10 YA Novels with Trans Characters You'll Love (No Matter Your Age)
These young adult books give some much-needed representation with transgender characters who are coming of age. Whether you’re still living through high school, or you’re well past graduation, these 10 books will keep you up late turning pages.
From left: Jena Malone, Jodie Foster, Jay-Z, and Kendall and Kylie Jenner.
Featureflash photo Agency/Shutterstock; Tinseltown/Shutterstock; Tinseltown/Shutterstock; Taylor Hill/FilmMagic
From left: Jena Malone, Jodie Foster, Jay-Z, and Kendall and Kylie Jenner.Featureflash photo Agency/Shutterstock; Tinseltown/Shutterstock; Tinseltown/Shutterstock; Taylor Hill/FilmMagic
While Republicans like to make it seem like LGBTQ+ moms are a brand new invention, there have always been lesbian and trans moms raising kids, and these celebs are proof.
From rappers to actresses, these famous stars were lovingly raised by sapphic women, some of whom came out before they were born, and others who had to wait until later in life. And despite being in the public eye, these famous “kids” are proud of their queer heritage.
Mandy Moore
Mandy Moore
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In 2016, This Is Us star Mandy Moore revealed that her mother had left her father for a woman. Moore has been incredibly supportive of her mother since she came out and her two brothers, who are also gay.
“Nobody is hiding who they are. There are no secrets in our lives. I love and support my mom and my brothers with my whole heart,” Moore told People. “And nothing makes me happier than seeing anybody live their authentic self, and to choose love. If anyone can find love, I support it, I salute you, and I celebrate that.”
Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Tinseltown/Shutterstock
Jay-Z, rapper and husband to Beyoncé, was raised by openly gay mother Gloria Carter. Jay-Z wrote about his mother’s coming out in his song “Smile,” which contains the lyrics, “Mama had four kids, but she’s a lesbian. Had to pretend so long that she’s a thespian.”
Carter came out to her son later in life and opened up about the experience on the D’USSE Friday podcast. “Besides your mother, this is the person that I am,” she said, according to Billboard. “This is the life that I live. So my son started actually tearing. ‘Cause he’s like, ‘That had to be a horrible life, Ma’. I was like, ‘My life was never horrible. It was just different.’ So that made him want to do a song about it.”
Kendall and Kylie Jenner
Kendall and Kylie Jenner
Taylor Hill/FilmMagic
Reality TV stars Kendall and Kylie Jenner are the daughters of Caitlyn Jenner, who came out as transgender in 2015 in an in-depth interview with Diane Sawyer. The Trump-supporting former Olympian, went on to star in the reality show I Am Cait, which chronicles her experiences after coming out as a trans woman.
50 cent
50 Cent
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Rapper 50 Cent is a child of a lesbian mom. His mother passed away when the hip-hop superstar was only eight years old, and while it wasn’t always clear to him as a kid that his mom was gay, his grandmother helped him to understand. “My mom was a lesbian. Yeah, she liked women. My whole childhood was like that,” 50 Cent told Perez Hilton in 2012.
Amy Adams
Amy Adams
Fred Duval
Amy Adams may have grown up in the famously conservative Mormon religion, but her parents ended up getting a divorce in the '80s, and her mother Kathryn began building a new life with a woman. Adams is very supportive of her mom and in 2020 posted a Mother’s Day message on Instagram, writing, “You are unique, creative, and crazy fearless in the best way. Thank you for always encouraging me to face my fears. Love you!”
Ally Sheedy
Ally Sheedy
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Brat Pack member Ally Sheedy was raised by her gay mother, Charlotte, who divorced The Breakfast Club star’s father in 1971. "My mom's been such a champion," Sheedy said to the Windy City Times in 2011. "She's always been really politically conscious and active. That's what I remember growing up. I mean, I remember growing up during the women's liberation movement when people were gay, they were straight, they were this, they were that...there were no stereotypes ... so, I never had a moment where people were straight and then they were suddenly gay. It was my world.”
Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista has been open about his proud he is of his lesbian mother, Donna Raye, for years. He has been making heartwarming social media posts about his queer mom since 2019, once writing on Instagram, “I was always proud of who my mom was because she was always proud of who she was,” he wrote. “In your face, ‘F*ck you if you don’t like it,’ unapologetically loud and proud. And her son [paid] attention. BE LOUD, BE PROUD, BE YOU.”
Jena Malone
Jena Malone
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Love Lies Bleeding star Jena Malone was raised by two moms, and remembers childhood fondly. "I was raised by two mums who were lovers," Malone toldThe Independent in 2008. "When I was younger it wasn't anything that was abnormal. I had two mums and for me that was really exciting because when I was younger most people seemed to like their mum more than their dad so I'd be like, 'Ha, I've got two of them!' And I feel I got a lot of love, respect and acceptance from them. I had a really healthy normal relationship with my parents."
Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster
Tinseltown/Shutterstock
Oscar winner Jodie Foster was raised by her gay mother, Evelyn "Brandy" Foster, who carted the Nyad actress around to acting gigs starting when she was a little kid.
"Evelyn was without a doubt the strongest person her family has ever met, a champion, a fighter, full of fire and love,” Foster wrote in her mother’s obituary after she passed away in 2019. "No one could beat her style, all five feet tall with naturally 'cork screw' hair. Her family will remember those dimple smiles and big hugs and well-placed four-letter words. No one messed with Nana, an original like no other. May she live in all of us forever."
Joe Valentine
Joe Valentine
Robbie Rogers/MLB via Getty Images
Major League Baseball star Joe Valentine was raised by his lesbian mother Deb Valentine, and her partner, Doreen Price. The former Cincinnati Reds player opened up about his mom’s sexuality back in 2005 and expected to get a lot of backlash, but luckily, the hate never came.
“It’s no different than having a mother and father,” Valentine said at the time. “These are the two women who raised me, and they are wonderful people. It’s just not a big deal to me. Why should it be?”
Dorothy Dandridge
Dorothy Dandridge
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Actress Dorthy Dandridge’s mother, Ruby, was bisexual and entered into a long-term relationship with a woman named Geneva Williams not long after divorcing Dandridge’s father.
Vanderpump Rules alum Billie Lee is getting candid about turning to sex work when money was in short supply.
On a recent appearance on the Oldish podcast, the former reality TV star opened up about how she had trouble finding a job as a trans woman when she first moved to Los Angeles. She had plenty of experience as a server, but she was still being turned down by all of the restaurants she applied to.
“They would love my resume because I have all this serving experience from college,” she told hosts Brian Austin Green and Sharna Burgess, according to People. “And then they would see me and then be like, they wouldn't hire me. They were just like, ‘No, we don't know what the hell this is.’”
She said when she worked at Lisa Vanderpump’s restaurant while she was briefly on season 6 of the hit reality TV show, sex appeal was valued above all else. “Even when I worked at SUR on Vanderpump, it was about being attractive, being sexy, wearing sexy clothes.”
When the co-hosts asked what she did for money if she couldn’t land a job, Lee revealed that she supported herself by getting “paid to do sexual things.”
“Because our unemployment rate is so high — it still is — for trans people, a lot of us do lean on sex work,” she admitted. “Because we are all so fetishized and over-sexualized.”
But Lee isn’t ashamed of being a former sex worker; in fact, she takes pride in it.
“I find it very empowering now,” she said. “I'm a pleaser — I'm a people pleaser, which is hard if someone's mad at you — but I'm also just a pleaser in general. So whenever I became a sex worker, I was like, ‘Oh, wow, I can get off pleasing these men and also get paid.’”
Since then, Lee has moved on from sex work and is now a published author, a podcast host, and a stand-up comedian, but admits to sometimes being tempted to take men up on their offers when they approach her.
“Like, the other day, I was charging my car and some guy was hitting on me,” she remembered. “And if they notice that I'm trans and I don't accept, they're like, ‘Oh, give me your Instagram or your phone number.’ Then they'll be like, ‘Well, how much?’ And the back of my head is like, ‘Oh, I could make some easy money right now.’ ”
She continued, “There’s something empowering about wanting to lean back into it because that was kind of what we had as survival, and it just became a way of life for me.”
Lee explained that as a trans woman it often feels like “society is beating you up,” and that she has struggled with not always feeling confident in her own body, but although sex work could be “scary,” having sex with a man who treated her like a “queen” would give her a welcome boost of confidence.
“I have to say, I was pretty blessed when I came to sex work,” she said. “There were times when I would first enter a hotel room, you do certain things that you learn. Like, I would check-in to make sure that the front desk saw me. And I would check and make sure where the cameras were, security cameras. And then I would have a pocket knife up in my coat, like, in my coat sleeve. I would do a check throughout the entire room, like in any cabinets in the bathroom, and stuff like that, before I would get on the bed. So you do like little things to protect yourself in that way.”
“But I had really amazing clients who like treated me with respect and wine and dined me,” Lee explained. “I was in hotels in Beverly Hills, you know, so I wasn't on the street, which a lot of my sisters are.”
Pride season is right around the corner, and while that means that your calendar is probably full of parties and parades, there are also Black Pride marches and festivities happening all across the country that should move to the top of your Pride Month calendar.
Pride Month is about demanding space and celebrating marginalized LGBTQ+ identities, but sometimes the Black queer community can be left out of the equation. That’s why Black Pride Month events are so important.
The very first Black Gay Pride event took place in 1991, when DC Black Pride had its inaugural celebration, paving the way for a movement of Black Pride protests and festivals across the United States. What has become a way to celebrate identity and demand a seat at the table started in response to how Black LGBTQ+ communities were disproportionately affected by the AIDS epidemic and encourages Black people to celebrate their own culture and heritage. Since then, events have cropped up all over the country to champion Black rights and joyfully gather in community with one another.
Don't see an event you're excited about? Email us at news@equalpide.com and we'll add it to the calendar.
Keep scrolling to see all of the amazing Black Pride Month events happening in America!
DC Black Pride (May 23 - 26)
Nicole Glass Photography/Shutterstock
This year Washington, DC will be home to the WorldPride celebration, but that’s not all. There will also be a four-day-long Black Pride festival that will feature electrifying parties, glamorous balls, health and wellness breakout sessions, and dynamic performances.
Tri-State Black Pride in Memphis, Tennessee will have a drag brunch, “dripping wet” pool party, and a music festival, and although you have to buy tickets the events make it worth the price of admission.
New Orleans knows how to do Pride right! The Black Pride weekend will start with a mixer before the Black Queer summit with panels, workshops, and meaningful conversations. There will also be a country-themed party, a community festival in Armstrong Park, a Nightcap Party with live DJs, and a Gospel Drag Brunch.
Indy Pride’s BLQ+ event is one part Pride celebration and one part Juneteenth event. The day is a way to honor the history of Junneteenth and the resiliency and solidarity of the Black queer and trans community.
On June 28, downtown Greenville, South Carolina, will become the home of the Black Pride Festival. The day will start with a march and end with a festival that is both an opportunity and celebration of the BIPOC LGBTQ+ community.
This year’s Harlem Pride has a “Kween & Qing” theme that will honor the unique contributions of community leaders. There will be a Kween and Qing pageant and crowning ceremony, a Pride Sweet 16 party, and a festival with live performances, local vendors, community resources, and amazing food.
San Francisco Soul of Pride is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. What started as a place to uplift Black LGBTQ+ community in San Francisco has become a vibrant celebration that blends art, activism, and fellowship. There will be performances, art, and activism during Pride weekend that will celebrate the rich diversity of the Black queer community.
Hosted by the Boston LesBiGay Urban Foundation, Boston Black Pride takes place over five days and includes a Pride Parade and music and arts festival. There will also be an open mic night party, a teen party, an R&B brunch, a Black Pride Ball, and a Met Gala.
LA Black Pride is a five-day festival meant to uplift and celebrate the Black LGBTQ+ community, and includes an R&B party, a block party, a brunch, a Soul Sunday event at The Abbey.
The 8th annual Black Pride RVA Festival takes place in Richmond, Virginia, and kicks off with a big party, which is meant to celebrate unity and culture. The rest of the event includes a Root Award ceremony at the Black History Museum, a Day of Purpose festival, a Blacktopia Ball, and a Pride in the Park celebration.
Twin Cities Black Pride celebration will include an awards ceremony recognizing outstanding contributions within the Black LGBTQ+ community, a party boat, and a Sip, Paint, and Smoke event where a relaxed atmosphere, drinks, painting, and socializing.
The Elephant House, Edinburg, Scotland, United Kingdom - December 2018
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A walking tour group in Edinburgh is temporarily cutting their Harry Potter tours and replacing them with LGBTQ+ history tours for Pride month — and they aren’t shying away from the reasons why.
"For the six years now that I have been a walking tour guide in the city of Edinburgh I have given Harry Potter walking tours alongside historical ones," Fraser Horn wrote in an April blog post on his business website. "But there’s an increasing amount of negativity around the series which is making it much harder to conjure up affection."
Horn explained that he fully expected J.K. Rowling’s transphobic rhetoric to have an immediate impact on the demand for Harry Potter-related tours some time ago — but nothing changed. The demand continued, and "hardly anyone" ever brought the topic up. Anecdotally, he says that other tour guides across Edinburgh have said the same thing.
His post doesn’t sugarcoat the situation. Instead, he frames it as a conflict between profit and values, pointing out both how dangerous anti-trans views are for the entire LGBTQ+ community across the world and how much Edinburgh, where Rowling wrote the popular kids’ series, depends on that connection for tourism.
"I’ve seen some guides try and cut round JK Rowling while giving the tour," Horn admitted. "The link Edinburgh has to the world of Harry Potter is the fact it was written here. The person it was written here by is Rowling. So it cannot really be gotten around."
However, he does point out that any money earned from these tours doesn’t go towards lining Rowling’s already heavy pockets. This stands in worthwhile contrast to something like the upcoming Harry Potter TV series, particularly after HBO’s chief content officer seemed to breeze past that issue while recently defending the decision to keep working with Rowling.
Clearly, that isn’t enough to prevent Horn from carefully considering what other impact continuing to prop up Harry Potter — and, by extension, Rowling herself — may have. For now, he plans to continue the tours, but his company, Street Historians, is at least pointedly hitting pause for Pride month.
"I will be replacing my Potter tours with additional LGBTQ tours," he writes, "just because it’s really funny."
Kai Schreiber and Liev Schreiber attend the "Stranger Things: The First Shadow" Broadway Opening Night at Nederlander Theatre on April 22, 2025 in New York City.
Mike Coppola/Getty Images
Liev Schreiber is opening up about his trans daughter and how proud he is of her for being “a fighter.”
In a new interview with Variety, Schreiber said that his daughter Kai never had to come out as trans to him and her mom, actress Naomi Watts, because they already knew.
“Kai was always who Kai is,” Schreiber told the publication.
The biggest change came when she asked to switch her pronouns, “But I suppose the most profound moment was her asking us to change her pronouns. To be honest with you, it didn’t feel like that big of a deal to me only because Kai had been so feminine for so long,” he said.
Less than two weeks after Robert De Niro spoke publicly for the first time about his “love and support” for his trans daughter Airyn, Schreiber opened up for the first time and said that he couldn’t be more proud of this daughter’s confidence in her identity.
“Kai is such a fighter,” the 57-year-old Ray Donovan actor said. “It’s important that she goes, ‘Hey, I am trans,’ and, ‘Look at me.’”
Watts is also supportive of their trans daughter. When Kai turned 14, Watts showed her love by posting a photo and birthday message on Instagram, "My darling Kai. Happy Birthday to you! Your fierce talent, sharp mind, hilarious wit and gentle soul fills my heart every day.”
Kai may not have had a big coming out experience with her parents, but she put herself out on the world stage back in March when she made her modeling debit by walking the runway for Valentino and then starring in one of the fashion brand’s ad campaigns.
Schreiber also had advice for other parents out there of children who have come out as trans. “I don’t know the answer for your kid,” he said. “I don’t know what it’s like for you to be a trans dad. I don’t know how you were brought up. I don’t know what religion you encountered or what your spirituality is. And for me to tell you what I think about my kid feels like an overstep.”
But he reminded parents that trans or not, raising a teenager is challenging.
“I guess if I would say anything to someone who’s having trouble with their trans teen or their adolescent trans kid it’s ‘Teenagers are a headache. They’re hard,’” Schreiber explained. “It doesn’t matter whether they’re trans or not because you’ll come out of this. But a trans teen is going to be a teen. They’re such a pain so much of the time, and Kai is as feisty and outspoken as they come.”
The father of two also acknowledged that the trans community is under attack from right-wing politicians, but said he doesn’t like to “dwell” on the negativity.
“I don’t like to dwell on it too much,” he said. “To some degree, I feel like I don’t want to overcook that fear or that anxiety. There’s enough in the world to be anxious and afraid about.”
But that hasn’t stopped him from supporting the trans community. Kai will join her dad and his wife Taylor at a gala on May 9 for the Ali Forney Center’s A Place at the Table, which is a center that provides housing and support for homeless LGBTQ+ youth.
Schreiber explained that this is a way to raise money for the organization and support “a community of people who don’t have great resources, who don’t have access to help, who aren’t being protected and looked after by their families.”
“These are people who are being rejected. These are people who are experiencing the harshest version of humanity that we can offer, and some of them are not surviving it,” he shared.
From left: Jena Malone, Jodie Foster, Jay-Z, and Kendall and Kylie Jenner.Featureflash photo Agency/Shutterstock; Tinseltown/Shutterstock; Tinseltown/Shutterstock; Taylor Hill/FilmMagic
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