Making Mr. Wright: Memoirs of a Black Female-To-Male Transsexual

By Reno Prestige Wright

Making Mr. Wright is a rare look into the spiritual journey of a black FTM transman. It offers a dangerous and heart wrenching depiction of how a young black female navigated through poverty, social oppression, gender dysphoria, and suicidal tendencies, ultimately finding Jesus along the way. This book starts at the end and ends with a return to the beginning.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Mar 14, 2013
• ISBN: 9781452567150

Reno Prestige Wright

Reno Prestige Wright has been an activist for the LGBT community for over sixteen years. He has participated in landmark projects and historical events such as GLSEN educational documentary “Teaching Respect for All” and more recently Wolfgang Busch’s ballroom documentary, “How Do I Look.” In Philadelphia, Reno is considered the father of the Transman Movement and has received multiple awards for his service contributions. Reno now serves as coordinator of North Penn Baptist Church Outreach Ministry, the first program targeting sexual and gender minorities in the church’s 117-year history. Reno sincerely wants to discredit the belief that God doesn’t love LGBT people. This was the basis for his suicidal tendencies, and it is also a huge lie! He wants to share his story so that anyone who questions the love of God—including and especially gays—will know that God loves them, too. Reno lived in one of the toughest neighborhoods in Philadelphia, surrounded by drugs, poverty, and violence; living the lie that was his life was a tricky maneuver for a child. From Frederick Douglass Elementary School to Neumann University, Reno hit all the loonie bins, jail cells, and drug houses in between. This is the beginning of the true story of Reno Prestige Wright, father of the Philadelphia Transman Movement.

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Copyright © 2013 RENO PRESTIGE WRIGHT.

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The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

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ISBN: 978-1-4525-6715-0 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4525-6714-3 (sc)

Balboa Press rev. date: 3/13/2013

Contents

Introduction

Chapter One We Fall Down

Chapter Two We Get Up

INTRODUCTION

Who would be interested in reading the account of how I’ve come to realize God’s presence in my life? The answer: anyone looking for God’s presence in their lives too. If you don’t know for sure, then at least have the courage to look where you may think He is not. Sometimes it takes a fresh pair of eyes to see the same situation differently. Life’s problems are not going to change. Humanity is humanity and the problems associated with being human are the same now as they were when humanity began.

The Bible covers 1500 years of human and supernatural experiences. If you read and understand it, then you too can learn some things. But, if you don’t understand it then there are other options, such as reading books like this, which may help you. Everyone doesn’t relate to the desire to read and study the Bible. Everyone doesn’t relate to the desire to attend church on a regular basis. Those who don’t know the benefits cannot fully appreciate this behavior…and that’s okay! If one doesn’t participate in these types of activities that doesn’t make them a bad person.

However, if you can relate to being in some terrible situations or making bad decisions trying to find a way out; then this book is for you. If you can relate to feeling trapped between a rock and a hard place; then this book is for you. If you have ever been overwhelmed by an unjust society, with unjust rules that award conformity to outdated principles; then this book is for you. Can you identify with someone having the personal conviction to fight against and end hate-mongering in our churches? Can you understand being afraid, alone, and angry? How would you handle feeling confused, withdrawn, and unsure? Is there anyone in your heart who is an outcast that has been rejected from society and unloved? Are they depressed, diseased, or unstable? If you know someone like this; but especially if any of these aspects are personal, then this book is definitely for you! For I am, and was almost all of these things, and like me, the Lord can lift you up. I was deep in the depths of a mental hell when Jesus Christ saved me. He came to claim my soul from Satan in the midst of a recent suicide attempt. He can do the same for you.

Someone asked me during this process, why I was writing a book. Every time I think about the answer, I realize that there is only one true reply: I want to help people avoid the mistakes that I made. I was one of the people that didn’t realize God’s presence in my young life. I’ve had my share of pain and suffering throughout my existence which has exposed me to a variety of things within this world. I have learned some hard lessons, and I hope that if anyone finds themselves in similar situations; they can navigate through the negativity as safely as possible. I feel it is my duty to tell my story and make it available for others to learn from…just as Christ commands. This is especially true, as far as necessity for the young person who feels lost without accessible guidance or answers. In my youth there was no one to help me process my innermost feelings of anger and confusion. I had no frame of reference to eliminate my inquiries or get results that were applicable to my circumstance. I was Black, gay, and female; and of the three I was certain only of being Black. Socially people didn’t engage in controversial topics such as sexuality and religion. Except for condemning someone for questioning either, no one o ever spoke of it much. This can leave an impressionable, unguided youngster to wander the mean streets of the big city searching for satisfaction…like a sheep to slaughter!

I’m writing this book to help as many people as I can, avoid getting their answers the wrong way. I ran away from my problems instead of facing them; only to wind up facing them again. I hope that this material can help give someone the strength to face theirs. Recognizing however, that the battle has just begun; this document should be a helpmate in the struggle. I pray that by sharing my story, anyone who reads it –gay or not- will know that they are not alone. Jesus Christ is always with us, whether we know it or not.

I am writing to give a voice to the voiceless. My message is that God loves Gays, too! The struggles that existed with my personal spirituality and my gender and sexual identification have plagued and haunted me since I was six years old. There was a direct contrast between what I was feeling on the inside, as young black female and what I was told I MUST feel by my culture and society. This contrast literally drove me insane. I tried to find answers on my own, and I looked in all the wrong places. I tried to bury my problems like many people do, only for them to re-surface. I heard a therapist say, You take you wherever you go and I learned that one cannot run from themselves.

When mental health issues become social issues and social issues become behavioral issues – one