The Trans Handy Ma’am is taking her tools on tour, promoting new book with stop in Ohio

Mercury Stardust’s followers trust her with something sacred: Their homes.

More than 4.8 million people know Stardust across Instagram and TikTok as “the Trans Handy Ma’am” – the home maintenance technician, burlesque performer and bestselling author behind thousands of instructional home maintenance and repair videos.

Stardust is on tour promoting her second book, “Lost and Found: A Compassionate Guide to Homeownership,” and is scheduled to stop at Cleveland’s No Class on Oct. 12, where she said the audience can expect both live storytelling and live music by trans folk-punk musician House of Wills.

In 2023, Stardust’s first book – “Safe & Sound: A Renter-Friendly Guide to Home Repair,” published by Penguin-Random House – reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list.

But before the book deal and social-media following, Stardust was simply responding to an impulse: offer other women and LGBTQ+ people the skills they need to keep their homes safe and functional in a time wrought with uncertainty.

“Home is not just drywall and electrical and plumbing. Home is where the people you love are, even if it’s just cats or the books you keep,” Stardust said. “It doesn’t even have to be a living creature. Home is where you keep all the things that you give meaning to in your life.”

“Especially now,” she said. “Home is everything.”

The Trans Handy Ma’am is born

Stardust stumbled into her new life as the Trans Handy Ma’am after a particularly tough day on the job in 2021.

“I was not having a good time,” she said. “I was trying to fix someone’s toilet. It had a toy of Rajah, the tiger from ‘Aladdin’ stuck down inside it sideways.”

Ultimately, Stardust pulled the entire toilet up from the floor.

“I put my toolbag down. I was carrying the toilet in my arms and I tripped over my toolbag and fell into the wall. I smashed that toilet against the drywall and I went right through it,” she said. “I was covered in other people’s poop, but I got Rajah.”

After an emergency shower and a quick change of clothes, Stardust still felt horrible about the whole situation – the tenant, the budget, the mess.

“When I got into the car, I just zoned out. I started to doomscroll and I saw this video of a Vegas showgirl crying, trying to strap a canoe to the top of her van,” Stardust said. “She was just trying to have a nice day with her kids. She was trying to make it work, but she couldn’t figure out the damn ratchet straps.”

“I had a shitty day where I felt like I didn’t help anybody,” Stardust added. “But I knew I could help her.”

Most commenters made fun of the woman or mocked her for crying. The video replies weren’t much better.

As a longtime burlesque performer and showgirl herself, Stardust immediately identified the woman as a kindred spirit. She recorded a quick video response explaining how to tighten the strap.

“I just framed it in a way that I wished things had been framed for me when I was younger,” Stardust said. “I’ve always been talked down to by men, so I knew what not to do.”

By morning, she had 50,000 new followers.

Stardust posted another video inviting people to submit home maintenance and repair questions.

They came one after another: How do I unclog my toilet? How do I fix my blinds? Can I tighten this doorknob? Patch my drywall? Why is the garbage disposal making that noise?

That day, the Trans Handy Ma’am was born.

A different approach

With simple visual explanations and a distinct refusal to judge or shame followers for seeking her expertise, Stardust’s platform exploded over the next few months.

“Being a trauma-informed educator was part of what I brought to the table,” Stardust said. “As a burlesque instructor, I knew how to teach people who are vulnerable. I lead with that, mixed with my expertise about random handy shit.”

Three months later, the Trans Handy Ma’am had one million followers across social media platforms.

Since then, Stardust has helped millions of women and LGBTQ+ people tackle home maintenance with patience and compassion – and to live safely and with dignity in the places they can afford.

Today, Stardust said at least 88% of her audience is women, including a noticeable percentage of straight, cisgender women who have been widowed.

“Especially if you’re dealing with grief or shame or something traumatic, sometimes you just really need to hear someone say that it’s okay if you don’t know how to do it,” Stardust said. “And actually, it’s not that big of a deal. And actually, you can learn.”

A built-in audience

For many transgender Americans – including Stardust – home ownership can feel completely out of reach.

That’s why Stardust’s first book, and most of her online content, focused on inexpensive DIY fixes designed for renters.

Not only are LGBTQ+ people across the country far more likely to be renters than their straight, cisgender peers, they are also especially vulnerable to the whims of landlords.

LGBTQ+ people are not protected from housing discrimination by federal law. In Ohio, there are no state laws that protect LGBTQ+ people from housing discrimination, either.

Across the state, aging housing stock also means LGBTQ+ people often live in homes or apartments with older electrical and plumbing systems, structural or water damage and deteriorating roofs or exteriors.

Stardust’s tips for practical self-determination strike a chord with Ohioans for a reason: They help Stardust’s followers live with dignity – even when tackling repairs feels overwhelming.

For many LGBTQ+ people, learning a home repair skill itself can spark a special sense of joy and liberation – which is exactly what Stardust hopes her books and content help cultivate.

Tackling home-ownership

“I knew my second book was going to be about homeownership,” Stardust said. “I literally had to buy a house to write the book.”

Now, she’s tackling major renovation projects as a first-time homeowner alongside her spouse, who is also transgender. Instead of repairing a leaky faucet, the couple are navigating bigger fixes (think: five layers of shingles, three layers of linoleum, ancient plumbing and carpeted bathrooms).

According to the Williams Institute, just under half of LGBTQ+ Americans own their own homes, compared to 70% of the general population. For trans Americans, that number is likely even lower.

On average, trans Americans earn up to 40% less than cisgender people and are more likely to work low-wage, unsalaried jobs, even when they earn college degrees.

Stardust knows she’s an outlier, but hopes to show other trans people that home ownership is both possible and manageable – even while navigating discrimination, financial hurdles and ambitious DIY projects.

“I never thought I would own a house as a trans person,” Stardust said. “So I want trans people to be prepared for anything, because you never know how your life is going to change.”

Aging in place

Stardust is already thinking about a subject for a third book: aging in place.

For LGBTQ+ people – who are disproportionately likely to live alone and whose options for elder care are often limited by cost and discrimination – aging safely at home can be a challenge for homeowners and renters alike.

Older LGBTQ+ Americans are also at risk of being turned away or charged higher rents for care at independent or assisted living centers. Many have reported going back in the closet or detransitioning in order to lessen the risk of anti-LGBTQ+ harassment and discrimination from administrators and caregivers.

That’s something Stardust thinks about often.

“If I’m lucky enough to have the opportunity to write a third book, it will be all about aging in place,” Stardust said. “Adding ramps, railings and modifying your bathroom – which is absolutely the most dangerous room in the house.”

“I’m never going to shame people for things like having carpet in the bathroom,” she said. ”Sure, it has this negative stigma and some people don’t like the way it looks but it keeps people from slipping and falling.

“If you live long enough, you will be disabled,” she added. “That’s the reality we all are facing with housing, especially as trans people.”

Tools on tour

Stardust has partnered with queer and trans-owned book stores, venues and public libraries across the country to create a book tour that caters directly to LGBTQ+ communities in each city.

Instead of a standard book signing, Stardust has constructed the live storytelling event featuring live music from local trans and queer musicians.

“I want to go where the community is already at, but I also want to help build those communities in places where that infrastructure might not already exist,” she said. “What people need is so different in every city,”

As a trans woman traveling solo across the United States, Stardust’s safest option was to outfit a van of her own with a full sleeping setup, including a portable shower and toilet.

“The world is such a dangerous place for trans people right now,” she said. “The only way I’m able to do this tour.”

As anti-transgender rhetoric reaches a fever-pitch ahead go the 2026 midterm elections, incidents of anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-transgender violence are on the rise.

On the road, she has spotted bathroom signs depicting red slashes through a figure wearing half a dress or skirt – seemingly implying that transgender people are not welcome to use any of the public restrooms available on-site.

That’s why Stardust said it’s important for LGBTQ+ Americans to show up one another, and to keep showing up.

“The idea isn’t just to read the book and come to the show,” Stardust said. “It’s to learn and stay engaged with the community after the show is over.”

“The show is about the carpet in the bathroom, but it’s not really,” she added. “It’s really all about how we view the world and how we view each other.” 🔥

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Ignite Action

• Mercury Stardust has raised more than $6.1 million to help transgender Americans access gender-affirming healthcare. To learn more, or to make a donation to Point of Pride, click here.
• For a full list of full list of tour dates, click here.
• To purchase tickets to Stardust’s Cleveland show at No Class on Oct. 12, click here.
• To order a copy of Stardust’s book “Lost and Found: A Compassionate Guide to Home Ownership” via your local independent bookstore, click here.
• To submit a home maintenance question via Stardust’s podcast Handy Ma’am Hotline, click here.