Myers Writes Novel About Trans Experience

Exeter residents filed into the Water Street Bookstore on Dec. 4, awaiting the launch of Continental Divide by English Instructor Alex Myers. Continental Divide documents a transgender man’s journey understanding masculinity and its role in societal acceptance. This journey leads him far west to “prove” his identity.

Myers, who came out the summer before his senior year at Exeter, recalled the Exeter community’s treatment of his identity. “I received a ton of support from both faculty and peers, from the first day that I came back to campus,” he said.

Though the Academy put thoughtful effort into making him feel accepted, Exeter was not as accessible for transgender students as it is today. Myers remembered that while some faculty members and peers were incredibly supportive, others would deliberately misgender him or call him by his former name. “That was really frustrating, especially when it’s your teacher… and you don’t want to be too confrontational,” he said. “But I also didn’t want to just take it.”

Of  Exeter, Myers said, “It’s a school designed basically for boys. There were a lot of points where I felt like, ‘I don’t know how I’m supposed to navigate this.’ And the school said, ‘Yeah, we don’t know either.’”

The Academy’s support system for transgender students has evolved since his time as a student here, Myers said. “The school [today] recognizes some of the support that a student needs so the student doesn’t have to come up with their own support mechanisms,” he said.

The reception of Myer’s book has led him to further discover and connect with the transgender community, he noted. “Writing this book and thinking about it has made me feel that we’ve made progress,” he said. “And in other ways—I don’t know if it’s progress—but the experience has changed a lot. There is an immediate community available.”

Myers hopes that the message of his book will reach audiences across a broad range of identities. “Whether you’re transgender or cisgender, whether you’re queer or straight, I hope that people think about who they are, understand themselves and feel like they have the words and the concepts they need to get what’s inside out to other people,” Myers said.

Myers’ book launch also led fellow educators to attend and become more proximate to the transgender experience, especially in the New England schools where the transgender community may be underrepresented or excluded. “I don’t believe we’re at the same level with the Academy as far as our understanding and openness and awareness,” Cooperative Middle School psychologist John Potter said. “I hope we can do this more: normalizing [this idea] and lifting it up. It’s important and I hope that’s the effect.”

Exeter alumni were able to meet Myers as an author after knowing him as an educator at the Academy. “I know that there’s a relationship between the Academy and the trans community, especially since Mr. Myers got there,” Aidan Wolff-King ’17 said. “Mr. Myers is an educator and he is becoming more of a voice in the literary community… and making these [queer] narratives known.”

Bookstore owner Dan Chartrand felt that the book launch would help foster a welcoming culture in the town. “The mission of the bookstore is to build a diverse and vibrant community around the written word,” he said. “Myers’ book launch has been a successful stepping stone in moving the Exeter community forwards.”