Max Wolf Valerio facts for kids

Max Wolf Valerio (born February 16, 1957, in Heidelberg, West Germany) is an American poet, writer, and actor. He has lived for many years in San Francisco, California.

Valerio wrote about his journey and experiences as a trans man in his 2006 book, The Testosterone Files. He also writes and performs poetry. He has acted in films and appeared in many documentaries.

Early Life

Max Valerio's mother is from the Blackfoot people, specifically the Kainai Nation in Alberta, Canada. His father is Spanish. Valerio has learned about his family history. He believes his father's ancestors were Sephardic Jews who secretly kept their traditions.

Valerio's father was in the United States Army for 20 years. Because of this, his family moved often within the United States and Europe. Max was born in a US Army hospital in Heidelberg, Germany. As a child and teenager, Valerio lived in many US states. These included Maryland, Washington, California, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Colorado. He also lived in Canada and Germany again.

His Transition

Valerio began his journey of changing from female to male in 1989. This process is called "transitioning."

Valerio talks about his first steps of transitioning in a short film. It is called "MAX with Max W. Valerio" by Monika Treut. Max shares more details about using testosterone and his early experiences in his book The Testosterone Files. He also appears in Gendernauts, another film by Monika Treut.

In his writings, Valerio describes the support he received. He also shares his experiences with hormone therapy. He talks about the physical changes he noticed during his transition.

The Testosterone Files Book

Valerio's book The Testosterone Files is a memoir. It describes the mental, physical, and social changes he went through. These changes happened in the first five years of his transition from female to male. A main topic of the book is how testosterone helped his transition. The book has three parts: "Beginning," "Before Testosterone," and "After Testosterone."

In the start of the book, Valerio helps readers understand what it is like to be a transsexual person. He explains the challenges someone faces when changing their gender. Valerio says that transsexual people are not just a part of lesbian or gay groups. He believes that "transsexual identities must be defined and expressed on our own terms." Valerio feels that transsexual voices and experiences were "unheard and incompletely imagined" until recently.

Beginning His Journey

The first part, "Beginning," describes Valerio as he starts his transition. He talks about the physical changes he experienced. These changes helped him understand what it felt like to experience being biologically male. For example, his voice became deeper. His hair also became darker and thicker.

Before Testosterone

The second part, "Before Testosterone," explains why Valerio decided to change his gender. Valerio describes the cultural backgrounds of his mother and father.

After Testosterone

The third part, "After Testosterone," helps readers feel Valerio's emotional, social, and physical changes. These changes happened as he transitioned from female to male. The first chapters of this section describe Valerio accepting his new identity as a male. His body was changing physically. He was also getting used to doing and experiencing "male" things. This included shaving and having a deeper voice.

Max Valerio felt an increase in energy almost right away. He also found he could not cry as easily as he had before.

In the film MAX, Valerio talks about his experiences. He discusses how testosterone changed his perceptions, emotions, and body. The film was made in New York City in the early 1990s. It was one of the first films to explore the experiences of trans men.

Political Beliefs

As a teenager, Valerio became involved in left-wing politics. He was part of the American Indian Movement. He took part in marches. He also visited the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation when it was surrounded by the F.B.I. after the Wounded Knee Occupation. Valerio's political views changed over time. He went from being a left-wing activist to supporting the Democratic Party. Later, he became more of a classic liberal. He identifies as a classic liberal today.

His Works

• This Bridge Called My Back (Anthology, 1981 [before transition])
• "Animal Magnetism" (chapbook of poems, 1984 [before transition])
• This Bridge We Call Home (Anthology, 2002)
• The Testosterone Files: My social and hormonal transition from female to male (Memoir, 2006)
• Troubling the Line: Trans and Genderqueer Poetry and Poetics (Poetry Anthology, 2013)
• Manning Up: Transsexual Men on Finding Brotherhood, Family and Themselves (Collection, 2014)
• The Criminal: The Invisibility of Parallel Forces (Poetry, 2019)

Filmography

• Max (Documentary, 1992)
• Female Misbehavior feature-length film featuring the short film: "Max" (Documentary, 1992)
• You Don't Know Dick: Courageous Hearts of Transsexual Men (Documentary, 1997)
• Gendernauts: A Journey Through Shifting (Documentary, 1999)
• Unhung Heroes (Film, 2002)
• Octopus Alarm (Documentary, 2005)
• Maggots and Men (Film, 2009)
• Straight White Male (Documentary, 2011)
• Genderation (Documentary, 2021)
• Framing Agnes (2022)