# Casa Susanna: The Story of the First Trans Network in the United States, 1959-1968 - Hardcover

by **Isabelle Bonnet** (Author), **Sophie Hackett** (Author), **Susan Stryker** (Introduction by)

In the 1950s and '60s, an underground network of transgender women, gender nonconforming people, and men who dressed as women found refuge at a modest house in the Catskills, New York. Known as Casa Susanna, the house provided a safe place to express their true selves and live for a few days as they had always dreamed--dressed as and living as women without fear of being incarcerated or institutionalized for their self-expression.

_Casa Susanna_ opens up that now-lost world. The photographs--mostly discovered by chance in a New York flea market in 2004--chronicle the experiences of these women in states of relaxation, experimentation, connection, and joy. All of this was made possible by Susanna Valenti who--on her own journey toward womanhood--created Casa Susanna, a protected space where others could do the same. Supplementing the images, excerpts from the magazine _Transvestia_ record a different kind of space where those who had been outcast by a rigidly binary society could connect.

The people who came to Casa Susanna found a space where they could explore and celebrate their own and each other's femininity, as they could not elsewhere. Their creations are also a reminder that there were, and still are, many ways to explore the boundaries of gender.

**Number of Pages:** 480

**Dimensions:** 1.24 x 10.05 x 7.15 IN

**Publication Date:** May 28, 2024

## Details

- **Price:** 55.0 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 55.00 USD | In stock |

## Images

- Casa Susanna: The Story of the First Trans Network in the United States, 1959-1968 - Hardcover

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