Join Charis and Southern Fried Queer Pride in welcoming southern gender non-conforming activist and author, Jacob Tobia, to Atlanta to discuss their memoir: Sissy: A Coming of Gender Story. Jacob will be interviewed by Atlanta activist and writer Ocean Eerie.

ABOUT SISSY
A heart-wrenching, eye-opening, and giggle-inducing memoir about what it’s like to grow up not sure if you’re (a) a boy, (b) a girl, (c) something in between, or (d) all of the above.

From the moment a doctor in Raleigh, North Carolina, put “male” on Jacob Tobia’s birth certificate, everything went wrong. Alongside “male” came many other, far less neutral words: words that carried expectations about who Jacob was and who Jacob should be, words like “masculine” and “aggressive” and “cargo shorts” and “SPORTS!”

Naturally sensitive, playful, creative, and glitter-obsessed, as a child Jacob was given the label “sissy.” In the two decades that followed, “sissy” joined forces with “gay,” “trans,” “nonbinary,” and “too-queer-to-function” to become a source of pride and, today, a rallying cry for a much-needed gender revolution. Through revisiting their childhood and calling out the stereotypes that each of us have faced, Jacob invites us to rethink what we know about gender and offers a bold blueprint for a healed world–one free from gender-based trauma and bursting with trans-inclusive feminism.

From Jacob’s Methodist childhood and the hallowed halls of Duke University to the portrait-laden parlors of the White House, Sissy takes you on a gender odyssey you won’t soon forget. Writing with the fierce honesty, wildly irreverent humor, and wrenching vulnerability that have made them a media sensation, Jacob shatters the long-held notion that people are easily sortable into “men” and “women.” Sissy guarantees that you’ll never think about gender–both other people’s people’s and your own–the same way again.

ABOUT SOUTHERN FRIED QUEER PRIDE:

Southern Fried Queer Pride (SFQP) is an Atlanta-based queer and trans, arts and advocacy organization and festival celebrating the vibrant communities of the Southern United States. Cooked in the oils of our forequeers of the Compton Cafeteria Riots, the Stonewall Riots, ACT UP, and the many radical uprisings of years past, SFQP holds close to the political identity of being queer. SFQP is arts and politically based and serves to provide an annual intersectional and radically inclusive festival, along with monthly programming.

This event takes place at Charis Books and More in Little 5 Points. It is free and open to the public and there is a $5 suggested donation to support the work of Charis Circle, the non-profit programming arm of Charis Books. Sissy is available for pre-order through Charis Books now and will be available for purchase in-store at the event. Jacob will take questions and sign books.

Pre-Order Sissy today and pick up in the store:
https://www.charisbooksandmore.com/book/9780735218826

Charis Books is a fully wheelchair accessible space with on site van accessible parking. All of our shelves are on wheels and can be moved to provide additional access. Our bathroom is wheelchair accessible and gender neutral. Free ASL interpretation is available for most Charis Circle programs upon request. Please email info@chariscircle.org to request interpretation as early as possible. The space currently has a mix of florescent and non-florescent lighting. The space is not scent or chemical free but we do our best to minimize the use of chemicals and scents throughout the space. If you have specific questions about the space or how an event can be made more accessible to you, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@chariscircle.org.