I didn’t know how they would react to my identities, especially when many people in my family have made anti-queer and anti-trans statements in the past. I told one family member that I’m queer, trans, and nonbinary, but I didn’t want to tell anyone else. I didn’t come out-not to everyone, anyway. A person can be honest about their truth and their identity with themselves, without ever needing to tell anyone else.' As Callender so eloquently puts it, 'celebration and self-love can be quiet, internal, without saying a word to the world.

Whether one does so publicly or privately is up to the individual.

But Callender suggests that we should instead put more pressure on all people-particularly those who are straight or cisgendered-to create a space that's safer to do so, especially for people of color, who are more vulnerable to violence.Ĭoming out should, first and foremost, be a celebration of the self.

We put a lot of pressure on queer and trans people to tell us who they really are. Callender debuted their new name when announcing their next young adult novel Felix Ever After in May 2019.Click here for more stories. Their fantasy novel, Queen of the Conquered, is the 2020 winner of the World Fantasy Award and King and the Dragonflies won the 2020 National Book Award for Young People's Literature.Ĭallender is Black, queer, trans, and uses they/them and he/him pronouns. Kacen Callender is a Saint Thomian author of children's fiction and fantasy, best known for their Stonewall Book Award and Lambda Literary Award-winning middle grade debut Hurricane Child. Callender debuted their new name when announcing their next young adult novel Felix Ever After in May 2019. Callender is Black, queer, trans, and uses they/them and he/him pronouns. Their fantasy novel, Queen of the Conquered, is the 2020 winner of the World Fantasy Award and King and the Dragonflies won the 2020 National Book Award for Young People's Literature.

Kacen callender felix ever after