Skinchangers in LGBTIQA Community is an book written in 2012 by the late LGBT wixen activist Ema Glowerfield. It’s was Glowerfield’s last published work before her tragic car accident in November of that year. It is was edited by her wife, Josefina Chavez, and published by StarWords Publications in 2014. The book contained selections of interviews conducted by Glowerfield and the Wixen LGBT Organization, Shifting Hearts Visibility Network.
Sales of the book was successful, and the New York Wixen Chronicle reported that it hit the bestsellers list within a few weeks of release. Proceeds for the book were donated to the Maria Blanco Foundation.
CONTENT
Skinchangers in LGBTIQA Community contains a history of the evolving experiences of shapeshifters in the wixen LGBT community. The book also contains selections of interviews collected by Glowerfield in her years of working with the SHVN. Glowerfield writes about her experiences about advocating for social awareness for the wixen LGBT community, and her realizations about the exclusion of Skinchangers from these spaces. “The Wixen LGBT narrative has always gone hand in hand with the human movement”, she wrote, “but I always saw skinchangers hanging on the edges, many of them creature and/or gender shifters, and I thought to myself - Who are they? What’s their story? ”
Other contributors to this collection is famous Skinchanger Actress, Terry Gao, and activist Margarita Black Bear. “I’ve always felt different, fluid in my own skin”, Gao wrote, “but when I tried to enter my local trans community, I was always brushed off because of being able to physically change myself. Few gave a thought that it wasn’t that simple”. Black Bear comments in her interview, “It is an old prejudice in the trans community. Non-shifters assume that because shape-shifters can change their gender and appearance, it means that their difficulties are over, when that couldn’t be further from the truth. Shifting is multifaceted. From the humanism faced by beast shifters, to the persecution faced by morphers, to the constant change unbalancing creature spirits; gender and sexuality and identity is something all all skinchangers wrestle with. It is an imperative that the wixen LGBT community welcomes them into a safe place to deal with these issues.”
PUBLICATION HISTORY
Skinchangers in the LGBTIQA Community was first published in hardcover format in 2014. There was also an gembook made available for purchase that year. StarWords Publications has an audiobook in the planning stages and has been slated for release next year. Celebrated songcrafter Michael Flowright has accepted the offer of narrating the audiobook, and there have been calls for a live performance of several of the interviews.
Reception
The New York Wixen Chronicle reported that Skinchangers in the LGBTIQA Community reached number thirteen on the bestsellers lists on the first week of publication. By April 2, 2014 the book has sold 24,000 copies. Gerald Etchings from the Los Angeles Hex wrote, “Skinchangers in the LGBTIQA Community features an intimate look into an issue that is rarely talked about but dearly needs to be heard”.