We will be hosting the first offering as an in-person book discussion at UUCC across four Mondays: May 12 & 19, June 2 & 9 The discussions will be held from 7 to 8:30pm. Register by email to [email protected]
This group is for any adult and is capped at 10 participants. Childcare can be provided with advanced notice when registering.
The Unitarian Universalist Association selected Authentic Selves as the book for UUs and their congregations to read and explore in 2024-25. When we do a Unitarian Universalist Common Read together, we share in reflection, learning, and action. The Common Read can take us on a powerful journey into what it means to be human and accountable in a world filled with both pain and joy.
The Common Read of Authentic Selves: Celebrating Trans and Nonbinary People and Their Families is a sweeping compilation of life stories and portraits of trans and nonbinary people, as well as their partners, parents, children, siblings, and chosen family members. Through interviews and photo portraits, the subjects of Authentic Selves invite readers into their real lives–their revelations, challenges, joys, and networks of support. This year’s UU Common Read discussion materials invite participants to tell their own stories and form a deeper understanding of how their gender identity has shaped their lives.
Authentic Selves, is more than an introduction to gender identity. It will be useful to those seeking to promote our shared values: our places within an interdependent web of existence; the inherent worth and dignity of all people, whatever their identity or life experiences; and justice and compassion in how we treat one other and ourselves.
You don’t need to read the whole book before the first meeting in order to participate in the discussion AND you do need to read several of the portraits of people before each meeting in order to participate in the discussions.
Copies of Authentic Selves are available for purchase in Fellowship Hall for $18.50 beginning April 20th. They are also available online in paperback or ebook from the UUA InSpirit Bookstore or at bookshop.org
Hear an interview with the author, Peggy Gillespie
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