My Name is Philippa

'My Name is Philippa offers every reader a story that will change their heart. So be prepared, with a mind open enough to hear Philippa's story, to feel altered by the palpable love that fills these pages. As she herself proclaims in the opening line, "This is primarily a love story".' Katherine E. Zappone.  

With the support and help of her family, Philippa Ryder helped transform Irish culture. Growing up as a boy in the 1960s seemed wrong to her. Why did she want to dress in her sister's clothes and later her wife's? It wasn't until the 1990s, she found she wasn't the only person to do this.

Philippa is transgender. Transitioning from male to female wasn't an easy journey. My Name Is Philippa is a remarkable memoir, and above all, a story about love, understanding and a family who stuck together as Philippa moved from husband and father to wife and mother.

Within these pages Philippa offers answers to many questions people ask, genuinely, to understand what it means to be transgender. She describes the physical as well as the emotional process of Transition. Philippa's life story joins the global march to freedom and empowerment for every gendered human being. She voices truth out of silence, courage through fear, and joy by following the horizon she sees.

Philippa Ryder is a prominent LGBTQ+ activist, and a passionate, inclusive feminist and human rights speaker. She is COO of Under the Rainbow, a workplace wellness, diversity and inclusion company that provides information and support for people to build the confidence to be themselves by educating, informing and encouraging companies and state bodies to embrace Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging. Philippa is married to Helen and they have a beautiful daughter. She joined the civil service in 1980 and completed a Land Surveying degree in the mid-1990s. She has seen Ireland become a multi-cultural and inclusive country. Philippa has one notable characteristic. She is transgender. This book is for the transgender community, the LGBTQ+ community and their allies, specifically anyone who is questioning their gender identity, parents of transgender children and those who may want to learn more about transgender issues. Other potential readers might include those in the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion sectors, Employee Resource Groups in the corporate and public sectors, and staff and managers in the health and social services.