The FTM Book Club

by Nell Klein

Nate came out as a trans man years ago. Confidently. He’s made friends, had lovers, created community as a proud trans man. Then, he joins a book club, not realizing it is a “space for only people who are women, nonbinary, or femmes.” He starts to question whether his proud identity is his true one, whether it is proud at all, and if he cares to come clean and lose the one bit of structure in his life that the...

Nate came out as a trans man years ago. Confidently. He’s made friends, had lovers, created community as a proud trans man. Then, he joins a book club, not realizing it is a “space for only people who are women, nonbinary, or femmes.” He starts to question whether his proud identity is his true one, whether it is proud at all, and if he cares to come clean and lose the one bit of structure in his life that the book club has given him. The FTM Book Club asks: what is queer masculinity? How do we stay sure of ourselves? And: How real is community, if we don’t understand our own?

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The FTM Book Club

Character Information

  • Nate
    Trans. Unsure of what exact label to use. Scared of manhood and masculinity. Scared of asking for what he wants. Unable to be direct. He thinks he's probably maybe, well sort of kind of got it all figured out. He doesn't. Has shame he needs to work through. In the book club. Must be played by a transmasculine actor.
    21-25
    Questioning Trans Man
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Male
  • Finn
    Trans man. Nate's good friend from college. Direct and strong in his convictions. Deeply loyal. Could likely do anything he sets his mind to because of his smarts and his drive. Maybe in love with Nate a bit. Must be played by a transmasculine actor.
    21-25
    Trans man
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Male
  • Rachel
    Cis Femme Lesbian. Book Club member. English Major. Rachel is a good person, or really wants to be. She wants to be right and know everything, but this desire betrays her as she doesn't always know what she's talking about. Slightly ignorant, overall sweet.
    20-25
    a lesbian woman
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Grey
    Cis gay. Flamboyant in a soft way. A Polyamorous player. As opposed to Rachel, he doesn't think he knows everything, but because of his lived experience in queer community, he knows more than he thinks.
    20-30
    Man
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s,
      30s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Male
  • Cindy
    Butch Lesbian. Book Club President. Loving and inquisitive. A mentor figure.
    40+
    butch lesbian
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      40s,
      50s,
      60s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female,
      Non-binary