Jonathan Branfman, visiting assistant professor in FMST and GSWS, has published the LGBT children's book You Be You! The Kid's Guide to Gender, Sexuality & Family. This illustrated book helps kids 7-12 understand diverse genders, sexualities, and families. Recently featured in William & Mary's list of new faculty books, You Be You also teaches kids about intersectionality, privilege, and allyship. Twenty translated editions include Arabic, Russian, Spanish, and Chinese, and the Arabic edition was recently covered by the Queer Arabs Podcast. Motivated by his experience teaching Gender Studies, Jonathan wrote this book to make feminist education more accessible beyond the university. In Gender Studies classrooms, young adults often unlearn harmful myths about gender and sexuality that they've spent their whole lives absorbing, like the myth that trans people are mentally ill or that only straight people can make good parents. Instead, Jonathan hopes that You Be You can help more children learn accurate, destigmatizing information from the earliest age.
diverse genders, sexualities, and families. Recently featured in William & Mary's list of new faculty books, You Be You also teaches kids about intersectionality, privilege, and allyship. Twenty translated editions include Arabic, Russian, Spanish, and Chinese, and the Arabic edition was recently covered by the Queer Arabs Podcast. Motivated by his experience teaching Gender Studies, Jonathan wrote this book to make feminist education more accessible beyond the university. In Gender Studies classrooms, young adults often unlearn harmful myths about gender and sexuality that they've spent their whole lives absorbing, like the myth that trans people are mentally ill or that only straight people can make good parents. Instead, Jonathan hopes that You Be You can help more children learn accurate, destigmatizing information from the earliest age.
