| Gail Kramer | |
|---|---|
 Gail Kramer (right) and Betty Crow in 2005 | |
| Born | 1969 |
| Pen name | Helen Boyd |
| Occupation | Academic and author |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | The City College of New York |
| Subject | Autobiography, Transgender Liberation |
| Website | |
| www | |
Helen Boyd is the pen name of Gail Kramer (born 1969), an American author, academic, and activist. Helen is the author two books about her relationship with her trans partner. Her partner is referred to in both books as "Betty Crow", though this is also a pseudonym. Helen is on staff at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin as the I.D.E.A.S. Division Affinity Groups Coordinator and PRIDE Center Coordinator.
Biography
Helen Boyd graduated Phi Beta Kappa from City College of New York in 1995 with a degree in literature. She has been a guest speaker at trans conferences, including the IFGE, First Event, Fantasia Fair, Southern Comfort, the Chicago Be-All, and also at special events like Trans Issues Week at Yale University. Helen and Betty have spoken about LGBT marriage on PBS's In The Life. As of 2011, she is also a Lecturer of Gender and Freshman Studies at Lawrence University.
Boyd's activism was recognized in 2020 when she was named a "Champion of Pride" by The Advocate.
Boyd formerly ran the mHB Forums, a message board for the discussion of crossdressing- and transgender-related topics.
Bibliography
My Husband Betty
My Husband Betty (2003, Seal Press) is a non-fiction book by author Helen Boyd about crossdressers and their partners. It was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award.
Unlike many other books about the topic of crossdressing, it is written specifically from the partner's point of view and takes a distinctively feminist approach. Although the author's spouse was a crossdresser at the time of publication, she now considers herself "trans", a word chosen specifically because it was less well defined (and therefore less restrictive) than "transgender".
The book was reviewed in Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, and Publishers Weekly.
She's Not The Man I Married
Boyd's second book is She's Not the Man I Married: My Life with a Transgender Husband (Seal Press, 2007). An excerpt of this book was featured in On the Issues magazine.
The book was reviewed in The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, The Indypendent, and Publishers Weekly.
See also
References
- Seal Press '"Helen Boyd's Author Page" Archived 2013-07-30 at the Wayback Machine, accessed February 13, 2011
- "Helen Boyd Kramer | Lawrence University". www.lawrence.edu. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
- "First Event 2007". Transgender American Veterans' Association. Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
- "Gender Revolution". Inthelifetv.org. July 2007. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011.
- Helen Boyd (September 6, 2004). "PBS show – correction". (en)gender.
- "Lawrence University Gender Studies Faculty". Archived from the original on March 8, 2013.
- "The Advocate's 2020 Champions of Pride Come to Life in AR Experience".
- "mHB Forums". Archived from the original on 2009-07-01. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
- "Lambda Literary Awards".
- Scott, Whitney (1 February 2004). "Boyd, Helen. My Husband Betty". Booklist. Vol. 100, no. 11. p. 937. Gale A113377637.
- "My Husband Betty". Kirkus Reviews. November 15, 2003. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
- "My Husband Betty: Love, Sex, and Life with a Crossdresser by Helen Boyd". Publishers Weekly. December 22, 2003. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
- "On the Issues". 29 July 2009.
- Bader, Eleanor J. (July 9, 2007). "Boyish Girl Meets Girlish Boy: A Review of "She's not the Man I Married"". The Indypendent. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
- "She's Not the Man I Married: My Life with a Transgender Husband". Publishers Weekly. January 29, 2007. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
- Schlichenmeyer, Terri (July–August 2007). "A gender dilemma". The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide. 14 (4). Gale A166095073.