Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

All the Young Men by Ruth Coker Burks

9 reviews

cestnicka's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

4.0

This was a really good memoir! I loved learning that there are still good people out there and it's restored my faith in humanity. 

All the young men is a memoir about Ruth Coker burks, who happened to be at the right place at the right time during the aids epidemic in the southern United States. She went into a dying man's hospital room and opened herself up to him when no one else would go near aids patients without a medical spacesuit on. This one act of kindness ended up taking her life into a direction it never would have otherwise. She became a lifeline and spokesperson for people living and dying with aids. 

Reading about this from her POV was really interesting. She was a church woman. And I was surprised that she was as open as she was. I am not a huge fan of church and religion due to their treatment of those who are different, so to see her be so kind and and brave really made me open my eyes. 

I loved learning about her story, and her kindness, bravery, and compassion will be something I always think about!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, and Homophobia

karac15's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Transphobia, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Grief, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Car accident, Hate crime, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Cancer, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicide attempt

helloits_jen's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

This was a pick for my book club and I’m so glad it was as I never would have picked it up otherwise! As someone who was born in the late 90s, the AIDS epidemic is something that is so foreign to me that I struggle to picture what it was actually like to live through. My heart broke over and over again for these men and it’s scary to think how recent this was happening. More than anything, that’s what I took away from the book - an eye opening story of what it was actually like. I really liked the way it was written - it seemed more fast paced than some non-fiction books - and I’m glad I took this opportunity to read about Ruth’s work and how heartbreakingly sad the lives of men were at that time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Hate crime, Outing, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical trauma, Medical content, Xenophobia, Vomit, Terminal illness, Sexual harassment, Grief, Excrement, Death, Chronic illness, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, and Religious bigotry

pickashelf's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Homophobia, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Abandonment and Medical content

bookishpip's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

What a stunning book.

I’ve read quite a few memoirs - it’s one of my favourite genres - but although I generally enjoy memoirs, very few are so impactful that I experience strong emotional responses throughout. This is one.

Dubbed as the modern day Florence Nightingale, this is the account of a woman who, visiting a friend in hospital, comes across a door with a red x on it and someone inside crying for help, to deaf ears. She goes inside and meets a young man in his final moments, succumbing to AIDS. This was the catalyst for an enormous shift in her life as she begins to work to fight for the rights and fair treatment of those with HIV and AIDS, providing essential and human help to sufferers along the way.

I really experienced such a rollercoaster of emotions with this one. Although the content is largely heavy and sad (yet incredibly important), there are moments of humour and sass that just make me desperate to be friends with this lady. The selflessness of her actions and the way in which she navigates the world is truly such an inspiration. 

Honestly, this was such a remarkable read. Highly, highly recommended.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Homophobia, Terminal illness, and Transphobia

faeriekit's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

I was recommended this book on an internet post about the author's contributions to the community of Gay men in a time when no one else was willing to step up and help the dying. It's a powerful book about discrimination and the devastation not only of a community, but the devastation wrought on those with the empathy to try and help where they could. I can see why she's hailed as a hero. This is a touching, powerful narrative from a woman who saw love where she looked. Reading this felt like having a bird's eye view on the root of the trauma in the LGBTQ community today. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Transphobia, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, and Racism

Moderate: Death of parent

happiestwhenreading's review

emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

If there is one time period in history that completely breaks my heart, it has to be the way the AIDS crisis of the 1980s was handled. Not only were many queer people shunned from their families and loved ones, but then we had a government that refused to acknowledge what was happening in regards to HIV and AIDS. Queer people were left to die alone, stripped of their dignity and without an ounce of love or compassion from so many in the medical fields.

Thank goodness for people like Ruth Coker Burks…a woman who selflessly inserted herself into a crisis with her whole heart and soul. What was a chance encounter with a gay man on his death bed in a hospital that treated him like a leper, turned into a calling that changed Burks’ life forever. She became a tireless advocate for people with AIDS; she loved them when no one else would, she gave them dignity in their death, and she advocated for the entire community to help them get funds and resources.

This is an incredible memoir – one of the best I’ve ever read. Not only do I admire Burks for her work within the AIDS context, but I was beyond impressed with her resilience, determination, and attitude in the face of so many challenges. If I could have just an ounce of her moxie, I’d be set!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Medical content, Terminal illness, and Transphobia

raelemkesprung's review

emotional hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Transphobia

kayleyhyde's review

emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Transphobia, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Vomit, Mental illness, and Chronic illness