Jacob Anderson-Minshall (born September 14, 1967) is an American author.

Early life and education

Assigned as female at birth, Anderson-Minshall was raised

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

on a farm outside of Inkom, Idaho. He cites his mother's influence in

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...

issues sparking his interest since preschool, and went with his mom to

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

rallies and campaigned for the Equal Rights Amendment. In high school, he spent a year in Germany as part of the

Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange The Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX, German name: ''Parlamentarisches Patenschafts-Programm'' or ''PPP'') is a youth student exchange program founded in 1983. The program, which is jointly sponsored by the United States Congress and the G ...

Program. He also participated in anti-nuclear protests. In college, Anderson-Minshall was active in the

anti-Apartheid movement The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), was a British organisation that was at the centre of the international movement opposing the South African apartheid system and supporting South Africa's non-White population who were persecuted by the policie ...

opposing South Africa's system of apartheid and supporting South Africa's non-whites, and marched in support of women's reproductive rights. He received a B.A. in Peace and Global Studies from

Earlham College Earlham College is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Indiana. The college was established in 1847 by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and has a strong focus on Quaker values such as integrity, a commitment to peace and social ...

in Richmond, Indiana and a master's degree in Communication from

Idaho State University , mottoeng = "The truth will set you free" , established = , former_names = Academy of Idaho(1901–1915)Idaho Technical Institute(1915–1927) University of Idaho—Southern Branch(1927–1947)Idaho Stat ...

Pocatello Pocatello () is the county seat of and largest city in Bannock County, with a small portion on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in neighboring Power County, in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Idaho. It is the principal city of the P ...

Career

After graduating he canvassed for anti-nuclear group SANE/FREEZE and other efforts before focusing on lesbian and gays rights. Anderson-Minshall later passed the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

's law enforcement Ranger Academy becoming a park ranger in the 1990s patrolling, the "forested lands above Silicon Valley, bay and ocean-side parks and rolling hills north of San Francisco." He was disabled in a work-related injury in 2003; at which point Anderson-Minshall returned to writing. In 1994, with his lesbian partner

Diane Anderson-Minshall Diane Anderson-Minshall (born March 19, 1968) is an American journalist and author best known for writing about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender subjects. She is the first female CEO of Pride Media. She is also the editorial director of ' ...

and several friends, Anderson-Minshall co-founded the lesbian magazine '' Girlfriends'', where he was the Circulation Director and wrote articles for several years. As a freelance journalist, he has focused on environmental and LGBT issues and has written for numerous publications like ''

Bitch Bitch may refer to: * A female dog or other canine * Bitch (slang), a vulgar slur for a human female Bitch or bitches may also refer to: Arts and media Film and television * ''The Bitch'' (film), a 1979 film starring Joan Collins * ''Bitc ...

'' and ''

Curve In mathematics, a curve (also called a curved line in older texts) is an object similar to a line, but that does not have to be straight. Intuitively, a curve may be thought of as the trace left by a moving point. This is the definition that ...

'' magazines, SheWired.com and ''

Windy City Times ''Windy City Times'' is an LGBT newspaper in Chicago that published its first issue on September 26, 1985. History ''Windy City Times'' was founded in 1985 by Jeff McCourt, Bob Bearden, Drew Badanish and Tracy Baim, who started Sentury Publicat ...

'' and ''Glamour'' From 2005-2009, Anderson-Minshall authored the syndicated column "TransNation," which ran in LGBT publications like ''

San Francisco Bay Times The San Francisco Bay Times, the first LGBTQ newspaper founded jointly and equally by gay men and women, launched in 1978 and remains one of the largest and oldest LGBTQ newspapers in Northern California. The business includes the 24/7 live-stream ...

'', ''Windy City Times'', and Boston's '' Bay Windows''. In 2016, with his wife, Anderson-Minshall launched the editorial services company Retrograde Communications, which took over the editorial services for ''Plus'' magazine (for those affected by HIV) and HIVPlusMag.com from

Here Media Here Media Inc. is an LGBT-oriented media company. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the company produces and distributes niche content focused on LGBT consumers. History Here Media was founded in 2009 by Paul Colichman and Stephen P. Jarchow when He ...

. A year later the company took over the editorial for the print edition of the LGBT news magazine '' The Advocate'' now owned by Pride Media. Anderson-Minshall now serves as the deputy editor of ''Plus'' and the deputy editor of ''The Advocate''. Anderson-Minshall and his wife have co-authored the Blind Eye mystery series, including ''Blind Curves'', ''Blind Leap'' and 2008

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

finalist ''Blind Faith'', published by

Bold Strokes Books Bold Strokes Books is a midsized independent publisher headquartered in Cambridge, New York that offers a diverse collection of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer general and genre fiction. Their list includes romance, mystery/intri ...

. Anderson-Minshall has essays in a number of anthologies including ''Men Speak Out: Views on Gender, Sex and Power'' (edited by

Shira Tarrant Shira Tarrant is an American writer on gender politics, feminism, sexuality, pop culture, and masculinity. Tarrant's books include '' When Sex Became Gender'', ''Men and Feminism'', ''Men Speak Out: Views on Gender'', ''Sex, and Power'', '' Fas ...

) and ''Trans People in Love''. His first short story, "Chinook," was published in the 2010 Lambda Literary Award finalist anthology ''Portland Queer: Tales of the Rose City.'' In 2008, Anderson-Minshall co-founded and co-hosts the talk radio show ''Gender Blender'' in the United States, on

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

KBOO KBOO is a non-profit organization, listener-funded FM Community radio station broadcasting from Portland, Oregon. The station's mission is to serve groups in its listening area who are underrepresented on other local radio stations and to provi ...

. In 2015, Anderson-Minshall became the first openly transgender author to win a Goldie award from the

Golden Crown Literary Society The Golden Crown Literary Society (GCLS) is an American non-profit organization established in February 2004 as a literary and educational organization for the study, discussion, enjoyment, and enhancement of Lesbian literature. In 2020, in order ...

; he shared the award for best creative non-fiction book with his wife

for ''Queerly Beloved: A Love Story Across Genders''. In 2018, Anderson-Minshall released his first novel, ''Swimming Upstream'', through Transgress Press.

Personal

After coming out as lesbian after college, Anderson-Minshall further came out as

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

in 2004 and began gender transitioning. He met his wife Diane at a

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

pride rally in college, and they married March 19, 2006."The Trouble When Jane Becomes Jack"
''The New York Times'', PAUL VITELLO, Published: August 20, 2006

References

External links

Anderson-Minshall.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson-Minshall, Jacob 1967 births American feminist writers Earlham College alumni Idaho State University alumni American LGBT journalists LGBT people from Idaho Living people Male feminists Transfeminists Transgender men Transgender novelists American mystery writers American male novelists People from Bannock County, Idaho Novelists from Idaho 21st-century American novelists American LGBT novelists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers