Rebel Girls Celebrate Pride: 25 Tales of Self-Love and Community
FOREWORD CONTENTS 4 ALANA SMITH Skateboarder ALOK VAID-MENON Writer and Performance Artist BELLE BROCKHOFF Snowboarder 6 8 10 BILLIE JEAN KING Tennis Player CLARA BARKER Material Scientist DARCIE LITTLE BADGER 12 14 Earth Scientist and Writer 16 FIORE DE HENRIQUEZ Sculptor 18 FISCHER WELLS Student Athlete and Activist 20 HANNAH GADSBY Comedian 22 IREEN WÜST Speed Skater 24 Arachnologist JANELLE MONÁE Singer Songwriter Actor and Author LAUREN ESPOSITO 26 28 LAVERNE COX Actor and Activist 30 MARSHA P JOHNSON SYLVIA RIVERA Activists 32 MENAKA GURUSWAMY ARUNDHATI KATJU Lawyers 34 MOJI MARGARET SOLAR-WILSON Entrepreneurs 36 MOLLY PINTA Activist 38 PATRICIA CAMPOS DOMÉNECH Naval Aviator and Soccer Coach PATRICIA VELASQUEZ Actor and Model 40 42 PHYLL OPOKU-GYIMAH Activist 44 QUINN Soccer Player 46 SHE RENTÉ Dancer and Activist THE RESA GOH Paralympic Swimmer WILL LARKINS Activist X GONZÁLEZ Activist WRITE YOUR STORY DRAW YOUR PORTRAIT KEEP CELEBRATING TERMS TO KNOW THE ILLUSTRATORS ABOUT REBEL GIRLS 48 50 52 54 56 57 58 60 63 64
FOREWORD Dear Rebels My elementary school years were a magical time filled with adventure friendships and games But in middle school everything felt different I became more serious anxious and lonely I didn't feel comfortable in a body that was changing and turning me into a teenager I felt disconnected from my classmates who had been my closest friends until that point and everyone seemed to be more confident than me More than anything I could not understand why boys and girls were suddenly considered opposite teams I had spent my childhood climbing trees running in the olive groves skateboarding jumping in the river and pretending to be Raphael from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Why were all these things suddenly not considered appropriate for a girl Over and over again I found myself making choices that were different from the girls around me One cold winter day I met my cousin Angelica at a Carnival parade a celebration with costumes and masks Waiting for me on our town's main street she was wearing a look that was quite popular among teenagers at the time blue hair torn jeans metal chains military boots and black makeup Angelica was a perfect punk I will never forget the look on her face when she saw me approaching dressed like a chicken My mom took a picture of us which has since become a family heirloom Angelica looking perplexed and me smiling proud of my white onesie with a tiny red crest on top I have a feeling that my confusion would have been much easier to navigate had I held a book like this in my hands You see what I didn't know at the time was that there is not just one way to be a girl just as there is not one way to be a boy I didn't know that the range of possibilities in front of me was much greater than the rigid binary choice between male and female that seemed like the only option This book is a celebration of those possibilities That's why it's called Rebel Girls Celebrate Pride I am so proud of these stories because they
show the power of love in all its forms They will remind you that there is nothing wrong with who you are or who you want to be Thankfully lots has changed since I was a kid Today you have an entire vocabulary at your fingertips to describe the full spectrum of gender identity and sexual orientation Whether you're gay bisexual asexual heterosexual transgender pansexual lesbian queer cisgender or nonbinary this book will remind you of the liberating power of love and acceptance You will read the story of Menaka Guruswamy and Arundhati Katju who fought for years to overturn a law that discriminated against LGBTQ people in India You will find out about Laverne Cox who shattered Hollywood stereotypes and became the first openly trans woman to be nominated for an Emmy Award for acting You will discover athletes who have broken all sorts of barriers in soccer skateboarding swimming snowboarding and tennis All these stories prove that when freedom and love are protected being happy becomes easier for everyone As you read about these intrepid trailblazers remember that you too play an important role in preserving the rights that so many people before you have fought for The respect you show to others the causes you choose to defend and the actions you take every day have an impact on making the world a better place Let the stories in this book remind you that we all deserve to be loved and respected for who we truly are Elena Favilli Founder Rebel Girls
