Tomorrow Will Be Different

February 1, 2018
A brave transgender woman experiences both triumph and tragedy in this memoir of transitioning and so much more.McBride, the national press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign, was a high school political activist well before coming to terms with her gender identity, so this mix of policy discussion and personal revelation seems to come naturally to her. What she had never expected is that she would be a widow at 24 and, two years later, become the first transgender speaker at a national political convention. The author first came to national attention in college, when, as student body president of American University, she announced first through social media and then in the pages of the school newspaper that she was transgender. She had previously presented herself outwardly as male. She was scared of rejection or even ridicule from the campus culture, but she received "a total and overwhelming outpouring of love and joy." However, McBride's earlier experience coming out to her parents had been more traumatic. Even though they were progressive and supportive of her gay older brother, they had been blindsided by her declaration. "So you want to be a girl?" asked her tearful mother, who later said, "I feel like my life is over." "I didn't want to be a girl. I was a girl," thought the author, who had felt like a girl in a boy's body since she was 10 and who had since recognized that if this were in fact a choice, it was the only choice she could make. She became an activist and eloquent spokesperson for LGBTQ legislation, the first transgender intern to serve at the White House, and an inspirational speaker at the Democratic National Convention. She also fell deeply in love with another activist, who would soon succumb to cancer, but not before they had the chance to marry. Throughout, the author ably balances great accomplishments and strong emotions.Reading McBride's inspiring story will make it harder to ostracize or demonize others with similar stories to share.

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February 5, 2018
This moving account of an activist’s coming of age opens in 2012, on the day McBride came out as a trans woman. She was at the end of her term as student body president at American University in Washington, D.C. As a young person active in politics who had wrestled for years with a growing awareness of her gender identity, McBride knew her decision to come out at age 21 would “define the course of the rest of life,” and her candid memoir charts that whirlwind course in the subsequent five years. McBride writes of her internship in the Office of Public Engagement at the White House during the Obama administration, her work advocating for the passage of Delaware’s Gender Identity Nondiscrimination Act of 2013, and her 2016 address before the Democratic National Convention: “It’s impossible to express the profound liberation of being able to do something as your true self when, for years, you’ve never been able to actually be yourself.” Inextricably linked to her work for LGBTQ rights is the story of the romance between her and her late husband, Andrew Cray, a fellow activist whom she met in 2012 and married in 2014—just four days before Cray’s death from cancer at the age of 28. McBride’s intimate story of fighting for social justice in the midst of heartbreak will resonate with many readers.

March 1, 2018

In her first book, activist McBride (national press secretary, Human Rights Campaign) shows self-awareness and purpose. Cognizant of the many positives in her life--supportive family, friends, and coworkers--McBride has devoted her career to ensuring equal rights for LGBTQ people. By sharing her own story of coming out, the author illuminates the pain that can come along with that process, and how she has arrived at accepting (and living) her life. She writes movingly of her experience transitioning from a man to a woman, and her political activism, along with falling in love and then losing her love to cancer. Statistics about the marginalization of and discrimination against the LGBTQ community, especially those who are transgender, are brought to life by her voice. The importance of telling these experiences in order to combat demonizing stereotypes is stressed by the author's experiences in passing civil rights legislation in Delaware, as well as her activism nationwide. The pressing need for broad antidiscrimination protection for the entire LGBTQ community is made clear. VERDICT All readers will find this book enlightening. Those struggling with gender identity, and their families and friends, will find hope in McBride's words.--Laurie Unger Skinner, Coll. of Lake Cty., Waukegan, IL

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