What People Are Saying About the Book

A human life, fully lived, is at its core a journey of healing and transformation.  Because she well knows how painful and lonely that journey can be – the path she travelled was rockier than most – Erin LeBlanc shares her unique story with unflinching honesty in the hope that: “this memoir provides some degree of solace”.

Stranger in the Mirror is both an illuminating crash course on Gender Dysphoria, and a powerful personal account of prevailing over doubt and suffering to surface, through courage and self-knowledge, into confidence and empowerment.

Erin’s story shows that neither genetics nor upbringing are life sentences, and that even with seven arrows through the heart, healing is always possible. It did bring me solace, and even a good measure of these most fleeting of feelings – hope and gratitude.

Benoit-Antoine Bacon, President and Vice-Chancellor, Carleton University

A poignant, deeply insightful, and courageous memoir of the journey to self-acceptance. Through journal excerpts, and heart breaking anecdotes, Erin shares her vulnerability, her challenges, and, ultimately, her resilience. The reader is compelled to reflect on the impact and role of gender—and often assumed gender—in our relationships with others and with oneself. Erin’s bravely candid and moving struggle to understand and accept her true identity should be required reading for anyone experiencing gender dysphoria or seeking to be a better ally.

Stacy G. Kelly – Director, Philanthropy - The 519 Church Street Community Centre

In Stranger in the Mirror, Erin shares a raw, poignant and honest account of self-discovery that can help people to understand what it’s really like to go through gender transition. It is impossible for a cisgender person to truly understand the lived experience of a person going through such a journey, but in sharing her story, Erin is helping bring people a little closer to that understanding by building empathy for others. 

Michael Bach CCDP/AP, Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion, Toronto Canada

To be immersed in Erin’s story was an experience unlike any I ever had as a witness to authenticity. Her struggle as a transgendered woman and journey to living her authentic self, took me to heart-breaking places. Her words captured her emotional process and inner life in a way that was completely inescapable. I mourned with her in her suffering and cheered her in her transformation. As a gay man, I celebrate her incredibly courageous story, and know how important it is that we carry on the legacy of these stories from members of our tribe. Erin shares a powerful message – our need for society’s evolution in a new reality and language for gender identity that includes embracing everyone with unconditional acceptance. We must all live without fear of being our authentic selves. Otherwise we will perpetuate tremendous suffering. I have no doubt Erin will continue to inspire and lead us as a true hero in the cause for authenticity, compassion, and social evolution.

John De Freitas, Authentic Leadership Coach, Published Co-Author, Daring to Share: There to Here – 2nd Edition | Volume 1

I first met Erin across a boardroom table and was struck by her confident and insightful contribution to the meeting. Compelled to thank her and learn more I approached her afterwards. The ensuing exchange was brief yet established one fact – we connected. Emails sustained us until we could meet again over dinner. A classic chin wag with much laughter culminated in the best line of the night. I complimented her on her shoes and she blushingly confessed to being “such a girly, girl!”. Then she told me her story.

Stranger in the Mirror is a detailed account of survival, resilience and finding peace and love. From extraordinary anguish through to “just another woman traveling to see her friends” Erin shares her thoughts, feelings, decisions and actions in a pressure filled, painful journey. She articulates her experience in a way that informs and inspires empathy for members of the trans community living their complicated existence. Careful not to prescribe her path as the only way, the details do, however, outline what a comprehensive and exhausting process it is to simply live as yourself.

Reading this book is like spending time with Erin. There’s strength in her vulnerability and wit in her perspective. Woven throughout the pages are examples of what profound support looks like and her final words are a call to action. As a parent in the LGBTQ+ community I am sincerely grateful for that challenge to the world.

I’ve nicknamed Erin ‘Diamond’… as in No Pressure, No Diamonds. What a gem D is… shining her light for us all.

Karyn Garossino – Olympian, M.Ed., owner, Horizon Coaching, corporate trainer, Third Factor Inc.

When a transgender person goes through their struggles, and later their coming out and transition, it is a unique path which becomes more manageable when you are able to share it with others who understand what you are going through.   I was fortunate to become friends with Erin while we were both working through our feelings which allowed us to support each other as part a group of friends all on similar paths in life.  Even though we had miles between us, we all were connected in ways that bonded us forever.   Erin’s story takes you through her experiences and feelings that allow insight into her struggles and emotions just as I saw them happening.  Her story is one that is uniquely Erin’s and engaging in its portrayal.

Sue Robbins, Transgender Advisory Council, Equality Utah, Past Board Chair, Utah Pride Center

My long-time colleague and friend, Erin Leeann LeBlanc, has written a moving and thoughtful account of the journey to her true self. Her courage and generosity of spirit are inspiring. No matter what our path in life, we can all learn from the lived experience of the transgender community. Empathy is the bond that holds society together and I have no doubt that Erin’s story will inspire a broader understanding of the transgender community, helping to build those bonds of empathy that are never more important than today.

Bill Flanagan, President and Vice-Chancellor, University of Alberta

While Stranger in the Mirror clearly tells of the pain that Erin and others with Gender Dysphoria endure, a pain that is easy to overlook if you do not see or feel it firsthand, it also demonstrates how living authentically and enthusiastically as yourself can lead to great joy.  This book takes you through the ups and downs of Erin’s journey.  It is heart wrenching and heartwarming and ultimately shows the triumph of a very courageous woman.  I am very happy to recommend Stranger in the Mirror to all.  Those going through a transition will know they are not alone and will have a brave example to follow.  Those whose lives have not been exposed to transition will learn, laugh and see we are not all that different – we all struggle but when we listen to our true self, we all have the ability to triumph.

Lesley C. Kendall, Law Society of Ontario Certified Specialist (Family Law), Family Law & Fertility Law, Cunningham, Swan, Carty, Little & Bonham LLP