If there's one overarching theme of Philippa Punchard's "Gender Pioneers: A Celebration of Transgender, Non-Binary and Intersex Icons" it's that what many consider to be a contemporary "trend" or liberal invention has, in fact, been with us throughout the centuries.

In other words, being transgender, non-binary and/or intersex is very real and "Gender Pioneers" does an excellent job of presenting the simple, straightforward (but far too brief) biographies of icons from throughout the ages. Some of these icons will be familiar while others will be more of a revelation of shorts.

The book is pleasingly illustrated to bring to life these icons and Punchard does a wonderful job of getting to the heart of their stories. "Gender Pioneers" is, in fact, a fairly straightforward book. Punchard largely presents the material in a matter-of-fact manner and "Gender Pioneers" largely reads like the relatively brief, mostly 1-2 pages, bios for a wide variety of transgender, non-binary and intersex icons from past and present.

Punchard also includes near book's end a sort of cultural history and celebration of transgender, non-binary and intersex icons and this alone is worthy of review, research, and further discussion. I found this informative as it provides discussion points for those who wish to call being transgender, non-binary and/or intersex some sort of liberal invention.

Punchard basically says "Nope, it's not" and then provides the proof.

"Gender Pioneers" is a relatively quick, easy read and is educational, engaging, and an important read for those who wish to understand and celebrate the transgender, non-binary and intersex icons of past, present, and most definitely the future.

This book was very informative and included information about lots of trans people who I had never heard of. I appreciate the inclusion of people from many different time periods, because we don't often hear of trans people existing before the 20th century. I also appreciate how respectful the author was of names and pronouns, considering that most of the people covered did not have the vocabulary and understanding of gender terms. It can be difficult to respect modern understandings of gender and pronouns while writing about older understandings, and I think that was done well. Also, I loved the varied art styles that were used.