In the Image of Angels
In the Image of Angels, is the story of Bailey West's struggle to break free of a binary gender system that only provides a place for men and women, and to be recognized as a person who is neither male nor female, of the opposition met during the process, and of the love that can be found by someone even if that love doesn't fit into standard definitions. Life aboard the Gender Trouble, a Westsail 32, currently moored in a RV resort in Apache Junction, Arizona, is about to hit some rough seas for Bailey West. After nearly thirty years of attempting to fit into a binary gender system, Bailey is almost ready to be out of the system, and out as queer-bodied and genderqueer. Unfortunately, the Reverend Holdings, who doesn't understand or care that the word queer in this case simply signifies difference, stumbles upon a website that Bailey has set up to help connect people with queer bodies, and he is ready for Bailey and the other nomosexuals, as he refers to them, to be out now. Karl, one of Bailey's coworkers is a faithful listener and crusader for Holdings, and not only wants Bailey out of the closet, but out of a job as well. And to further complicate things, Bailey's lack of female identity has girlfriend Jen questioning her own identity, and the status of her on-again off-again relationship with ex-lover Nuria, who happens to be acting as Bailey's legal counsel. Drama and tension build as a court date nears to determine Bailey's legal right to not have a gender, and in the aftermath, everyone is left to figure out how to move forward.