Helen Boyd

{{Infobox writer

| name = Gail Kramer

| image = Helen and Betty in 2005.jpg

| caption = Gail Kramer (right) and Betty Crow in 2005

| pseudonym = Helen Boyd

| birth_date = 1969

| birth_place =

| death_date =

| death_place =

| alma_mater =The City College of New York

| occupation = Academic and author

| nationality = American

| period =

| genre =

| subject = Autobiography, Transgender Liberation

| awards =

| influences =

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| signature =

| website = {{URL|http://www.helenboydbooks.com/}}

}}

Helen Boyd is the pen name of Gail Kramer (born 1969), an American author, academic, and activist. Helen is the author two booksSeal Press [http://www.sealpress.com/books.php?author=101 '"Helen Boyd's Author Page"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730073419/http://www.sealpress.com/books.php?author=101 |date=2013-07-30 }}, accessed February 13, 2011 about her relationship with her trans partner. Her partner is referred to in both books as "Betty Crow", though this is also a pseudonym. Helen is on staff at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin as the I.D.E.A.S. Division Affinity Groups Coordinator and PRIDE Center Coordinator.{{Cite web |title=Helen Boyd Kramer {{!}} Lawrence University |url=https://www.lawrence.edu/people/helen-boyd-kramer-affinity-group-coordinator-and-instructor-of-first-year-studies |access-date=2024-01-17 |website=www.lawrence.edu}}

Biography

Helen Boyd graduated Phi Beta Kappa from City College of New York in 1995 with a degree in literature. She has been a guest speaker at trans conferences, including the IFGE, First Event,{{Cite web |date= |title=First Event 2007 |url=http://www.tavausa.org/News/First%20Event%202007.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728082129/http://www.tavausa.org/News/First%20Event%202007.htm |archive-date=2011-07-28 |access-date=2024-01-17 |website=Transgender American Veterans' Association}} Fantasia Fair, Southern Comfort, the Chicago Be-All, and also at special events like Trans Issues Week at Yale University. Helen and Betty have spoken about LGBT marriage on PBS's In The Life.{{cite web|url=http://www.inthelifetv.org/html/episodes/7.html|title=Gender Revolution|website=Inthelifetv.org|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928232251/http://www.inthelifetv.org/html/episodes/7.html|archivedate=September 28, 2011|date=July 2007|url-status=dead}}{{cite web |author=Helen Boyd |date=September 6, 2004 |title=PBS show – correction |url=http://www.myhusbandbetty.com/2004/09/06/pbs-show-correction/ |website=(en)gender |publisher=}} As of 2011, she is also a Lecturer of Gender and Freshman Studies at Lawrence University.{{cite web|url=http://www.lawrence.edu/dept/gender_studies/faculty.shtml|title=Lawrence University Gender Studies Faculty|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130308060507/http://www.lawrence.edu/dept/gender_studies/faculty.shtml|archivedate=March 8, 2013|url-status=dead}}

Boyd's activism was recognized in 2020 when she was named a "Champion of Pride" by The Advocate.{{cite web|url=https://www.advocate.com/exclusives/2020/6/17/advocates-2020-champions-pride-come-life-ar-experience#rebelltitem205|title=The Advocate's 2020 Champions of Pride Come to Life in AR Experience}}

Boyd formerly ran the mHB Forums, a message board for the discussion of crossdressing- and transgender-related topics.{{Cite web |title=mHB Forums |url=http://www.myhusbandbetty.com/community/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090701053151/http://www.myhusbandbetty.com/community/ |archive-date=2009-07-01 |access-date=2011-01-12}}

Bibliography

=''My Husband Betty''=

My Husband Betty (2003, Seal Press) is a non-fiction book by author Helen Boyd about crossdressers and their partners. It was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award.{{cite web|url=https://lambdaliterary.org/awards/previous-winners-3/?a_search=Helen+Boyd&award_year=&award_classifications=transgender&award_status=&award_categories=|title=Lambda Literary Awards}}

Unlike many other books about the topic of crossdressing, it is written specifically from the partner's point of view and takes a distinctively feminist approach. Although the author's spouse was a crossdresser at the time of publication, she now considers herself "trans", a word chosen specifically because it was less well defined (and therefore less restrictive) than "transgender".

The book was reviewed in Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, and Publishers Weekly.{{cite magazine |last1=Scott |first1=Whitney |title=Boyd, Helen. My Husband Betty. |magazine=Booklist |volume=100 |number=11 |id={{Gale|A113377637}} |date=1 February 2004 |page=937}}{{cite magazine |title=My Husband Betty |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/helen-boyd/my-husband-betty/ |access-date=17 January 2024 |magazine=Kirkus Reviews |date=November 15, 2003}}{{cite magazine |title=My Husband Betty: Love, Sex, and Life with a Crossdresser by Helen Boyd |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781560255154 |access-date=17 January 2024 |magazine=Publishers Weekly |date=December 22, 2003}}

=''She's Not The Man I Married''=

Boyd's second book is She's Not the Man I Married: My Life with a Transgender Husband (Seal Press, 2007). An excerpt of this book was featured in On the Issues magazine.{{cite web|url=https://ontheissuesmagazine.com/love/how-a-feminist-found-her-sexismby-helen-boyd/|title=On the Issues|date=29 July 2009 }}

The book was reviewed in The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, The Indypendent, and Publishers Weekly.{{cite news |last1=Bader |first1=Eleanor J. |title=Boyish Girl Meets Girlish Boy: A Review of "She's not the Man I Married" |url=https://indypendent.org/2007/07/boyish-girl-meets-girlish-boy-a-review-of-shes-not-the-man-i-married/ |access-date=17 January 2024 |work=The Indypendent |date=July 9, 2007}}{{cite news |title=She's Not the Man I Married: My Life with a Transgender Husband |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781560255154 |access-date=17 January 2024 |work=Publishers Weekly |date=January 29, 2007}}{{cite journal |last1=Schlichenmeyer |first1=Terri |title=A gender dilemma |journal=The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide |volume=14 |issue=4 |id={{Gale|A166095073}} |date=July–August 2007}}