Jess is born and her mother refuses to hold her; the Dineh neighbor across the hall begins caring for Jess.

Jess's parents catch her wearing her father's suit and tie and forcibly commit her to a mental hospital.

High school football players gang-rape Jess; the coach who finds her covered in blood calls her a slut.

Jess writes her parents a goodbye note and runs away from home, never to return.

Jess finds the Abba bar and befriends a Black gay community that shares books on civil rights with her.

Police raid the Abba bar during a drag show and rape Jess.

Jess falls for femme dancer Millie at first sight, and the two quickly move in together.

Jess shows up uninvited at Millie's strip club to watch her perform; a furious Millie ends the relationship.

Jess meets Theresa at the cannery, reconnects with her at a gay bar in Buffalo, and the two become a couple.

Jess proposes to Theresa and Theresa accepts.

Jess tells Theresa she plans to take hormones; Theresa refuses to accept this decision and ends their relationship.

Jess undergoes breast surgery performed by a doctor who provides no follow-up care.

Jess learns that Edwin has died by suicide and rushes to Theresa's house, where a different woman answers the door.

Jess decides to stop passing as male, stops taking hormones, and boards a train to New York City.

Jess and Ruth confess their love for each other at Christmas and celebrate with Ruth's drag queen friends.

Jess is born to a cold, rejecting mother and grows up knowing she does not fit society's expectations for how a girl should look or behave. After being institutionalized by her parents, gang-raped by classmates, and ultimately driven from home, Jess finds community in gay bars—only to face brutal police raids and violence. A series of relationships teaches Jess what love can be, from her passionate but doomed connection with Millie to the deep partnership she shares with Theresa. The decision to take hormones and present as male costs Jess her relationship with Theresa and sets her on a lonely road of reinvention, including breast surgery and a move to New York City. After years of isolation and struggle, Jess meets Ruth, a transgender neighbor who understands her completely. The two fall in love, and Jess finally finds the companionship she has sought her entire life.

Jess's core journey from rejection to love.

Jess's father hears her speaking the Dineh language and bans her from spending time with the family across the hall.

Jess's family is harassed for being Jewish; neighbors throw rocks at the windows during holiday candlelighting.

Jess gets a job at a print shop at fifteen and wears jeans and a t-shirt without anyone questioning her.

Drag queen Mona befriends Jess on her first night at Tifka's bar and teaches her how to navigate the community.

Big Al takes Jess shopping for clothes, gives her a dildo and sex advice, and becomes a powerful mentor figure.

Police raid Tifka's bar and beat Mona and Al; Mona later overdoses and Jackie resumes work as a prostitute.

Jess sits with Black classmate Karla at a segregated lunch table; both are suspended, with Karla receiving the longer penalty.

Jess meets Rocco, a butch who has had breast surgery and takes steroids, prompting Jess to seriously consider transitioning.

Jess arrives at Butch Ro's funeral in a suit and tie; Ro's family kicks all the lesbian mourners out of the service.

Jess and Jan are harassed and intimidated by coworkers every time they attempt to use the women's bathroom at the cannery.

Cops harass Jess and Theresa in public; Theresa fights back instead of running, and a stunned Jess is deeply impressed.

Jess and friend Grant visit a dismissive doctor and pay two thousand dollars for hormone shots with no medical guidance.

Jess visits a barber shop and is treated as male for the first time, feeling exhilaration at how easy life suddenly seems.

A fire breaks out in Jess's New York City apartment building and destroys nearly all of her worldly belongings.

Jess calls Frankie and struggles to find the words to apologize for judging her relationship with another butch woman.

From childhood, Jess faces persecution on multiple fronts—her father's racism severs her connection to her Dineh caregivers, her family is harassed for being Jewish, and she finds herself unwelcome in nearly every space she enters. Her first real community forms at Tifka's bar, where Mona and Butch Al mentor her in butch identity—until a police raid shatters that world and scatters everyone she knows. Jess's workplaces become sites of both solidarity and danger, from bathroom confrontations at the cannery to the labor battles she wages alongside Jan and Duffy. Her relationship with Theresa deepens her political awareness, including a pivotal moment when Theresa refuses to run from police harassment and fights back instead. The decision to start hormone therapy takes Jess through medical indifference, an unexpected confrontation with Gloria, and a fire that strips away the last of her New York City possessions. The closing reconciliation with Frankie shows Jess's hard-won capacity for humility and growth.

The communities and crises that shaped Jess.

Young Jess sees a 'he-she' on the street and immediately recognizes this as her own truest identity.

Jess befriends Paula in the mental hospital, a girl whose parents committed her solely for dating a Black man.

Jess is discharged from the mental hospital only after agreeing to comply with her parents' demands, then is sent to charm school.

Coworker Gloria tells Jess about a bar where women who look like men gather, giving Jess her first lead to the LGBTQ world.

Jess is badly beaten by police in an Abba bar raid; the officers steal her cherished turquoise ring.

Jess meets prostitute Angie, who offers her a place to stay, and the two sleep together for Jess's first sexual experience with a woman.

Native American coworkers at the union bindery welcome Jess without question, share food and songs, and invite her to a powwow.

The Native American women ask Jess to lead a song at the powwow; terrified, she finally finds her voice and feels true acceptance.

A coworker's sabotage causes Jess to nearly lose a finger on the job; Duffy uncovers the setup and launches a union investigation.

Before Jess leaves for a new factory, Duffy gives her the autobiography of labor organizer Mother Jones to encourage her activism.

Jess runs into Gloria while passing as male; Gloria is horrified by the transition and orders Jess to stay away from her children.

Frankie introduces her new butch lover Johnny to Jess; Jess refuses to accept that two butches can be in a relationship.

Duffy accidentally calls Jess 'she' while praising her to coworkers, exposing her identity and forcing her to leave the job.

Jess visits Butch Al in a psychiatric hospital; Al breaks her near-silence to growl 'Don't bring me back' to Jess.

Jess hears a woman in a street crowd speak about being raped for being gay, shares her own story aloud, and spots Duffy listening.

Jess's sense of identity begins crystallizing in childhood when she glimpses a 'he-she' on the street and recognizes her own truest self, but the path toward accepting that self runs through a mental hospital, charm school, and years of searching. Key encounters open new doors—a coworker's quiet tip leads Jess to the LGBTQ community, while the Native American women at her factory job offer unconditional belonging and help Jess find her literal voice in song. Police violence takes something irreplaceable when officers steal Jess's turquoise ring during a raid, yet Jess keeps building connections, including her first sexual relationship with Angie. Workplace injury and Duffy's fierce advocacy deepen Jess's commitment to labor organizing, while later revelations—Gloria's horrified rejection, Duffy's accidental outing—show just how precarious her passing life has become. The journey closes with a visit to a near-silent Butch Al and a public moment of shared testimony, where Jess finally claims her story out loud in a crowd of strangers.