy: How Michiganders think about the Risks Facing the Great Lakes” Human Ecology 45(6): 833-44. The Great Lakes region is an important ecological asset for the United States, yet studies show that several environmental risks threaten its viability. As a result, it is important to respond to these risks with effective policies. When and how policy is implemented often depends on public opinion and perceptions; yet, we understand little about how individuals from the Great Lakes region construct opinions about the threats facing the lakes. We seek to understand how individuals from the state of Michigan form opinions on three risks to the lakes: invasive Asian carp, climate change, and offshore drilling. To do this, we evaluate the utility of two dominant models of environmental opinion formation: trust and deference to scientific authority, and partisan bias and motivated reasoning. We find that when issues have been politicized, opinion is greatly influenced by political factors like partisanship but that trust and deference as well as underlying environmental attitudes play a more important role for issues that have not been politicized. We discuss the implications of these findings in terms of policy and communication in Michigan, arguing that if we want Michiganders to support policy consistent with science, they must view risk in ways that are consistent with scientific consensus. For that to happen, advocates and policy makers must focus on reducing the political rhetoric around these threats, developing communication that taps into underlying trust and deference to science, and using underlying attitudes about the role of government in environmental protection to promote environmental policy.
Whitley, Cameron T, John Besley, Bruno Takahashi, Adam Zwickle, Alisa Lertpratchya. 2016. “Sustainability Behaviors Among College Students: An Application of the VBN Theory.” Environmental Education Research 24(2), 245-262. While Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) theory has been widely applied to various populations, it has seldom been tested on college students. This study extends VBN theory to examine what socio-psychological factors influence sustainability behaviors among university students. Undergraduate students are an interesting and novel population, as they are still forming their values and beliefs, and therefore may be more open to engage in sustainability efforts. This study assessed five sustainability behaviors: (a) support for political candidates who say they will strengthen environmental policies, (b) recycling, (c) electricity use, (d) food selection, and (e) transportation choices. Findings support the notion that one’s values matter in environmental decision-making, but that different values are associated with different behaviors. Those who adhere to biospheric and altruistic values were more likely to engage in a range of sustainability behaviors whereas those who adhere to egoistic values were less likely to engage in most behaviors. Those who adhere to traditional or openness to change values showed mixed results. We discuss the theoretical application, practical recommendations for behavior change campaigns, and offer suggestions for future research.
Whitley, Cameron T. 2015. “Trans-Subjectivity: Exploring Research Positionality in the Field.” Qualitative Sociology Review 11(4):67-80. The focus on trans individuals as researcher subjects often problematizes trans identity, limiting the possibility for trans individuals to create and co-create bodies of knowledge. Drawing on three years of participatory research in the animal production industry, I discuss the implications of my subjectivity as a trans man in this particular setting and in my research more broadly. Beyond being a self-reflexive exercise, this study seeks to make a number of theoretical and empirical contributions. First, feminist literature discussing one's subjectivity has largely focused on the dialectical existence between men and women, with little room for trans or gender diverse perspectives. Further, studies that have acknowledged trans identity have done so in relation to trans persons as research subjects, with no recognition of their positionality or the possibility of the trans researcher. This study seeks to change these paradigms by extending current feminist research frameworks on subjectivity to include greater gender diversity.
Beeson, Michael S., Eric Holmboe, Robert C. Korte, Thomas J. Nasca, Timothy Brigham, Chad M. Russ, Cameron T. Whitley, Earl Reisdorff. 2015. “Initial Validity Analysis of the Emergency Medicine Milestones.” Academic Emergency Medicine 22(7):838-844. OBJECTIVES: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Milestones describe behavioral markers for the progressive acquisition of competencies during residency. As a key component of the Next Accreditation System, all residents are evaluated for the acquisition of specialty-specific Milestones. The objective was to determine the validity and reliability of the emergency medicine (EM) Milestones. METHODS: The ACGME and the American Board of Emergency Medicine performed this single-event observational study. The data included the initial EM Milestones performance ratings of all categorical EM residents submitted to the ACGME from October 31, 2013, to January 6, 2014. Mean performance ratings were determined for all 23 subcompetencies for every year of residency training. The internal consistency (reliability) of the Milestones was determined using a standardized Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to determine how the subcompetencies were interrelated. RESULTS: EM Milestone performance ratings were obtained on 100% of EM residents (n = 5,805) from 162 residency programs. The mean performance ratings of the aggregate and individual subcompetency scores showed discrimination between residency years, and the factor structure further supported the validity of the EM Milestones. The reliability was α = 0.96 within each year of training. CONCLUSIONS: The EM Milestones demonstrated validity and reliability as an assessment instrument for competency acquisition. EM residents can be assured that this evaluation process has demonstrated validity and reliability; faculty can be confident that the Milestones are psychometrically sound; and stakeholders can know that the Milestones are a nationally standardized, objective measure of specialty-specific competency acquisition.
Whitley, Cameron T. and Scot Yoder. 2015. “Developing Social Responsibility and Political Engagement: Assessing the Aggregate Impacts of University Civic Engagement on Associated Attitudes and Behaviors” Education, Citizenship and Social Justice 10(3):217-233. Universities have become increasingly interested in incorporating civic engagement into undergraduate education with the goal of enhancing leadership skills and creating socially responsible global citizens. What is unclear is which educational experiences are most effective in achieving this goal. In this study, we seek to determine the impact of three types of educational experiences—curricular civic engagement, extra-curricular civic engagement, and participation in a living-learning community on social responsibility and political engagement (two components of civic engagement) attitudes and behaviors. Using a survey of 1240 undergraduates, our findings indicate that while all three types of experiences are positively related to civic engagement attitudes and behaviors, extra-curricular civic engagement has the most impact. Furthermore, student civic engagement attitudes are already relatively high; so instructors should focus on behaviors. The greatest potential for growth is in political engagement behaviors. We identify what this means for higher education and how implementations in the university can lead to increases in aggregate student development.
Whitley, Cameron T.,Seven Bryant and Rachel Kelly. 2015.“Intentional SharedSuffering: A Comparative Analysis of Varied Pig Production Methods in a University Setting” Animalia Online Journal: https://animaliajournal.com/2015/10/25/intentional-shared-suffering-a-comparative-analysis-of-varied-pig-production-methods-in-a-university-setting/ We extend the notion of shared suffering first articulated by Donna Haraway (2008), and developed by Jocelyne Porcher (2011) to suggest that while shared suffering is unintentional in production environments, an ethic of intentionality should be employed. Intentional shared suffering evolves when individuals are given the infrastructure and opportunity to openly embrace the bonds they create with the production animals they work with. We apply and compare this framework in two pig/swine production facilities: an organic farm and a confined feeding operation both operated by a major research university to identify what contributes to unintentional and intentional shared suffering at each facility. Following three years of participant observation and interviews within both facilities, our findings clearly demonstrate that environment; shared interests among members; and leadership all contribute to an ethic of intentional shared suffering. Surprisingly, we also find that the cross-pollination of the two programs/environments facilitated community development, teaching/learning and research opportunities.
Marco, Catherine L., Robert Counselman, Robert Korte, Robert. Purosky, Cameron T. Whitley, Earl Reisdorff. 2014. “Delaying Taking the American Board of Emergency Medicine Qualifying Exam is Associated with Poorer Performance” AcademicEmergency Medicine 21(6):688-693. Abstract OBJECTIVES: The initial step in certification by the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) requires passing a multiple-choice-question qualifying examination. The qualifying examination is typically taken in the first year after residency training. This study was undertaken to determine if a delay in taking the qualifying examination is associated with poorer performance. The authors also examined the relationship between in-training examination scores and qualifying examination scores. METHODS: This was a pooled time-series cross-section study. Primary measurements were initial qualifying examination scores, the timing of the qualifying examination, and in-training examination scores. The three groups, based on qualifying examination timing, were immediate, 1-year delay, and ≥2-year delay. In-training examination scores were analyzed to determine the relationship between intrinsic ability, examination timing, and qualifying examination scores. For analysis, a generic pooled ordinary least-squares dummy variable model with robust standard errors was used. A pre hoc level of significance was determined to be α < 0.01. RESULTS: There were 16,353 qualifying examination test administrations between 2000 and 2012. In-training examination scores were positively correlated with qualifying examination scores (p < 0.001). The group pass rates were 98.9% immediate, 95.6% 1-year delay, and 86.6% ≥2-year delay. After controlling for in-training examination scores, delay taking the qualifying examination of 1 year was associated with a decrease in score of -0.6 (p = 0.003). A delay in taking the qualifying examination ≥2 years was associated with a decrease in score of -2.5 points (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: After accounting for innate ability using in-training examination scores, delay taking the qualifying examination was associated with poorer performance. This effect was more pronounced if the delay was ≥2 years.
METHODS In this longitudinal review, ConCert examination performance was compared among residency‐trained emergency physicians (EPs) over multiple examination cycles. Longitudinal analysis was performed using a growth curve model for unbalanced data to determine the growth trajectories of EP performance over time to see if medical knowledge changed. Using initial certification qualifying examination scores, the longitudinal analysis corrected for intrinsic variances in physician ability.
RESULTS There were 15,085 first‐time testing episodes from 1989 to 2012 involving three examination cycles. The mean adjusted examination scores for all physicians taking the ConCert examination for a first cycle was 85.9 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 85.8 to 85.9), the second cycle mean score was 86.2 (95% CI = 86.0 to 86.3), and the third cycle was 85.4 (95% CI = 85.0 to 85.8). Using the first examination cycle as a reference score, the growth curve model analysis resulted in a coefficient of +0.3 for the second cycle (p < 0.001) and –0.5 for the third cycle (p = 0.02). Initial qualifying (written) examination scores were significant predictors for ConCert examination scores.
CONCLUSIONS Over time, EP performance on the ConCert examination was maintained. These results suggest that EPs maintain medical knowledge over the course of their careers as measured by a validated, summative medical knowledge assessment.
Whitley, Cameron T. and Linda Kalof. 2014. “Communicating Climate Change: The Use of Animal Imagery” International Journal of Sociology 44(1):10-33. Science has long been recognized as having an important role in generating popular discourses on animals and the natural world, and the paucity of information on how animals are represented in popular science narratives of environmental degradation is striking. Our study begins to fill that gap. We examine representations of animals in articles on climate change published over two decades in the most widely read popular science magazine in the world, National Geographic. National Geographic uses a variety of animal representations to make salient the problem of a changing climate. Analysis of 108 photographs and their captions in articles on climate change revealed four major themes: vulnerability of wildlife to climate change, representation of animals as specimens in climate change adaptation and conservation, the contribution of food animal consumption to climate change, and the vulnerability of the livelihoods of draft animals (sled dogs) and their human companions to climate change. We conclude that popular science is contributing to an expanded public discourse on climate change that extends beyond the vulnerability of iconic wild megafauna to include insects and amphibians and issues facing the relationship we have with other animals, such as the widespread consumption of animals for food.
Whitley, Cameron T. 2013. “Trans-Kin Undoing and Redoing Gender: Negotiating Relational Identity Among Friends and Family of Transgender Persons.” Sociological Perspectives 56(4):597-621. The experiences of transgender persons have gained increased attention in academic discourse; however, few studies address how significant others, family members, friends, and allies (SOFFAs) process the transition of a loved one. This study seeks to fill this gap with research based on 133 observational hours and fifty interviews. Focusing on three relational identity themes—sexual orientation, social role, and religious identity—the findings suggest that SOFFAs use various intentional and unintentional strategies to negotiate relational identities. Furthermore, reflected appraisals and social stigma mediate the ability of SOFFAS to “undo” and “redo” gender when negotiating their relational identities.
Whitley, Cameron T. 2013. “A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: Applying Image-Based Learning to Online Course Design” Teaching Sociology 41(2):188-198. Although images are often used in the classroom to communicate difficult concepts, students have little input into their selection and application. This approach can create a passive experience for students and represents a missed opportunity for instructors to engage participation. By applying concepts found in visual sociology to techniques identified in the scholarship of teaching and learning, I created an image-based learning model to address this disconnect. I used discussion board image selection, posting and critique exercises (image-posts), and personal meaning maps (PMMs) as core assignments. This combination increased student comprehension, challenged and altered perceptions of key topics, and gave them a greater sense of agency through reflexive learning. Additionally, students’ reception of this model was favorable, with 97 percent reporting that the course met or exceeded their expectations and 95 percent reporting that they learned more in this class than in any previously taken college-level course.
Academic Book Chapters
Whitley, Cameron T. and Batool Zaidi. (Forthcoming Spring 2022) “Designing and Teaching Statistics and Data Analysis Courses” in The Handbook of Teaching and Learning in Sociology, edited by Sergio A. Cabrera and Stephen Sweet. NYC: NYU Press.
Whitley, Cameron T. (Forthcoming Spring 2022) “Teaching Environmental Sociology and Animal Studies” in The Handbook of Teaching and Learning in Sociology, edited by Sergio A. Cabrera and Stephen Sweet. NYC: NYU Press.
Whitley, Cameron T. “Organ Transplants for Transgender and Non-binary People” (Forthcoming Fall 2021) in Trans Bodies Trans Selves: A Resource for the Transgender Community, Second Edition. Oxford University Press.
Kalof, Linda and Cameron T. Whitley “Animals in Environmental Sociology” (Forthcoming Fall 2020) in International Handbook of Environmental Sociology. Washington DC: Springer.
Whitley, Cameron T. and Seven Mattes “Entangled Impacts: Human-Animal Relationships and Energy Development” 2021. in Energy Impacts: A Multidisciplinary Exploration of North American Energy Development, edited by Jeffrey Jacquet, Julia Haggerty and Gene Theodori. Louisville CO: University of Colorado Press.
Arnold-Renicker, Heather, Kyle Inselman, Jennifer Rivera, and Cameron T. Whitley (2021) in “Trans and Non-binary Leadership and Civic Engagement” in Social Work and Health Care Practice with Transgender and Nonbinary Individuals and Communities. New York, NY: Routledge Press.
Whitley, Cameron T. 2019. “Exploring the Place of Animals and Human-Animal Relationships in Hydraulic Fracturing Discourse” (Reprint). Pp. 12- 30 in We are Best Friends: Animals in Society, edited by Leslie Irving. Basel, Switzerland: MDPI.
Whitley, Cameron T. and Seven Mattes “Animals, Humans, Energy Infrastructure: Accessing the Impacts of Development on Interspecies Communities” (Forthcoming Spring 2019) in Coordinating Research on the Social Impacts of Energy Development: Synthesis Across the Social Sciences, edited by Jeffrey Jacquet, Julia Haggerty and GeneTheodori. Washington DC: Social Ecology Press.
Whitley, Cameron T. 2018. “Animals, Humans and Energy Development.” Pp. 128-149 in Fractured Communities, edited by Anthony E. Ladd. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. Fractured Communities (2017). While environmental disputes and conflicts over fossil fuel extraction have grown in recent years, few issues have been as contentious in the twenty-first century as those surrounding the impacts of unconventional natural gas and oil development using hydraulic drilling and fracturing techniques—more commonly known as “fracking”—on local communities. In Fractured Communities, Anthony E. Ladd and other leading environmental sociologists present a set of crucial case studies analyzing the differential risk perceptions, socio-environmental impacts, and mobilization of citizen protest (or quiescence) surrounding unconventional energy development and hydraulic fracking in a number of key U.S. shale regions.
Kalof, Linda, Cameron T. Whitley, Stephen Vrla and Jessica Bell Rizzo. 2017. “Anthropogenic Food Sources in the Co-Existence of Humans with Liminal Animals in Northern Environments.” Pp. 147-162 in Shared Lives of Humans and Animals: Animal Agency in the Global North, edited by Tuomas Rasanen and Taina Syrjamma. New York, NY: Routledge. This book focuses on animal agency and interactions between humans and animals. It explores the reciprocity of human–animal relations and the capacity of animals to act and shape human societies. The chapters draw on examples from the Global North to explore how human life in modernity has been and is shaped by the sentience, autonomy, and physicality of various animals, particularly in landscapes where communities and wild animals exist in close proximity. It offers a timely contribution to animal studies, environmental geography, environmental history, and social science and humanities studies of the environment more broadly.
Kalof, Linda, Cameron T. Whitley, Jessica Bell. 2015. “Media Representations of Animals in Urban Canada 1930-2000.” Pp. 105-126 in Animals in Human Society: Amazing Creatures that Share Our Planet, edited by Daniel Moorehead. New York: UPA. Animals in Human Society (2016). Including the work of 12 authors from institutions such as Colorado State University, Frostburg State University, Michigan State University, Salisbury University, Texas Woman’s University, University of Birmingham, University of California; Irvine, University of California; Merced, and William Jessup University, Rocklin; California, the collection of essays explores the broad range of animals who share our planet and attempts to recognize our responsibility as humans to take their interests seriously.
Book Reviews
Whitley, Cameron T. 2013. “Robin Mills: Capturing Carbon: The New Weapon in the War Against Climate Change by Robin Mills-Book Review”Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 26(4): 887-888.
Whitley, Cameron T. 2012. “The Enigma of Capital by David Harvey-Book Review” Michigan Sociological Review 26:79-81.
Non-Academic Book
Whitley, Cameron T. and Eleanor Hubbard (Eds). 2012. Trans-Kin: A Resource Guide for Friends and Family Members of Transgender Persons. Boulder, CO: Bolder Press. Award-winner in the 'Gay and Lesbian: Non-Fiction' category of the 2013 International Book Awards, Trans-Kin is a collection of stories from significant others, family members, friends and allies of transgender persons (SOFFAs). Powerful, thought-provoking and enlightening, this collection will provide for the head and the heart of anyone who has ever loved a transgender person. Trans-Kin is also an essential read for allies of the transgender community and anyone who wishes to become one.
Non-Academic Book Chapters
Winner, 23rd Lambda Literary Awards LGBT Anthology. Gender Outlaws (2010) collects and contextualizes the work of this generation's trans and genderqueer forward thinkers with new voices from the stage, on the streets, in the workplace, in the bedroom, and on the pages and websites of the world's most respected mainstream news sources. Gender Outlaws includes essays, commentary, comic art, and conversations from a diverse group of trans-spectrum people who live and believe in barrier-breaking lives.
Finalist, 24th Lambda Literary Awards Transgedner Non-Fiction Award.Letters for My Brothers (2010) In today's fast paced world, the internet can provide quick answers to personal questions. But when an individual raised by society to live, breathe and look at the world with female eyes transitions to male, some of the most enlightening, helpful and profound advice can only come in retrospect. Letter to my Brothers, features essays to share the wisdom they wish they would have known at the beginning of their journey into manhood.
Winner, American Library Association's 2013 Over the Rainbow Award Book List.Exploring the crossroads of gender and sexuality, Trans/Love: Radical Sex, Love & Relationships Beyond the Gender Binary (2013) offers unusually engaging narratives that create a raw and honest depiction of dating, sex, love, and relationships among members of the gender variant community. FTM, MTF, thirdgender, genderqueer, and other non-traditional identities beyond the gender binary of traditional male and female are included in this often heartwarming, occasionally heartbreaking, always heartfelt groundbreaking anthology.
Visible: A Femmethology (2009), the only two-volume anthology devoted to femme identity, calls the LGBTQI community on its prejudices and celebrates the diversity of individual femmes. Award-winning authors, spoken-word artists, and new voices come together to challenge conventional ideas of how disability, class, nationality, race, aesthetics, sexual orientation, gender identity and body type intersect with each contributor's concrete notion of femmedom.
Manning Up (2014) offers readers a fuller image of transition’s place within men’s larger life pictures, ultimately challenging academic, medical, and bureaucratic narratives of gender creative people and expanding on cultural understandings of masculinity. Award-winning writers and new voices come together to tell their stories of doubt and discovery, invisibility and belonging, isolation and paying wisdom forward.
In The Queer South (2014), Douglas Ray has assembled over 60 queer-identified voices exploring their experiences of the American South in nonfiction and poetry. From hilarious to heartbreaking, anxious to angry, religious to reluctant, contemplative to celebratory, this anthology expands our ideas of what it means to be queer and what it means to represent the land south of the Mason-Dixon.