Description
A gripping account of one family’s battle to protect their daughter against transphobia and hate in contemporary America
Our country stands at a critical cultural crossroads, with a wave of anti-trans legislation emerging at unprecedented levels, targeting trans children, in particular, who face increasing stigmatization and erasure. Sim Butler’s And the Dragons Do Come is a poignant account of one family’s experience of parenting and supporting a trans child against this nightmarish backdrop.
In recent years, the Butler family faced an impossible reality in their home state of Alabama, where trans rights are increasingly under attack. Butler recounts their family’s struggles and sacrifices to protect their trans child against the barrage of state-sanctioned intolerance in the legal, educational, and health arenas.
Around the time she turned twelve, his daughter’s personal struggles became political fodder. Along with other trans kids, she was outlawed from playing sports and forbidden to use the girls’ bathroom. Another law made Butler and his wife felons for seeking trans-affirming health care for her. When her charter school was featured in several gubernatorial campaign ads, local community members began driving through the parking lot to yell at the trans kids.
Serving both as a compassionate story of one family’s struggle for acceptance and as a window onto a fraught issue that parents, grandparents, other family members, and friends are confronting across the nation, And the Dragons Do Come provides a firsthand perspective on the human cost of anti-trans sentiment.
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Timely: A record number of bill attacking trans youth have been passed; Alabama has been the test case. This book offers a first-hand look at the impact of laws involving education, sports, bathrooms, and healthcare on one family.
Timing: Publishing in time for Transgender Day of Remembrance (November 20, 2025), with a second promotion for Transgender Day of Visibility in March, 2026, as well as Pride 2026.
Reference: Functions as an introduction to transgender youth and families for parents, uncles and aunts, grandparents and cousins navigating this relatively new phenomenon.
Outreach: Print media campaign for reviews and feature coverage in trade, consumer, parenting, and LGBTQ publications. Targeted promotion to the 60+ LGBTQ-Owned bookstores across the US, national radio and podcast campaign, possible submission for literary debut features.
TNP Track in Field: Growing Up Gay, Growing Up Lesbian: >10,500 copies; LGBTQ Stats >5000 copies; Mouths of Rain: An Anthology of Lesbian Thought: 6,000 copies.
