Join Raquel Willis for an inspiring conversation

Published 4 days ago • 2 min read

It’s paperback launch day for author and activist Raquel Willis’s memoir, The Risk It Takes to Bloom: On Life and Liberation!

Parents of Trans Youth is hosting Raquel for a live conversation about the book on June 30 at 8pm EDT, and I want you there, Reader.

“

Structured in seasons — rooting, budding, pruning, and blooming — this memoir is not a story of linear triumph, but of ongoing transformation. With lyrical precision and moral clarity, Willis examines what liberation truly demands: not certainty, but courage; not perfection, but truth; not simply survival, but the risk of a fully lived life.

— St. Martin's Griffin (publisher)

I’ve met Raquel a couple of times, first when we were both testifying against the Texas bill banning transgender people from using public facilities that align with their gender. She had traveled hundreds of miles with other Gender Liberation Movement volunteers to testify and to stage a bathroom sit-in in the Capitol’s restrooms.

The next time I saw with Raquel was on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court this past January. She was the emcee for a rally outside the Court during hearings in the West Virginia v B.P.J. and Little v Hecox cases, which focused on whether transgender girls can play sports with other girls, and my husband and I were two of the rally speakers.

As "a proud Southern, Black, trans, queer woman," Raquel’s dedication to fight for trans equality and liberation is impressive. She is a risk-taker and a truth-teller.

I hope you can make it. Click the button below to register for the free event.

Be sure to buy her book to get the most out of the event! Buying through 👉 this Bookshop.org link 👈 benefits independent bookstores and Parents of Trans Youth at no extra cost to you. Also available anywhere books are sold.

Mandy Giles (she/her)
Founder and CEO
Parents of Trans Youth

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Parents of Trans Youth provides learning, support, and community to parents and caregivers of transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive kids.

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