Trans Solidarity Project

Category: Resource & Information

  • Trans Mythbusters: 5 Common Myths about Transgender People

    Trans Mythbusters: 5 Common Myths about Transgender People

    I was 14 when I realized I was transgender, back in the year 2014. Not much later, to my dismay, Caitlyn Jenner came out to the world – her novel identity fascinated the world, and that extended to my hometown in rural America. Suddenly, peers at school were talking about what they supposedly knew about transgender people, and my parents, who wouldn’t know I identified as trans for another year. 

    I’m well-versed in trans misinformation. Frankly, most transgender people are: it comes with being a marginalized person, expected to educate every single person you meet with unwavering patience. I don’t fault folks who get exhausted and frustrated after years of educating their friends, family, and strangers – that exhaustion led to the rise of Buzzfeed-like “Dear Cis People,” “100 Questions for White People,” and similar articles, videos, and posts during the 2010s that tried to rephrase that expectation. I always wondered when I would become frustrated and exhausted, likely to lash out like a stereotypical “blue-hair liberal.” Yet, eleven years later, I haven’t gotten to that point even though I’ve spent a decade in activism and educating cisgender people throughout those years. I can still manage patience, under one condition: I do not educate for bad faith. Many individuals purposely spread disinformation and “want to ask questions” to trans folks with the express purpose of being the Devil’s advocate. Those individuals are not open to actually learning and come with an agenda to demean or “convert” trans people. You cannot change them in one conversation, and they are not worth the effort. Anyone actually interested in understanding transness, that is not coming from a place of hatred, is worth teaching – even if they stumble on their journey.

    Today, there’s more disinformation online than misinformation. There is a semantic difference: misinformation is false info spread, regardless of whether the person sharing knows if it’s true or not, while disinformation is purposely shared with knowledge that the info is false. All disinformation is misinformation, but disinformation is more nefarious. A family relative who shares a misleading post on Facebook about transgender people might not know its facts are wrong – that’s misinformation. If that relative knows that the post is incorrect, it becomes disinformation. There’s another conversation to be had on how to correct people with misinformation, since people hate being told they’re wrong and take corrections as a personal attack. Misinformation wasn’t that big of a deal ten years ago when flat-earthers and autism moms against vaccines were laughingstocks.

    One of America’s two political parties has made misinformation an integral part of its platform and takes pride in “alternative media sources” that purposely lie. As a consequence, measles is back, polling officials get threats during election season for alleged fraud, and people won’t get a COVID vaccine because they heard it has a microchip in it. Lastly, the last election cycle gave certain social media platforms the notion that fact-checking is too political to enforce on their sites, so misinformation spreads faster than before.

    Misinformation is a big deal, and I don’t mean to be an alarmist. It truly holds the potential to cost human lives. We are more familiar with current events, such as the effects of misinformation about the COVID vaccine pushing more Americans to forgo the vaccination, leading to more immunocompromised people dying and more healthy Americans suffering from “long COVID.” Or, when Russia hacked American media during the past election cycles to spread disinformation and seat Republican candidates better suited to their interests.

    The fate of democracy and human health is a pretty big deal, but it can go even further. Back in the early 1900s, white supremacists played the long game on inciting genocide in Europe, leading to World War II and the Holocaust. For years, disinformation was created and spread to create a public notion that certain groups of people were deserving of imprisonment, torture, and death. A lot of people are scared right now because we’re seeing the beginning of something similar now – the Trump administration wants the public to believe that alleged illegal immigrants deserve to be deported without due process, which is integral in figuring out whether an accused person is actually illegal or an immigrant. If the general public is swayed into believing that is morally acceptable, worse practices can be instilled while it gets finalized into law.

    Myth #1: Transgender identity is a trend.

    Transgender people have existed in some form for a very, very long time. There are documented accounts of people identifying as transgender (or transsexual or as a transvestite, depending on the year) and medically transitioning with hormones and surgery from the early 1900s before either of the World Wars. Trans medical science was one of the top things targeted by the Nazi party in Germany when they purposely burned down the Institute of Sexual Research and forced researcher Magnus Hirschfeld to flee.

    Even before the 20th century, transgender people have always been around. If you look hard enough, you can find traces of gender-diverse people spanning centuries and Roman emperoress Elagabalus. Transness was only recently documented, and it’s only entered the public subconscious and mainstream in the past couple of decades. People claim the same about how many queer people exist today compared to fifty years ago, or how autism is supposedly on the rise. When identities are no longer criminalized and it becomes okay for people to publicly identify themselves, people incorrectly assume there’s an “explosion” of people suddenly queer, autistic, or transgender. The same belief was held on a sudden rise years ago of people identifying as left-handed or folks being diabetic. There was never a real increase, but there was a perceived explosion of left-handed individuals because they weren’t being burned at the stake for writing differently, and people were able to survive diabetes with the discovery of synthetic insulin, creating a “spike” of diabetic people.

    This myth is fairly easy to dispute, for now. In some countries, information is regulated: when governments censor topics in published books, movies, and content on the internet, it’s easy to convince people that transgender people don’t exist. We are not at that point yet in the United States, but the GOP does want to move towards that future, evidenced by forced removals of transgender people mentioned in history, research, and educational curricula. Thus, trans history matters.

    Myth #2: Transgender regret is common.

    Compared to other medical procedures, transgender services like hormone replacement therapy and surgery actually have astonishingly low regret rates. Every surgery has a regret rate, whether it’s from complications, lack of satisfaction, or another reason entirely. The average knee surgery has a regret rate upwards of 30%, breast implants maintain a regret rate of up to 47%, and successful pregnancies have a regret rate around 17%.

    Trans-affirming care has a regret rate less than  1%. To medically transition, transgender people have to jump through numerous hoops: informed consent is only applicable for hormone replacement therapy (not surgery), and many transgender people still face barriers with informed consent because their medical insurance or government health coverage requires additional proof of therapy letters and referrals to pay for services. Depending on where you live in the US, getting top surgery can range from a few months to multiple years, and that wait time increases with less-accessible bottom surgeries. Legal transition, or the process of changing one’s legal name and gender marker on government documents, takes considerable time, too.

    The reason transgender people have an astonishingly low regret rate is because of these hoops, but it also deters people from getting care when it could benefit them. Trans regret only gets media coverage because detransitioners become viral on the internet from their sob stories. It’s unfortunate when it actually happens, but stories from detransitioned folks of how they were tricked are made up: even in “fast” informed-consent, you have a barrage of questions to answer from doctors to access prescriptions, changes take weeks to show even minor things, and you have people with you throughout the process to check in. Despite this reality, the belief that medical professionals are diabolically trying to force people to be transgender gets clicks.

    Another way to think about trans regret and medical care is to compare it to other services. All procedures have risks and there can always be complications. Those risks are not worth denying the service as a whole. It’d be impossible to fathom a world where cancer treatments are banned because a small percentage of people have negative experiences on a life-saving treatment; the same should be applied to transgender procedures since they are documented as life-saving, too.

    Myth #3: Transgender people want to trick cisgender people.

    This myth has numerous layers, but at its core, it’s the insecure and paranoid belief that transgender people want to trick cisgender folks into having sex or that transgender people get some joy out of “tricking” people into perceiving us as our affirmed gender. Transgender people want to be respected as their authentic selves, but we don’t get joy from “tricking” others like our identity is a prank.

    Trans people tricking poor cisgender folks into having sex is a real problem – and it’s been used as the punchline trope in comedy for decades. It even has legal recognition in most states, referred to as “trans panic defenses,” where cisgender people accused of murdering a transgender person can legally claim they were so angry, upset, or shocked that someone was transgender that they just had to assault them. The legal procedure comes from the underlying fragility of cisgender people’s sexuality, since there’s nothing worse than being thought of as flirting (or worse) with a transgender person, and gives cis judges and juries a reason to excuse anti-transgender hate crimes.

    Disclosure is the process of telling a person that you’re transgender, and it’s a very personal decision that comes with inherent safety risks. Every trans person knows there is some risk in telling someone new, ranging from a new possible ally to a barrage of insults to even being hate-crimed. Some people prefer being out because they feel safe to do so, while others remain stealth – but not because they’re hoping to trick someone. 

    The transgender community advises sexually active folks to have that tough conversation with a prospective partner before you’re in the bedroom. Each person is different: a transgender woman who has had bottom surgery might not need to disclose her transgender status during a one-night stand because there’s nothing actually distinguishing her from other women compared to the safety risk of telling a stranger that you’re trans; a transgender man might feel inclined to tell a women he’s been seeing that he’s trans because aspects of his transness could affect their potential future together.

    Cisgender people get frustrated about disclosure: they feel entitled to know whether someone is transgender. Some cis folks believe they “always know” when someone is trans, too. Yes, it is ideal for transgender people to be open about their identities, but cisgender people cannot be entitled to that knowledge as long as we exist in a society that is dangerous to live in. In comparison, there are so many other things you might want to know when having a one-night stand or going on a date with someone, like whether they’re infertile, if they have a stable job, if they have a disability, or already have children. But we all understand we are not entitled to automatically get that knowledge, and it completely upends how humans socially interact with each other via the social script.

    On the other end of the spectrum, there is a community of cisgender folks who want to have sex with trans individuals because they fetishize us as a kink. Chasers (or “admirers,” as they call themselves) actively seek us out for sex. Any porn website will have a transgender category. Trans-specific dating apps exist purely for chasers’ convenience. We do not need to “trick” cisgender people into having sex with us. Should transgender people like chasers? That’s another topic for a different post – the ultimate point is no, we don’t trick cisgender people.

    Because of the above, there is actually a subsection of the transgender community that identifies as T4T, or “trans for trans.” These trans folks only date other transgender people – but unlike chasers, they do so because they feel safer and better understood by other transgender people. We don’t have to explain our transness or the complications of gender theory to another transgender person to feel heard; we don’t have to fear that they might believe we’re going to hell for being trans or go into a violent rage because of who we are.

    Myth #4: Transgender people are sexually aroused by their bodies. / Transgender people hate their bodies.

    I combined two common myths for this one because both relate to how cisgender people fail to empathize with trans experiences. The first part, or the belief that all transgender people get turned on by their bodies, relates to Freudian-era pseudoscience and confusing transvestites with transgender people.

    There are individuals who are sexually aroused by their bodies: the scientific terms are autogynephilia and autoandrophilia. But unlike transvestites, transgender people do not transition because they seek sexual pleasure. Generally, transvestites just stop at crossdressing (aka not continuing transition by seeking hormones or surgery) because they don’t actually want to identify as another gender. Yet transvestites were infinitely more interesting to research during the early years of sexology, so research papers were written for years with this base assumption that transgender people transition out of kink.

    Are transgender people allowed to be sexually aroused by their bodies? Cisgender people are allowed to feel confident or sexy when looking at themselves in the mirror. It would be hypocritical to say transgender people do not deserve that same right. To feel comfortable in our bodies, that includes having the capacity to feel sexual in them, too. But that’s more a philosophical question outside of the realm of this myth.

    The second part, or that transgender people must hate their bodies, also dates back to early research on transgender people. Cisgender people have always struggled to grasp what causes a person to want to be a different gender – very few cis people think critically about their relationship with their sex assigned at birth, so gender isn’t something they’ve really considered. To rebel against their natural worldview, they believe transgender people must hate their bodies – anything else wouldn’t make sense.

    These assumptions permeated the very beginning of transgender researchers, and even trans-friendly providers held these stereotypes. It became quickly obvious that to transition socially, medically, or legally, transgender people had to adhere to these stereotypes since cisgender people held the power to prescribe medicine or affirm legal changes that transgender folks did not. To allow trans people to transition, doctors wanted them to fit their rigid boxes of what they believed transness to be – and that always included the stereotype that transgender people absolutely hate their biological bodies.

    Today, there’s a decent understanding within the scientific community that transgender identity does not come from a hatred of one’s body but rather a disconnect between one’s internal versus outward gender. That disconnect can include feelings of hatred, but it doesn’t have to. The term “gender dysphoria” refers to that disconnect, ranging in feeling just uncomfortable to more extreme disgust or hatred. There is also a community of individuals promoting the idea that gender euphoria is just as important as gender dysphoria when discussing the need for transition – transgender people should not be expected to hate themselves. To be happy and fulfilled people, we need to be allowed to feel content in our bodies.

    Myth #5: Transgender people want to dominate in sports, prisons, schools, etc.

    Transgender people make a small fraction of the general population, but the media is obsessed with focusing on the one or two individuals who participate in competitive sports. Regarding adult sports, there are two things to keep in mind: transitioned adults have been proven to have no scientific advantage in athletics, and even if they did have an advantage, that’s the point of competitive sports.

    We aren’t asking for unlimited access to dominate sports, we want the right to play fairly as ourselves. Until the past year or so, transgender people have been playing small roles within sports without issue: most leagues have written rules on how transgender people may participate, which usually requires two to three years of documented hormone replacement therapy. HRT is the key factor on supposed “advantages,” since hormones dictate muscle growth, strength, and stamina in all human bodies. A transgender woman who has been on prescribed estrogen for five years has no biological advantage over a cisgender woman – and quite frankly, cisgender women do hold an advantage if they compete with naturally high testosterone or a hormone disorder. Other aspects of transition, like surgery or legal status, have zero bearing on competitive performance.

    For emphasis, transgender people have been officially allowed to compete in the Olympics since 2004. The exact rules have varied, but the general consensus to be allowed to participate is hormone replacement therapy. And the standards used by the Olympics are used in countless other sports and minor leagues.

    Some folks might still get up in arms about other “advantages” transgender may have, but none of them warrant barring a group of people from fair play. A transgender woman who is six foot might have an advantage at basketball, but so does a cisgender woman who is also six foot. It’s those small advantages that drive people to play sports based on what they’re good at. It’s the nature of competition and sports. Getting up in arms about bone structure or child socialization is just as nonsensical as barring people based on race, ethnicity, disability, and even class.

    This myth is more ludicrous in school settings. It’s difficult to argue against the benefits of school sports: they provide exercise while giving youth crucial team building skills while they socialize in a structured setting. But due to the stigma transgender people automatically get from participating in sports, very few of us do – and even fewer participate in school sports. Even in the most liberal states, transgender students still have to adhere to established protocols, which almost always relate to documented hormone replacement therapy. Out of the thousands of students that participate in school sports each here, only one or two of them identify as transgender. If they’re playing by the rules, it’s hardly fair to ban them based on identity alone.

    Lastly, transgender people don’t go to prison to use taxpayer dollars for gender-affirming care. It’s way easier to transition beyond prison, and the dangers transgender people are exposed to in prison are never worth it: compared to cisgender adults, transgender people are roughly 10 times more likely to be assaulted by both fellow prisoners and prison staff. Most transgender people are forcibly detransitioned while incarcerated, so the reality is closer to transgender people asking if they can access or continue medical care while incarcerated.

  • Sexuality & Gender: What’s the Difference?

    Sexuality & Gender: What’s the Difference?

    Most people have never considered the difference between “gender” and “sexuality” – unless you’re questioning or identifying as LGBTQIA+, there’s little reason for folks to give it a second thought. However, understanding these two concepts is key when discussing many oppressions, like sexism, heterosexism, and cissexism, and helps make you a better ally to transgender folks.

    What is Gender Identity?

    In the simplest sense, gender identity (or just “gender”) is who you ARE or how you view yourself. Everyone has a gender identity, even if it is the same one as they were assigned at birth. You might identify as a boy, a woman, as genderqueer, agender, or nonbinary – but you still identify as something. GLSEN breaks up gender even further into three parts: gender expression, gender attribution, and sex assigned at birth.

    Gender expression refers to how you display your gender or lack thereof. It’s a combination of hairstyles, fashion choices, behaviors, and habits that reflect your inner gender identity. Most people choose expressions that match their gender, such as dressing masculinely as a man or femininely as a woman, but expression doesn’t dictate gender. Women can have masculine expressions, men can be feminine, and nonbinary people can be androgynous or have a gendered expression. Expression is also the pronouns you state you use to match your gender and titles like mister, miss, and mx.

    Gender attribution is how your gender is perceived by others, for better and worse. Gender very rarely occurs in an isolated bubble, and due to being a social concept, gender is both real and fake: people take aspects of your gender expression and sex to make quick assumptions about your inner gender. Attribution is most annoying when those assumptions are wrong, resulting in misgendering and deadnaming, but it’s one of many natural instincts people have when meeting individuals. When attribution goes well, it has positive benefits – being affirmed as your gender is a spectacular feeling as a transgender person, just like being misgendered is a miserable experience. Attribution is the pronoun and gender that others assume you are, such as a man, woman, nonbinary person, or other identity. Like expression, gender attribution does not dictate your gender identity. Other people assuming you are nonbinary does not make your gender identity nonbinary. However, it does often have an impact on your mental well-being and how you visualize your gender/passing ability.

    Sex assigned at birth (SAAB) refers to the label medical professionals gave you upon birth, such as male, female, or intersex. SAAB is a “historical term,” unlike “sex,” which is used as a whole. Sex accounts for your current biology, but most aspects of biological sex are malleable, despite what anti-transgender activists claim. SAAB refers strictly to the sex you were perceived at birth, reflecting a part of your personal history but not necessarily reality. After high school, biology becomes complicated: science well-establishes sex is more than just a male/female binary and biological sex is instead composed of chromosomes, gonads, phenotype, and behavior. Modern science allows three-quarters of biological sex to be changed. SAAB refers ONLY to the state you were at birth and accounts for gender identity since SAAB determines whether you identify as cisgender or transgender. And like gender expression and gender attribution, SAAB does not dictate your gender identity – although all three parts can influence your overall gender.

    The most common examples of gender identity are man and woman, although plenty of others exist. Technically, “cisgender” and “transgender” are descriptors of gender identity – everyone is either cisgender or transgender based on whether they identify as the gender assigned to them at birth. Cisgender means “same,” referencing folks who identify as the same gender they were assumed as at birth. Transgender means “different,” referencing those who identify as a gender identity other than the one assigned to them at birth.

    Where do nonbinary folks fit in? Nonbinary is an identity associated with anyone who falls outside of the male/female gender binary. Currently, most nonbinary individuals are classified as transgender since they weren’t labeled as nonbinary growing up. Eventually, as more people are raised as nonbinary or without traditional gender, there will be folks who were raised as nonbinary and still identify as such – those people will be both nonbinary and cisgender. There are a few people today who fall within those categories, but it’s relatively rare.

    What is Sexual Orientation?

    If gender is how you view yourself, sexual orientation is who you’re attracted to. For most folks, it’s pretty straightforward – and like gender identity, everyone has a sexual orientation. Individuals who are attracted to the “opposite” gender as themselves are straight or heterosexual, like a man who is attracted to women. Those who identify as gay or homosexual are attracted to people who are the same gender as themselves. Queer, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, and other labels often reflect folks who don’t fit within that strict straight/gay binary – such as people who are attracted to one or more genders, or none at all.

    Attraction can be further broken down: most people are familiar with romantic and sexual attraction, but it’s valuable to learn the inner workings of sexuality and attraction to better understand queerness and asexuality.

    • Romantic attraction happens when you want to be romantic with another person, like feeling the desire to date, kiss, hold hands, etc.
    • Sexual attraction is the desire you feel to be sexual with another person, like wanting to have any type of sex with someone.
    • Platonic attraction happens when you feel an emotional magnetism to someone, like feeling the desire to know someone better or become their friend.
    • Aesthetic attraction comes from appreciating someone’s look or fashion, like when you admire someone’s style but don’t necessarily want to date them.
    • Sensual attraction is the desire to hug or cuddle someone in a non-sexual tactile way.
    • Intellectual attraction is an attraction caused by wanting to engage or debate someone in conversation.

    It’s perfectly normal to experience multiple types of attraction, and it’s also normal not to experience attraction. Most people experience a number of attractions all the time – many friends feel platonic, aesthetic, and intellectual attraction without romantic or sexual attraction; some folks might feel all forms of attraction when they’re in love with someone.

    The key point is that gender identity is YOU, while sexual orientation pertains more to who you’re attracted to. As mentioned before, everyone has both a gender identity and sexual orientation – even if you don’t think about it very often, you still have labels like gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, religion, class, etc. A straight man has a straight sexual orientation and a masculine gender identity, just as an asexual nonbinary person has an ace sexuality and nonbinary gender. Gender and sexuality matter to some folks and not others, just like how other identity labels matter more to some individuals ,like race and class. Gender and sexuality are also pretty fluid – you’re allowed to experiment and explore these identities, so what you find works now may not be what you identify as in ten years, and that’s alright!

    Extra Credit: Historical Gender & Sexuality

    I think it’s also worth noting that our modern definitions for gender identity and sexual orientation are reversed from what they used to be just 50 years ago. During the post-WWII sexology renaissance, there was a lot of research into gender and sexuality in the United States and Europe. However, this research was heavily dominated by straight white men inspired by pseudoscientists like Sigmund Freud and didn’t account very well into humanistic or people-first approaches. Many of these early researchers supported gender-affirming care, but they still fundamentally believed sex and gender were combined – in their view, LGBTQIA+ people existed due to anomalies and disorders of “regular” functioning.

    This resulted in papers that documented folks who were assigned male at birth and identified as women (known as transgender women today) as “transgender/transsexual men,” and folks assigned female at birth and identified as male (known as transgender men now) as “transgender/transsexual women.” The distinction between gender and sex didn’t become widespread in academic settings until feminist scholarship found its roots during the 1970s, so these men used labels based on biological sex. Further, they applied sexuality based on this understanding: an individual assigned male at birth, identified as a woman, and was attracted to men would be classified as a gay/homosexual transgender man since, according to their standards, the individual was attracted to the same sex as themselves. Today, that same individual would be classified as a straight transgender woman. These differences can become confusing very quickly, but they’re important to remember if you delve deeper into transgender history or the history of gender.

  • Trans History: Jeffersonian Era

    Trans History: Jeffersonian Era

    CONTENT WARNINGS: 🤬 Slurs, ⚔️ Colonization, 🗨️ Misgendering

    The presidential election of 1800 put former Vice President Thomas Jefferson into power under the Democratic-Republican Party against the Federalists. It marked the first shift of political power between two major parties – accomplished without the bloodshed and violence typically associated with such moves in European monarchies. Jefferson’s party valued free markets, individual liberty, freedom of religion, and the separation of church and state due to the influence of the French Revolution. Jefferson’s party filled the void as the dominant party while the Federalist Party collapsed, despite its mixed views on slavery. They also led the United States to war again against the United Kingdom through the War of 1812, even though it ended in a draw with the Treaty of Ghent.

    All-Time Prosecution Highs

    The Jeffersonian Era gave rise to an increase of sodomy-related persecutions, such as the case against John W. Morse in 1816. The National Advocate wrote about the New York case, “Amongt the civil prosecutions at this circuit were to [sic] of uncommon importance, and which had excited a good deal of interest in some parts of the country. The one was the case of John W. Morse vs. Roger Adsit; a slander suit on the charge of sodomy. Verdict for the plaintiff 600 dollars.” More sodomy cases come up in court reports, even if they failed to make it into published newspapers like Morse – there are six cases between the years of 1802 to 1807 in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, New York, and North Carolina.

    What exactly is sodomy? Also known as buggery, it comes up a lot when referencing queer history as well as modern politics. Derived from the ancient Greek word Σόδομα or sódoma and the Hebrew word sədom based on the biblical city of Sodom, sodomy is any human sexual activity that does not intend to create children. Essentially, sodomy is all sex that is not penis-in-vagina intercourse.

    Within queer history, sodomy cases are some of our best-documented records of LGBTQIA+ people existing in centuries past. While dominant writers refused to include queer people in history textbooks, we still managed to be recorded in court documents. In the early years, sodomy laws related more often to criminalizing beastility than same-sex activity – but these laws evolved to their current status today. The criminalization of sodomy still exists throughout much of the world, and today’s version of sodomy generally penalizes only same-sex activity rather than non-procreative heterosexual sex – although individuals are pushing for sodomy’s stricter definition based on hyper-religious beliefs like traditional Catholicism.

    Today, same-sex activity is overwhelmingly legal throughout most of the world – the only countries that have sodomy laws are centralized in Africa and the Middle East. As of 2025, 12 of the 61 countries that criminalize sodomy use the death penalty as punishment: Brunei, Iran, Mauritania, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Uganda, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Qatar, Somalia, and the United Arab Emirates.

    The United States utilized the sodomy laws imported from Europe to criminalize same-sex activity – and our victory in the Revolutionary War did not change these laws, leaving them largely in place for years to come. South Carolina was the last state to repeal the death penalty for sodomy in 1873, but it remained a criminal offense until Lawrence v. Texas in 2003. John Geddes Lawrence Jr. and Tyron Garner were arrested in a Texas apartment and charged with a misdemeanor – which Lambda Legal used to take their case to the Supreme Court on the basis that consenting adults have legal privacy in their homes. When the Court sided with Lawrence and Lambda Legal, all sodomy laws in the United States were immediately nullified and same-sex activity became legal – a major step in American queer rights.

    Lawrence v. Texas has hit major news headlines again in recent years due to conservatives advocating for the Supreme Court to revisit the case and overturn the ruling similar to Roe v. Wade. Such a decision would recriminalize same-sex activity in all states that have not repealed former sodomy laws – even though current polls show that Americans overwhelmingly favor same-sex marriage by 69%.

    Antebellum America: Transgressing Gender

    Between the years of 1776 to 1861, countless children’s books and magazines were published in the South featuring atypical gender behavior, especially remarkable for the period. Most of these publications aimed to instruct youth about how to correctly adhere to their gender assigned at birth, as Jen Manion writes, “There were an abundance of publications aimed at instructing children on all manner of subjects from politics to cleanliness to morality. No realm of life was spared such scrutiny. Children were told how to behave with family, at school, and on the playground… Not surprisingly then, children’s literature provides a rich window into the malleability of gender, including the ways and reasons that children claimed gender identities, expressions, and activities for themselves.”

    Some of the most notable examples come from the mid-19th century: Lucy Nelson and Billy Bedlow were children’s stories published in 1831 and 1832, following the adventures of two genderbending youth written by Eliza Leslie as they saw the errors of their ways by failing to adhere to traditional gender roles. Other accounts aren’t as cruel – McGloughlin Bros.’ The Tom-Boy Who Was Changed Into a Real Boy centers on a tomboyish girl who becomes a boy after years of engaging in male behavior, eventually becoming a sailor after his transition. The story is meant to be a light-hearted cautionary tale, it tells a more hopeful existence as a gender-variant individual where the protagonist wasn’t forced to give up their identity to conform.

    Native Americans in Jefferson’s America

    One of President Thomas Jefferson’s crowning achievements while in office was the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, expanding the American empire further west of the Mississippi River that Meriwether Lewis and William Clark would explore from 1804 onwards. While Jefferson respected Native Americans as individuals, he and his political allies viewed Indigenous cultures as inferior and worthy of American conquest.

    This expansion and numerous expeditions created more encounters between American colonizers and Native Americans. Jefferson commissioned Lewis and Clark to record as much detail as possible while traveling Louisiana – first and foremost meant to establish an American presence further west and deter European powers, and secondly to make positive trade relations with Native American nations in the west while documenting Louisiana’s geography.

    Lewis and Clark’s expedition journals were edited by Nicholas Biddle, a Pennsylvania senator who served as the final president of the Second Bank of the United States. Biddle’s diary notes in the Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expeditions reported Minitaree people who accepted gender-variant people within their tribe, “Among Minitarees if a boy shows any symptoms of effeminacy or girlish inclinations he is put among the girls, dressed in their way, brought up with them, & sometimes married to men. They submit as women to all the duties of a wife. I have seen them – the French call them Birdashes.”

    Claude E. Schaeffer gives a detailed account of the acceptance of gender-diverse individuals that explorers encountered among the Kutenai of western Montana in 1811. Referred to as Madame Boisvert, this individual had been previously married to a Canadian servant of David Thompson – while Madame Boisvert had been unusual in their youth, they were surprised when Madame Boisvert returned as a man, claiming to their relatives, “I’m a man now. We Indians did not believe the white people possessed such power from the supernaturals. I can tell you that they do, greater power than we have. They changed my sex while I was with them. No Indian is able to do that.” Changing their name to Kauxuma Nupika, he sought a wife despite being assigned female at birth and joined Kutenai men in warfare – where he was later discovered as still biologically female by his brother. Changing his name again to Qanqon Kdmek Klatda, he was later purposely exposed by his brother – leading the entire camp to deny Qanqon of his masculine identity. Schaeffer’s entire account refers to Qanqon with the (modernly offensive) outdated term berdache.

    Schaeffer’s account of Qanqon illustrates the evolving dynamic between Native Americans attempting to appeal to white colonizers – two-spirit and gender-diverse identities were accepted and celebrated in historical Native cultures, but continued European and American contact alongside Christian conversion imported transphobia. Schaeffer published his findings based on collected oral legends in 1966 – meaning Qanqon’s story likely warped through several generations. In the legends, he is depicted as brutal, nonsensical, and “bereft of her senses.” His brother is valiant for exposing Qanqon’s biology, and Qanqon himself deserves his punishment after years of beating women in camp.

    Drawing by George Catlin (1796 – 1872) among the Sac and Fox Nation, depicting a ceremonial dance to celebrate the two-spirit person.

    The Adventures of Lucy Brewer

    The Female Marine, also known as The Adventures of Lucy Brewer/Louisa Barker, was published in Boston in 1815 – a series of pamphlets documenting the life of Lucy Brewer. While the story is published as an autobiography, some believe it was actually written by Nathanial Hill Wright. Regardless of its authorship, it takes inspiration from real accounts of gender-variant individuals like Hannah Snell.

    Escaping a life of prostitution, Brewer fought as a marine under the name of George Baker during the War of 1812. The entire story is told in three parts, aimed to guide its young audience to avoid the mistakes she made – although it portrays her gender-bending adventures in a generally positive light, given it allows Brewer to fight for her country and travel the country. Brewer’s experiences also show an early conflict between gender roles and gender identity, since her ability to conform to traditional male roles illustrates that Brewer is capable of performing gender beyond biology.

    The Adventures of Lucy Brewer, (Alias) Louisa Baker

    Knowledge Check

    1. True or False: The purpose of early gender-bending children’s stories in Antebellum America was to teach Southern youth that being transgender and nonbinary was okay.
      –
    2. Fill in the Blank: During expeditions into Louisiana, American colonizers came into contact with _____, a gender-variant person among the Kutenai people.
      –
    3. True or False: Sodomy is currently criminalized in the United States.
      –
    4. The Adventures of Lucy Brewer follow a young woman who fought in the War of 1812 as a male _____.
      a. Doctor
      b. Soldier
      c. Marine
      d. None of the Above
      –
    5. The Supreme Court ruling that overturned sodomy laws in the United States was _____.
      a. United States v. Marcum
      b. Obergefell v. Hodges
      c. Bostock v. Clayton County
      d. Lawrence v. Texas
    ANSWER KEY

    1. FALSE / 2. QANQON / 3. FALSE / 4. C / 5. D

    Further Reading

    DISCLAIMER: While the links below work at the time this article was originally published, they may not forever – especially when government officials are intentionally purging official-reviewed research and censoring mainstream media.

    Map of Anti-LGBT Laws by Human Rights Watch

    Native American LGBTQ+ People by Jonathan Ned Katz

    Sodomy Cases Appealed by Jonathan Ned Katz

    The History of Sexuality and Gender History by OutHistory

    Transgender Children in Antebellum America by Jen Manion

    US History #10, #11 and Black American History #12 by Crash Course

  • Trans History: Confederation Period

    Trans History: Confederation Period

    CONTENT WARNINGS: ✊ Civil Unrest

    Immediately after the victory of the young United States of America against Britain, leaders attempted a short-lived government under the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. Anxious about the tyranny that Britain held over colonists, the confederated government was purposely weak with little authority and even lesser power to enforce regulation. It didn’t take long for issues to arise, leading to the confederated government being thrown out in favor of the republic and Constitution in 1788.

    There is very little queer or transgender US history written within these five years. The confederation was chaotic – after securing victory in the American Revolution, leaders were given the task to create a government for the people that would not lead to tyranny and completely separate from the monarchy-style governments that controlled Europe. In their hesitance to give the federal government power, the purposely-neutered American confederation could largely not govern individual states – leading to a spike in civil unrest during this period as seen in the Pennsylvania Mutiny, Shays’ Rebellion, the Paper Money Riot, and Doctors Mob Riot.

    Two of the most notable cases of civil unrest are Shays’ Rebellion and the Pennsylvania Mutiny since both aimed to ultimately overthrow the young confederated government. In 1783, the Continental Army threatened Congress situated in Philadelphia due to outstanding military debts. The Congress of the Confederation lacked any control of the military outside times of war, so the refusal of the Executive Council of Pennsylvania to halt the army’s protest forced Congress to leave Philadelphia and determine a new national capital. In 1786, Daniel Shays allegedly motivated his peers in Massachusetts over the debt crisis between farmers and merchants. Shays ultimately failed in their attempt to seize weaponry housed in the federal Springfield Armory – although his historical portrayal compared to the military members in Pennsylvania highlights the distortion of history. When the Continental Army won in Philadelphia, recounts are kind to their involvement; modern scholarship suggests that Shay was intentionally scapegoated to deflect from the corruption within Massachusetts that led to the unrest.

    Until recently, there have been very few attempts to overthrow the United States federal government after the confederation period. The only known case is the failed attempt in 1933 against Franklin D. Roosevelt and then recent events in the past decade by the right wing. The failed coup on January 6th, 2020 held similarities with most rebellions organized by civilians, whereas the current ongoing coup by the Department of Government Efficiency is more similar to the strategic coups organized by the United States government against other countries.

    While there is not much queer history recorded during this era, that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything to learn – history is a fantastic teacher to those willing to be students. Why are American conservatives seemingly more willing to overthrow democracy compared to the left? Why are general Americans still not ready for a large-scale overthrow?

    Conservatives are emboldened and genuinely believe they are righteous. While a minority of those who attacked the capitol believed they could have died, the majority likely believed that they had nothing to legitimately fear. Traditional conservatives align themselves with law enforcement and idolize the military – so it came as a surprise when security treated them as criminals as they ransacked D.C. MAGA conservatives associate with the further right, which begins to demonize law enforcement (and why Nazis also use the term ACAB). The crowd on January 6th was likely mixed with both types, with MAGA conservatives fueling mob mentality into inciting others into extreme action.

    The American left has overwhelming more in common with the general public, especially in terms of rebellion. They assume that the system, including both law enforcement and the military, is a tool to be used against them. Before positive change can be wrought or for the international community to intervene, protestors have to die for their cause. For that to occur, protestors must be willing to die for their cause – which means they must feel so desperate or hopeless that even death is better than living under their current conditions. It is at that point that the general public can be moved to great action; and while the majority of the American public disapproves of the Trump administration, they have not been impacted enough yet to act. However, Americans are rapidly climbing towards that path – the actions of Luigi Mangione were done because Mangione became disillusioned and desperate by the current political and healthcare system to put his life at risk, and the response by many Americans celebrating his actions further proves this.

    Knowledge Check

    1. True or False: Examples of transgender history during the American Revolution include Thomas(sine) Hall, Joseph Davis, and Anne Hutchinson.
      –
    2. The first government of the United States was a _____.
      a. Republic
      b. Oligarchy
      c. Confederation
      d. Autocracy
      –
    3. True or False: The riots on January 6th, 2020 were an attempted coup or overthrow of the government.
    ANSWER KEY
    1. FALSE / 2. C / 3. TRUE

    Further Reading

    DISCLAIMER: While the links below work at the time this article was originally published, they may not forever – especially when government officials are intentionally purging official reviewed research and censoring mainstream media.

    Ask the ‘Coupologists’: Just What was Jan. 6 Anyway? by Politico/Joshua Zeitz (2022)

    LGBTQIA+ Community Records by the National Archives (2025)

    Must’s Coup at the Treasury Has Been Ruled Illegal. Will That Stop Him? by Truthout/Katie Rose Quandt (2025)

    Policies and Problems of the Confederation Government by the Library of Congress (2025)

    Revolution: American Colonial Settlers Make a New Nation by Jonathan Ned Katz (2012)

    US History #8 and #9 and Black American History #9 by Crash Course

  • Hormone Replacement Therapy 201

    Hormone Replacement Therapy 201

    Know the basics about hormone replacement therapy but feel like there’s still more to learn? Previously, I wrote about the basics of HRT – the process of taking prescribed synthetic testosterone or estrogen to align one’s physical body and sex characteristics with their gender identity. Despite the GOP’s war on transgender people, HRT has been firmly backed by medical science for nearly a century as the best treatment to prescribe. No amount of conversion therapy or repression is as effective nor humane as accessible trans-affirming care – and ‘trans regret‘ and ‘social contagion‘ theories have been repeatedly debunked by scientific research.

    DISCLAIMER: This post is for informational purposes only and does not provide professional advice. Always seek the advice of a qualified healthcare provider with questions regarding medical conditions or treatments.

    What’s the difference between HRT 1.0 and HRT 2.0?

    My previous post explained the basics of hormone replacement therapy, puberty blockers, common myths, and recommended routes to accessing legal HRT via informed consent and written letters.

    HRT 1.0

    In today’s political climate, it may not be possible to access HRT through traditional legal routes. In contrast to my previous post, HRT 2.0 provides an overview of alternative routes – but remember the above disclaimer and be mindful of the legal risks involved. When possible, always get HRT prescribed through traditional legal routes. Don’t take risks when they aren’t necessary. For American adults, we are currently still at a point where it is feasible – and safer – to obtain HRT through mainstream doctors. Even when there are no local doctors physically available, telehealth now offers transgender folks the ability to get legal prescriptions online.

    FOLX
    Plume
    Planned Parenthood

    “DIY HRT” is the practice of obtaining and administering hormone replacement therapy without a licensed medical provider or prescription. Today, it’s fairly rare within the United States as long as individuals have physical and financial access to a provider, but it was the most common method for transgender folks decades ago when most healthcare professionals were unwilling to prescribe HRT. Beyond the US, DIY is still a common practice in countries where transgender identity is strictly regulated or criminalized.

    By nature, DIY HRT communities are difficult to find on the mainstream internet, but they aren’t impossible to find. In addition to the medical disclaimer, DIY HRT communities are not open to minors. You might be able to find basic information, but these communities are already on high alert due to their potentially illegal nature and therefore generally unwilling to have open discussions with individuals under the age of 18. DIY HRT and its legality vary drastically by country – even within the United States, synthetic estrogen and testosterone have different laws applied to them. Throughout most of the world, possession of HRT isn’t a criminal offense, unlike the trade of unprescribed medication. To circumvent this, this article uses the same logic as most DIY communities on the clear web – this article is for purely informational purposes, and I do not endorse DIY HRT. As mentioned above, I actually advise getting your hormones from a licensed provider when possible.

    Is DIY HRT Dangerous?

    Anecdotally, it’s generally safe. All medicines and procedures carry some inherent risk, and hormone replacement therapy is no different. Traditional HRT carries no substantial medical risk compared to cisgender people, although there are (often discredited) doctors who will attribute unrelated issues to being on HRT.

    DIY HRT isn’t much different as long as you know the potential risks and benefits of basic hormone therapy. The largest health risks associated with DIY are reduced by monitoring and appropriately adjusting your hormone levels through regular blood work – a process you’d normally do with a licensed provider, too. Blood tests are not negotiable; most external signs cannot feasibly identify whether you’re on a safe or unsafe dose. Monitoring your levels protects your long-term health.

    Where do I learn more about DIY HRT?

    For clear web users, there are two sources: r/TransDIY and The DIY HRT Directory. The Directory provides details on medication levels, distributors, and blood work, whereas r/TransDIY offers an open forum for discussions and questions in addition to general guides. The Directory currently does not offer any contact feature, so you should visit r/TransDIY for support.

    r/TransDIY
    The DIY HRT Directory

    Transmasculine DIY

    For basic information about testosterone-related HRT and effects, read HRT 1.0 or check out these sources from Planned Parenthood, University of California San Francisco, Rainbow Health Ontario, Trans Hub, them, Healthline, GenderGP, and FOLX.

    The most common form of synthetic testosterone is injection-based, usually as testosterone propionate, testosterone cypionate, or testosterone enanthate. Both cypionate and enanthate have long half-lives (which determines the length of time the testosterone will last in your body). Gels are rare, but occasionally possible to find – although it is difficult to source the amount of gel needed for appropriate hormone levels.

    For all forms of HRT, you begin on a much lower dose initially and progress to a stable regular dosage based on your blood work. Most medical providers mimic the natural hormone cycle of cisgender men, putting individuals on a low dose before increasing over the first few years, and then slightly lowering to a long-term level.

    DOSAGE

    Low DoseInitial DoseTypical Maximum
    Testosterone Cypionate20 mg per week IM/SQ50 mg per week IM/SQ100 mg per week IM/SQ
    Testosterone Enanthate20 mg per week IM/SQ50 mg per week IM/SQ100 mg per week IM/SQ

    For more info on dosages, mainstream providers have guides available online for informed consent purposes.

    Do NOT try to achieve a higher dose than what is needed. In addition to long-term health risks, high hormone doses are subject to the possible ‘spillover effect’ (clinically known as aromatization), where excess HRT will convert to your naturally produced sex hormone (aka estrogen).

    Vials of injectable testosterone are often compounded as 200 mg/mL, 250 mg/mL, or 300 mg/mL. In common language, in a 200 mg/mL vial, there is 200 mg of testosterone in each milliliter. If the vial contains 10 milliliters of liquid testosterone, there are 2,000 milligrams of total testosterone in that vial.

    Due to this, you will have to do math to calculate exactly how much liquid to inject to achieve your target dosage. Medical providers would calculate this for you, but you’ll have to do so when calculating for DIY. The formula used is: (amount you want to inject) ÷ (concentration of the vial) = amount to inject per dose in mL.

    EXAMPLE:
    John has acquired a 200 mg/mL vial of testosterone and wants to have a 50 mg per week dose.
    (50) ÷ (200) = 0.25
    Based on the above formula, John should inject 0.25 mL per injection.

    Since injectable testosterone is fairly thick, it requires a thicker needle for proper injection. For intramuscular injections, it is recommended to use needles between 1″ to 1.5″ in length and 23-25g gauge (needle thickness). Subcutaneous injections should use needles between 1/2″ to 5/8″ in length and 25-30g gauge.

    Planned Parenthood Injection Guide

    Transfeminine DIY

    For basic information about estrogen-related HRT and effects, read HRT 1.0 or check out these sources from Trans Hub, Healthline, FOLX, Rainbow Health Ontario, Mayo Clinic, UVA Health, and University of California San Francisco.

    Compared to transmasculine DIY, which usually only requires injecting and monitoring testosterone levels, effective transfeminine HRT requires both synthetic estrogen and testosterone blockers.

    Additionally, estrogen can be ‘homebrewed’ rather than purchased through a pharmaceutical company unlike testosterone (which cannot be produced at home). Within the DIY community, estrogen is commonly ‘homebrewed.’ Homebrewed estrogen is produced by individuals through raw estradiol ester/bicalutamide/etc powder. Pharmaceutical-grade estrogen is produced by legitimate pharmaceutical companies – these forms of estrogen are widely considered safer, but they are more expensive than homebrewed sources.

    The most common form of estrogen is pill-based – they’re the most prescribed by licensed doctors and also the easiest to DIY. Synthetic estrogen does not harm the body the same way testosterone does in pill form, which is why transmasculine folks opt for injection routes. Always use bioidentical estrogens such as estradiol hemihydrate or estradiol valerate. Never use non-bioidentical estrogens for HRT. Estrogen can also be taken as a gel, patch, or injection – pills are cheapest per month, while injections are cheaper annually or long-term.

    The most common testosterone blockers (antiandrogens) are pills that must be swallowed, which include spironolactone, cyproterone acetate, and bicalutamide. Spiro is the most famous, but is considered a weak (but much safer) antiandrogen. Cypro and bica are considered strongly effective but must be used with caution due to harsher health risks.

    DOSAGE

    The following guidance is considered a higher-than-average regimen than what most individuals may use. Adjust accordingly based on blood testing.

    REGIME 1Cyproterone acetate | 6.25-12.5 mg per dayEstradiol | 3 mg twice per day
    REGIME 2Bicalutamide | 50 mg per dayEstradiol | 3 mg twice per day

    For DIY cypro, you will need a pill cutter to create the above dosage. If your testosterone levels are not adequately suppressed, increase your estrogen dosage.

    Bica may cause blood testosterone levels to INCREASE slightly, so make sure your T is adequately blocked. 50mg is advised as generally adequate for testosterone suppression when combined with estradiol.

    For more info on dosages, mainstream providers have guides available online for informed consent purposes.

    Do NOT try to achieve a higher dose than what is needed. In addition to long-term health risks, high hormone doses are subject to the possible ‘spillover effect’ (clinically known as aromatization), where excess HRT will convert to your naturally produced sex hormone (aka testosterone).

    Sourcing & Supplies

    How do you find DIY HRT? Considering its legal status, it can be difficult to find – the following information and links are from major sources like r/TransDIY and the Directory. The Directory has not been updated in a few years, but r/TransDIY continues to be moderated – check its information for the most current verified distributors.

    Injection Supplies

    It’s fairly easy to get syringes and injection equipment – you don’t need a prescription to access them. Most countries allow you to purchase needles from any pharmacy, although you may need to speak directly with a pharmacist. Online, Amazon is the most popular source for American DIY users.

    Amazon states needles are ‘not suitable’ for human use – but this is untrue and put to skirt around American Amazon regulations that prohibit the sale of medical supplies.

    Medications

    Listed below are the most common and reputable pharmaceutical distributors for DIY HRT. Use extreme caution if using a source that is not listed below or on either r/TransDIY or the Directory. Most in the DIY community purchase legitimate pharmaceutical-grade medication from foreign companies that permit the sale of these drugs internationally. To use these companies, you will have to learn how to buy cryptocurrency like Bitcoin or utilize an international system like Zelle or MoneyGram.

    hrtcafe.nethrt.coffeediyhrt.market
    Alpha North LabsRoidBazaar IntSteroids UK

    When purchasing HRT internationally, it is best practice to buy small amounts in case it is confiscated by customs. Individuals are rarely prosecuted or arrested for attempting to order international HRT, but your shipment can be seized. By ordering in small amounts, you reduce the amount lost when seized. Domestic purchases are not screened like international shipments, so there is little to no risk of losing your order.

    Another route for DIY-ish HRT is stockpiling, which works well alongside informed consent and other methods of obtaining legal HRT. Since hormones are prescribed at an exact dose by providers, there are two ways to stockpile HRT from stockpile-adverse providers (although there is a growing number of providers that understand the volatile political climate transgender Americans are facing and why folks want to stockpile). Both methods described below are slow processes – you’re not going to be able to stockpile overnight through your provider.

    • By purposely taking less than your prescription in the days leading up to blood testing by your provider, your hormone levels will show up as low. In response, most providers will prescribe an increased dose to stabilize your levels. Once prescribed, individuals return to their former dosage regime and save the excess for future use.
    • Some individuals purposely take a lower dose regularly than their prescription to save the excess for stockpiling. This method is used when an increased prescription cannot be received but will result in slower transition, similar to the effects of low-dose HRT.

    If possible, do not travel with DIY HRT – especially testosterone. Testosterone is strictly regulated compared to estrogen, and unprescribed medication can be charged as possession of a controlled substance if found by airport security. If you MUST travel, clearly label your testosterone in a large clear Ziploc bag and throw in over-the-counter medication like aspirin and allergy meds alongside in the bag. Airport security will be less likely to hound you for a prescription. If you are arrested, do not say anything to the police and contact a lawyer as soon as the opportunity is presented.

    Blood Testing

    Especially when beginning HRT, blood testing is recommended every three months – although every six months becomes more common later on. For DIY, you should get a blood test after one month on HRT and then every three months. It is advised to find a healthcare facility local to your location for blood testing, although you may have to ask to manually see your results. For accurate results and monitoring purposes, ALWAYS get your estradiol (E2) and total testosterone (T) tested every time. Additional information from blood tests are useful for monitoring potential side effects of HRT, but not as mandatory.

    Transfeminine

    Testosterone levels should range at 50 ng/dL or lower and estradiol should range at 100 pg/mL or above.

    Transmasculine

    Testosterone levels should range between 300-1,000 ng/dL and estradiol should range between 10-50 pg/mL. Unlike transfeminine HRT, testosterone hormone therapy naturally lowers naturally produced estrogen more easily.

  • HIV: How can young people protect themselves?

    HIV: How can young people protect themselves?

    April 10th is National Youth HIV and AIDS Awareness Day, also known as NYHAAD, a yearly observance by the CDC to promote sexual health programs within the United States. NYHAAD was proposed in 2013 through Advocates for Youth since approximately 19% of new HIV diagnoses are from individuals between the ages of 13 and 24 – which is also the age group least likely to get tested or be aware of their HIV status.

    Advocates for Youth has its own site on resources and national events related to National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. Check out their website from ambassador highlights to film screenings for in-depth resources on youth-focused sex education.

    As many readers know, HIV also disproportionately affects LGBTQIA+ people – it was once referred to as the “gay plague” during its early years when thousands of queer people were being killed each year while government-funded research facilities pushed the harmful belief that HIV was a divine punishment ordained by God. All marginalized groups are at higher risk of contracting HIV, culminating from a lack of educated doctors, accessible testing, preventative medicine like PrEP and PEP, and public knowledge. Ultimately, this means that young queer people are at an exceptionally higher risk of HIV – especially transgender youth of color.

    Despite heightened rates reported by the CDC, they also found that only 6% of high school students had ever been tested for HIV. Most people are never offered an HIV test when visiting a healthcare provider’s office – there’s often very little signage and educational material present advertising HIV prevention and its risk and even fewer offices discuss HIV with their patients unless they believe they’re a ‘high risk.’ Unfortunately, this process is based on stereotypes even among healthcare providers well-educated on HIV versus reality – so lots of folks fall through the cracks. The CDC recommends all individuals, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, age, class, race, ethnicity, or background, be tested for HIV at least once in their life. Certain people are advised to be tested regularly based on their sexual activity – as a general note, the CDC says the following people should be tested for HIV at least once per year:

    • Men who have had sex with other men.*
    • Individuals who have had anal or vaginal sex with someone who is living with HIV.
    • Individuals who have had sex with more than one partner since their last HIV test.
    • Drug users who share injection equipment, like needles, syringes, and cookers.
    • Individuals who have had sex for money, drugs, or housing.
    • Individuals who have been diagnosed with another STD/STI, hepatitis, or tuberculosis.
    • Anyone who has had sex with someone who has done one of the above things or you’re unsure about their sexual history.

    In February 2025, the Trump administration tried to remove mentions of LGBTQIA+ people from official government websites – including the CDC. Federal courts have rebuked this decision as purposeful misinformation of scientific research and forced the administration to restore previous web pages, although they have altered some of the sites and added a political anti-science disclaimer stating the agency denounces transgender people alongside the Trump administration.

    All governmental information and research regarding HIV was targeted by this purge – I’m unsure whether the first statement was present before the restoration since it’s not aligned with current HIV advocacy and data. Most organizations disagree with blanket stereotypes for HIV and testing based on sexuality, instead pushing for non-discriminatory testing requirements based on sexual activity. This can be seen in the change in the Red Cross’s policies allowing queer men to finally donate blood after decades of permanently banning them for “having had sex with men” since data shows such practices do not effectively reduce HIV risk during blood donation.

    HIV 101: The Basics

    In today’s world, most people have a basic understanding that HIV exists, that it’s an STD, and it disproportionately targets queer men. Other than that, knowledge varies drastically since HIV isn’t covered in many public school sexual education programs (and several states don’t have sex ed) and most healthcare providers do not bring up HIV unless they believe they have enough reason to do so.

    As mentioned earlier, anyone can be affected by HIV – the virus doesn’t discriminate based on sexual orientation, gender identity, race, ethnicity, age, class, education, religion, neighborhood, etc. There is no singular way to ‘tell’ if someone has HIV other than getting tested: most people don’t experience symptoms until HIV has developed into AIDS years later. Lastly, HIV won’t kill you – while living with HIV will greatly change your life, people live long, happy, and fulfilling lives with HIV when taking prescribed medication to treat the virus.

    Want to learn more about HIV? Read this post here or check out one of the sources below.

    CDC
    HIV.GOV
    UNAIDS

    How do we prevent HIV among young people?

    Education is crucial. Teaching youth about HIV and safe sex is the first step in reducing the spread of STDs, including HIV. Despite this reality, many schools, politicians, and religious figures argue that comprehensive sex education encourages young people to have sex. This is fallacious – data shows that folks will have sex regardless, but it is possible to reduce STDs and unplanned pregnancies by giving them the tools to have safe and healthy relationships.

    Accessibility is just as important. Most people know what they ought to do, whether it’s safe sex or recycling plastic. However, they’re unlikely to do it unless it is convenient – it’s human nature. Convenient testing is offered at regular healthcare visits, community centers, and even social events like local drag shows and pride events. Some organizations offer incentives for testing like free entry to an event, gift cards, vouchers, or coupons to engage folks in testing when they may otherwise be too hesitant. Making condoms free and easy to access discreetly without shame encourages people to practice safe sex. Preventative medicines like PrEP and PEP are most impactful when folks have access to those medicines when they need them – whether it’s by visiting a local pharmacy or getting it mailed directly to their house.

    Where do I get tested for HIV?

    You can only get treatment for HIV if you’ve tested positive, which requires you to get tested in the first place – so seeking testing is the first step to protecting your health. The earlier someone gets diagnosed, the sooner they can access life-saving treatments to manage their HIV.

    Greater Than (linked above) is one of the largest public health campaigns in the United States that provides detailed resources in partnership with the CDC. Click above to be redirected to their website, which locates HIV testing, PrEP providers, and support services locally by zip code. Greater Than also connects individuals to health insurance information to educate users on state laws dictating coverage.

    IRL testing isn’t for everyone – that’s why the CDC also sponsors the Together TakeMeHome program to ship free HIV tests directly to homes throughout the United States. These tests are done via an oral swab with saliva to give results within 20 minutes, and the program provides two free tests to individuals every 90 days. Together TakeMeHome has been providing free tests since early 2023, so click the button below to learn more about how to use their services.

    Together TakeMeHome is currently operating, although it can only do so through government funding. Due to the current political climate and attacks by the Trump administration on other HIV programs, it’s not impossible to consider the possibility that the program could be shut down in the future. Most LGBTQIA+ community centers also provide HIV testing for free, and many cities offer similar programs to Together TakeMeHome with mail programs to increase HIV testing in their area.

    Know Your Rights: Young People, HIV, and the Law

    In the United States, all individuals with HIV are protected by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which is enforced by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Office for Civil Rights. These laws prohibit any anti-HIV discrimination by healthcare and human services agencies that receive federal funding, as well as any discrimination by state or local governments – including services, activities, or programs provided by state or local governments. Anyone can file a report with the Office for Civil Rights online or by mail.

    In all US states, minors have the right to consent to HIV and STD testing and treatment without a guardian’s permission. Generally, youth have the right to get tested (and receive HIV medication) without telling their parents. However, these laws vary on whether you have the right to access preventative services like PrEP without parental consent. There are no state or federal laws that explicitly prohibit minors from accessing PrEP, but you should search for laws specific to your state for details.

    Many states don’t have health confidentiality protections for minors, so it’s extremely likely for your guardian to find your status if you get tested at your primary provider – especially if your doctor bills your family’s insurance company for the test. For this reason, many LGBTQIA+ community centers provide free confidential HIV testing to encourage youth to get tested without fear that their authority figures will discover they got tested.

    While many US states and territories require you to disclose your HIV status, you’re only required to disclose it to certain people. At the time of this article, thirteen states require you to disclose your status to potential sexual partners, while four require disclosure to anyone you share a needle with.

    Depending on the state, failure to disclose status can lead to life in prison. You do not have to disclose to anyone else – including your family or friends. While most American employers have the right to ask about your health in certain fields, you don’t have to disclose it to your workplace in most cases. The Americans with Disabilities Act protects you from anti-HIV discrimination – which means hiring managers can’t ask you about your health and companies have to make reasonable adjustments as needed. These protections also apply within education, so you’re not required to disclose your HIV status to anyone at school unless you reside in a state requiring disclosure for potential sexual partners or needle sharing.

    The Fair Housing Act makes anti-HIV discrimination in US renting and housing entirely illegal. No one can be legally denied housing, harassed, or evicted due to HIV status.

    Also at the time of this article, people living with HIV cannot be denied healthcare in the United States. Healthcare insurance must cover pre-existing conditions like HIV and cannot cancel your policy because of a new diagnosis. The Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) prohibits such discrimination within healthcare, and HIV medications, lab tests, and counseling have to be covered.

    Hotlines & Resources

    AIDS Drug Assistance Program@ adap.directory / Patient-centric project that provides HIV-related services and prescription medication to hundreds of thousands of people in the United States by linking individuals with their local state or territory agency.

    AIDS Healthcare Foundation @ aidshealth.org / 323-860-5200 / International nonprofit based in Los Angeles that operates a network of HIV services in over 40 countries across Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Europe.

    Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team @ apaitssg.org / Grassroots AIDS service organization centered on Asian and Pacific Islanders with HIV, based in the United States.

    Bienestar Human Services @ bienestar.org / US community-based social services organization that caters to Latino Americans living with HIV, especially LGBTQIA+ Latino Americans.

    Black AIDS Institute @ blackaids.org / Think tank that aims to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Black American community through awareness messaging, information, and robust programs.

    CDC-INFO @ cdc.gov / 800-232-4626 / Live support to help Americans find the latest and reliable science-based health information, including CDC guidance and resources.

    Global Network of People Living with HIV @ gnpplus.net / Network operated by people living with HIV for people living with HIV, regardless of geographic location.

    HIV/AIDS/Hepatitis C Nightline / 800-273-2437 / US hotline providing support for people living with HIV or Hepatitis C as well as their caregivers.

    HIV. GOV @ hiv.gov / Offers information about HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and resources for anyone in the United States.

    HIV.GOV Service Locator @ locator.hiv.gov / Location-based search tool managed by the United States Department of Health and Human Services to allow anyone to find local HIV testing services, housing providers, health centers, PrEP, PEP, and other related needs.

    HIV Management Warmline / 800-933-3413 / Non-emergency telephone service for questions about HIV, antiretroviral therapy, HIV clinical trials, and laboratory evaluation in the United States.

    International AIDS Society @ iasociety.org / Research-based organization that develops holistic approaches to HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention.

    International Planned Parenthood Federation @ ippf.org / 202-987-9364 / Global healthcare provider that has been a leader in sexual and reproductive health for all since 1952.

    Latino Commission on AIDS @ latinoaids.org / Nonprofit organization in response to the critical unmet need for HIV prevention, treatment, and education in the Latino community in the United States.

    LGBT National Help Center @ lgbthotline.org / 888-843-4564 / Free and confidential peer support, information, and local resources where volunteers help connect you to other groups and services in the US. Also maintains a coming out hotline, youth talkline, and senior hotline.

    National AIDS Hotline / 800-243-2437 / Federal hotline to refer the general American public to relevant state and local resources.

    National AIDS Treatment Advocacy Project @ natap.org / 212-219-0106 / Nonprofit corporation in the United States that educates individuals on HIV treatments on the local, national, and international levels.

    National Clinician Consultation Center @ nccc.ucsf.edu / 833-622-2463 / Teleconsultation resource that educates US healthcare providers with information and answers on HIV and Hepatitis C.

    National Minority AIDS Council @ nmac.org / Advocacy nonprofit that provides training and resources catered to marginalized communities in the United States.

    National Native HIV Network @ nnhn.org / Indigenous-led network that mobilizes American Indians, Indigenous Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians towards community action.

    NIH Office of AIDS Research @ hivinfo.nih.gov / 800-448-0440 / Confidential answers to questions on HIV/AIDS clinical trials and treatment in the United States.

    PEPline / 888-448-4911 / Hotline for individuals interested in information about PEP, especially those who have been possibly exposed to HIV while on the job in the United States.

    Perinatal HIV Hotline / 888-448-8765 / Resource hotline available 24/7 in the United States for pregnant people living with HIV to find answers and tools.

    Positively Trans @ transgenderlawcenter.org / Program through the Transgender Law Center to support transgender people living with HIV in the United States.

    Positive Women’s Network @ pwn-usa.org / Advocacy and resource organization for women living with HIV.

    PrEPline / 855-448-7737 / Hotline about how to start, continue, or manage use of PrEP for HIV within the US.

    Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program @ ryanwhite.hrsa.gov / National services and resources for low-income individuals living with HIV in the US.

    TheBody.com Hotline @ thebody.com / News site based in New York that centers on publishing HIV-related information.

    The Trevor Project @ thetrevorproject.org / 866-488-7386 / The leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization centered on LGBTQIA+ young people in the United States. Offers 24/7/365 information and support to those ages 13 to 24 with trained counselors via call, text, or instant message.

    The Well Project @ thewellproject.org / United States nonprofit that primarily supports women and girls living with HIV/AIDS.

    Trans Lifeline @ translifeline.org / 877-565-8860 / Transgender-centered crisis organization that does not use involuntary intervention/forced hospitalization to provide support to transgender people through fully anonymous and confidential calls within the United States and Canada.

    UNAIDS @ unaids.org / 41-22-595-59-92 / International agency that seeks to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 and has operated since 1996 to assist the United Nations in combating HIV and AIDS.

  • Trans History: Federalist Era

    Trans History: Federalist Era

    CONTENT WARNINGS: ⛓️ Slavery, 🚓 Prison

    After the civil unrest and turmoil of the American Revolution and following the confederation period, the United States settled into a more relaxed period from 1788 to 1801 referred to occasionally as the Federalist Era. The Federalist Party was in power under George Washington and John Adams, using nationalism and the failure of the Articles of Confederation to establish a strong central government.

    The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano

    Olaudah Equiano, who was known for most of his life as Gustavus Vassa, was an enslaved Black writer who was taken from present-day Nigeria to the Americas. In 1766, Equiano purchased his freedom and became a leading figure within the British abolitionist movement in London through the Sons of Africa – and his most notable work, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, became widely successful after publication in 1789. The Interesting Narrative sold so well that it contributed towards helping pass the British Slave Trade Act 1807 which officially abolished slavery in the British Empire.

    The Interesting Narrative also sold in the United States of America, even though Equiano is associated with the British abolition movement. Opposition to slavery existed before the founding of the United States, and Equiano’s work inspired many American abolitionists. However, The Interesting Narrative describes multiple same-sex relationships Equiano had with other men – although this was quickly edited in later publications to fit heterosexual ideals.

    “There was on board the ſhip a young lad who had never been at ſea before, about four or five years older they myſelf: his name was Richard Baker. He was a native of America, had received an excellent education, and was of a moſf amiable temper. Soon after I went on board he ſhewed me a great deal of partiality and attention, and in return I grew extremely fond of him. We at length became inſeparable; and, for the ſpace of two years, he was of very great uſe to me, and was my conſtant companion and inſtructor. Although this dear youth had many ſlaves of his own, yet he and I have gone through many ſufferings together on ſhipboard; and we have many nights lain in each other’s boſoms when we were in great diſtreſs.” – The Life and Adventures of Olaudah Equiano

    Equiano lived a great deal of his life in the Americas, and his published work shows that same-sex relationships were not uncommon among enslaved people – especially since they were not allowed to marry or pursue formal relationships like their captors. If he had access to today’s language, Equiano would likely have identified as bisexual. We can also use Equiano’s experiences to cement the fact that queerness was purposely censored in the Americas and Britain since Mott later revised The Interesting Narrative to depict Equiano’s romantic love as purely platonic.

    America’s First Penitentiary: Queers Behind Bars

    The Federalist Era marks the beginning of ‘real’ America as its own nation, which includes the use of the American prison system. In 1790, Philadelphia established the first penitentiary while it served as the national capitol, offering a replacement for capital punishment for crime at the new Walnut Street Prison. However, solitary confinement was chosen as the primary punishment for crime – cemented when Reverend Louis Dwight began a campaign over the rise in queer sex in New England and an all-time low of sodomy arrests. Jen Manion writes in Liberty’s Prisoners: Carceral Culture in Early America, “Pennsylvania officials didn’t really care why men desired each other, especially while the entire prison system was in chaos. But they seized upon this critique, the idea that men – crowded together in cells – corrupted each other at night. These officials launched a full-scale campaign in favor of complete and total solitary confinement.”

    This abuse of solitary confinement against LGBTQIA+ people is an American tradition. In 2015, Black and Pink found that 85% of queer and transgender people behind bars were put in solitary – some out of choice for personal safety and others as an unjust punishment. In comparison, just 6% of the general prison and jail population is held in solitary confinement.

    AFAB During Federalism

    Queer women, as well as women as a whole, are left to the footnotes when discussing history. In 1793, Moreau de Saint Méry wrote about his experiences while living in the United States – breaking the historical belief that same-sex attraction didn’t exist among early American women: “Although in general one is conscious of widespread modesty in Philadelphia the customs are not particularly pure, and the disregard on the part of some parents for the manner in which their daughters form relations to which they, the parents, have not given their approval is an encouragement of indiscretions which, however, are not the result of love, since American women are not affectionate… I am going to say something that is almost unbelievable. These women, without real love and without passions, give themselves up at an early age to the enjoyment of themselves; and they are not at all strangers to being willing to seek unnatural pleasures with persons of their own sex.”

    It’s interesting that Méry is so stunned by this development – his homeland, France, is just as queer as the rest of Europe. While transness was not accepted, Méry lived during the same period as Chevalière d’Éon – so why did Méry find queer American women ‘almost unbelievable’?

    In 1799, Samuel Johnson was arrested for housebreaking and sentenced to three years in Walnut Street Prison. When Johnson was arrested, he was discovered to be assigned female at birth yet purposely dressed and identified as a man. Johnson “had accustomed herself to wear men’s cloaths for several years,” and while he was required to be incarcerated with the female population at Walnut Street, he was allowed to continue dressing as a man.

    W. H. Smith Performs in Salem

    Around the year 1800, Salem hosted the United Novelty Company in Massachusetts – a show that featured a number of performers, including female impersonator W. H. Smith. While the exact date of the show is lost, it establishes the very beginning of drag performances in the United States. While theatrical cross-dressing and impersonation existed for centuries elsewhere in the world like Britain and Japan, it hadn’t found its footing in the Americas.

    Smith likely performed in the early 1800s, during the rise of America’s circus obsession. Performances from impersonators like Smith would eventually lead to the true origin of drag culture and balls by the mid-19th century.

    The Adventures of Henry and Thompson

    Alexander Henry the Younger traveled with David Thompson throughout modern-day Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington in addition to his travels further north in Canada. His journeys would later be published as the Exploration and Adventures among the Indians on the Red, Saskatchewan, Missouri, and Columbia Rivers. Henry and Thompson dated an entry on January 2nd, 1801 when they met a Native American man who “pretends to be womanish, and dresses as such.”

    As mentioned in previous articles, Native Americans were well-versed in gender queerness – which disturbed the colonists who met them. During these early years of American expansion into the West, explorers were focused on documenting their travels rather than forcing Indigenous Americans to convert. They wrote the man’s “father, who is a great chief amongst the Saulteurs, cannot persuade him to act like a man.”

    Knowledge Check

    1. Philadelphia created the first penitentiary in the United States, which later established widespread use of solitary confinement against LGBTQIA+ prisoners, at _____.
      a. Castle Island Penitentiary
      b. Walnut Street Prison
      c. Joliet Correctional Center
      d. Sing Sing Correctional Facility
      –
    2. Olaudah Equiano was a Black bisexual enslaved man who purchased his freedom before living in _____ and publishing The Interesting Narrative.
      a. Richmond, Virginia
      b. Essaka, Nigeria
      c. Bridgetown, Barbados
      d. London, Britain
      –
    3. W.H. Smith was one of the first female impersonators to perform in the United States, appearing at a _____ in Salem, Massachusetts.
      a. Church Revival
      b. Art Exhibition
      c. Town Hall
      d. Circus
      –
    4. Fill in the Blank: Despite being discovered as biologically female, _____ was allowed to continue dressing as a man while incarcerated at Walnut Street Prison.
      –
    5. True or False: In Exploration and Adventures, Alexander Henry the Younger met a two-spirit man who he convinced to give up gender fluidity.
    ANSWER KEY

    1. B / 2. D / 3. D / 4. SAMUEL JOHNSON / 5. FALSE

    Further Reading

    DISCLAIMER: While the links below work at the time this article was originally published, they may not forever – especially when government officials are intentionally purging official-reviewed research and censoring mainstream media.

    Olaudah Equiano’s Bisexuality by 18th Century Pride

    Prison Sex and Solitary Confinement in Pennsylvania by Jen Mansion

    Same-Sex Desire and the American Slave Trade by Rich Wilson

    The Circus: American Experience by PBS

    The Federalist and the Republican Party by PBS

    Transgender History in the United States and the Places that Matter by Susan Stryker

    US History #8 and #9 and Black American History #9, #10, #11 by Crash Course

  • Beginner Reads: Anti-Fascism

    Beginner Reads: Anti-Fascism

    The current fascist movement can be traced before the 2024 election – far-right and authoritarian politics have been growing in United States politics for decades. Some trace recent events to President Ronald Reagan due to his administration’s dismantling of government programs in favor of creating a more ‘free market,’ since it is predominantly the ultra-wealthy that are moving into politics via fascist ideas to grow their wealth further.

    At its core, fascism seeks to consolidate power into the hands of a few select individuals and undermine the public’s ability to impact politics. Movements may have different ideologies – some favor nationalism, others use racism and populism to convince the general public that they are the right choice to hand power to. Historical fascism is defined by leaders of World War II, such as the crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Axis powers. At the same time, newer influences are referred to as neo-fascists – but it’s all the same brand: a far-right political movement characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forced suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, and subordination of individuals for the ‘good’ of the nation or race.

    Words like fascism and neo-Nazis have a lot of weight – the majority of Americans have rolled their eyes when individuals like Trump are called fascists, chalking it up to polarizing politics. Due to the virtual echo chambers monetized by social media algorithms, the American public is unaware of the real dangers Trump and The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 pose to democracy. Like other nations that have succumbed to fascism, Americans are naturally more concerned with their own survival – we are more worried about affording groceries and job security, similar to the Germans who were radicalized while suffering from economic collapse and hyperinflation post-World War I. On top of this, Americans lack fundamental media literacy skills regardless of age – which is why fake news and misinformation spread so rapidly. Major American social media sites are incentivized by fascism and misinformation since it leads to higher engagement, even if it harms democracy and the general public.

    With that in mind, it’s not easy to learn about anti-fascism. The United States has been purposely built for the past several decades to make it difficult, jarring, and taxing. Works like The Communist Manifesto are dense reads – and we all have negative stereotypes about leftists obsessed with reading too much theory. The following is introductory material for Americans curious about what fascism is, how it applies to current events, and advice on how to become empowered enough to prevent the destruction of American democracy.

    Nineteen Eighty-Four / 1984 by George Orwell

    Probably one of the most talked about books right now – Orwell wrote both 1984 and Animal Farm, which became classics taught in nearly every American high school. His literature even created the term ‘Orwellian,’ referencing brutal situations that destroy free societies through propaganda, surveillance, disinformation, truth denial, and other repressive means as described in his novels.

    If you haven’t read 1984, do so. Like the other fiction books I’ll recommend, a book not being nonfiction doesn’t mean it isn’t valuable. Through this book, Orwell invented concepts still discussed today – like Big Brother, Thought Police, and doublethink. It was published in 1949 and explored a future where fascist totalitarianism took control of previously free societies like the United Kingdom.

    Given how successful 1984‘s publication was, you can find it at nearly any library – and it’s also uploaded for free on the Internet Archive. If your local library doesn’t have an audiobook version available, there are also versions uploaded for free on YouTube.

    Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

    Bradbury’s dystopian novel is commonly banned or censored due to its themes (including in the United States) – which is ironic, considering Fahrenheit 451 centers on literary censorship. Published a few years after Orwell’s 1984, Fahrenheit 451 imagines a future American society where books have been banned entirely – ‘firemen’ are employed to burn books similar to the real book burnings done by Nazi Germany.

    In his personal life, Bradbury had mixed politics – in his younger days, he was a strong Democrat but eventually became a stereotypical Republican staunchly against affirmative action and political correctness, which he said was an allegory for censorship within Fahrenheit 451. Ironically, Bradbury was a white man of substantial financial means who became the exact type of antagonist his main character in Fahrenheit 451 fought against – and it’s worth wondering what Bradbury would have said if he were still alive in Trump’s war on democracy, considering he deemed the American left villains despite Fahrenheit 451 and American book censorship during his lifetime was perpetrated by conservatives like today.

    Fahrenheit 451 is still valuable and a necessary read when learning about anti-fascism – while Bradbury’s politics further warped after its publication, it is still important to connect his personal ideology when reading the novel. He wrote in 1979, “Every minority, be it Baptist/Unitarian, Irish/Italian/Octogenarian/Zen Buddhist, Zionist/Seventh-day Adventist, Women’s Lib/Republican, Mattachine/Four Square Gospel feels it has the will, the right, the duty to douse the kerosene, light the fuse… Fire-Captain Beatty, in my novel Fahrenheit 451, described how the books were burned first by minorities, each ripping a page or a paragraph from this book, then that, until the day came when the books were empty and the minds shut and the libraries closed forever.” It centers on state-based censorship – similar to acts by President Trump to remove all mentions of transgender people from government-funded sites and literature. Bradbury later argued minorities were the cause of censorship, forgetting that Fahrenheit 451 centers on government censorship – and these minorities have never held power in the same way that Republicans have.

    Like 1984, you can find Fahrenheit 451 at any library. It’s also available for free in PDF format online in several places, although it’s not commonly uploaded as an audiobook for free – so visit your local library if you prefer alternative formats.

    It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis

    Published originally in 1935, It Can’t Happen Here is a dystopian novel that predates 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 but it’s recently rejoined best-seller lists alongside other dystopian classics. While the other two novels are science fiction, It Can’t Happen Here is historical fiction and instead visualizes an alternative reality of 1930s America where the United States falls to fascism. Lewis uses the fictional character Berzelius ‘Buzz’ Windrip to portray real-life Adolf Hitler in Germany, who was rising to power overseas – but in this reality, Buzz becomes America’s first dictator through a self-coup through the same tactics Hitler and Mussolini did.

    Unlike later dystopian works, It Can’t Happen Here doesn’t try to imagine new technologies that aid totalitarianism or a far-away future. The point of the work is that fascism can very well happen in America – which Lewis was cautioning against in 1935. Even in Lewis’ time, American Nazis were a very real threat to democracy as they integrated into US politics. The Friends of New Germany, German American Bund, and other Nazi organizations purposely spread fascist propaganda as they infiltrated other parties and stormed American newspaper publishers. Several entities have been compared to the story, beginning with Franklin D. Roosevelt’s forced relocation of Japanese Americans during WWII, potential presidential candidate Huey Long, Richard Nixon through the Watergate scandal, George W. Bush’s attack on individual privacy and the National Security Agency, and most recently Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

    Considering It Can’t Happen Here is such an old novel, you should be able to find it at any library – but it’s also available via PDF on the Internet Archive as well as an audiobook on YouTube.

    The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

    As a contemporary pick, The Hunger Games took the world by storm when it was released in 2008. No matter your age, I recommend giving it a re-read – the themes you’ll pull will likely vary since Americans have vastly different interpretations of the series depending on their media literacy level. The books focus on an oppressive American future controlled by an oligarchy that a populist movement strives to overcome – bringing up an interesting point that despite how Trump and other fascist leaders use populism, it isn’t inherently a bad thing since populism is a general movement by the common public against the establishment. Fascist rulers convince the public that they are the sole savior for the nation against the twisted government that hinders common folks – and since these rulers are well-versed in propaganda, they make it look convincing to their audiences.

    At its core, The Hunger Games centers on the social inequality that causes caste discrimination within American capitalism – but it also delves into the ethics of entertainment and war alongside mass revolution. I’ve seen many right-wingers try to compare the book’s inequality as an allegory to communism – but the series overwhelmingly describes the conditions caused by unchecked capitalism due to the wealth hoarding by the government creating painful conditions for the poor common class. Unlike Bradbury, Collins has remained politically silent – a wise move considering the fall of other authors like JK Rowling – but her novels’ political views mark her as not conservative. The Hunger Games is a good fictional read for anti-fascism because it explores oppression, governmental totalitarianism, the injustice of capitalism, and how dictators like Snow impact freedom.

    You will likely find a copy of The Hunger Games at your local library – although you might have trouble getting some of the newer releases like The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and Sunrise on the Reaping. Read it online via the Internet Archive’s upload or as an audiobook on YouTube.

    Beautiful Trouble by Andrew Boyd

    The first nonfiction book on this list, Beautiful Trouble is a collection of ‘creative campaigns’ throughout activism’s history. Written as a handbook and guide, it details strategies, theories, and examples of demonstrations – successful or otherwise. Beautiful Trouble illustrates forms of protest beyond just marches and boycotts (although it does touch on them) and explains the philosophies that guided previous movements to action.

    Unlike the fictional novels I’ve included, you’re not inherently going to get some moral from Beautiful Trouble – but it’s a book that I readily recommend to any individual interested in social justice. It is a less dense read than similar books that aim to disrupt the current status quo in activism (ex. The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex) but makes you want to delve deeper and learn more. In oppressive regimes, most forms of protest are illegal – but it guides you through the risks and benefits in ways that Recipes for Disaster and The Anarchist Cookbook don’t. Beautiful Trouble also takes inspiration from beyond Europe and North America – it’s easy for people to focus on demonstrations that have taken place within the ‘first world,’ even though most campaigns happen elsewhere

    You are unlikely to find Beautiful Trouble or other nonfiction books I’ve included at your public library – it’s not impossible, but it will vary drastically based on what state you reside in and what library district you’re connected to. However, most nonfiction social justice books are available for free online – Beautiful Trouble and its tools are all hosted on its website with constant updates as well as its upload on the Internet Archive. These books are aimed at creating a better world, so there are fewer paywalls associated with them – even for newer releases, you typically just have to wait a few months before they’re uploaded somewhere like The Anarchist Library, Internet Archive, Library Genesis, or the Pirate Bay.

    On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder

    It’s a short read, but On Tyranny is a fantastic introduction to breaking common individuals out of their isolated bubbles and understanding how fascism can still happen in places like the United States today like Germany, Italy, and other historical fascist governments. Snyder published the work at the beginning of the first Trump presidency, and the book’s lessons are even more important now as Trump’s administration takes a bolder turn towards authoritarianism.

    Snyder is primarily a historian – but history is political. On Tyranny is not an end-all book, but another good starting point and probably one of the best to recommend to non-political friends and family. He wrote the book intending to wake people up from the monotony of centralism since the failure of the political left and center in Germany led to the far-right’s rise in the 1930s. It includes fundamental ideas in just over 100 pages that, if spread to enough open minds, can prevent a fascist takeover of America. Do not obey in advance, remember professional ethics, believe in truth, listen to dangerous words, be a patriot – because there’s little less American than being anti-fascist, especially in service to democracy and the common good.

    On Tyranny is likely in a library near you, or at least an accessible district. However, the book is also uploaded for free on the Internet Archive and there’s an audiobook version available on YouTube.

    https://youtu.be/ViLZqh-_fHs

    Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook by Mark Bray

    This book is immediately next on my reading list – it was gathering dust until this most recent election but analyses contemporary anti-fascist movements throughout the United States and Europe. It was published at the same time as On Tyranny but takes a militant approach when considering how to handle the far-right. Whereas Snyder focuses on bringing people to attention to the signs of fascism, Bray moves people to take up arms as a reasonable and legitimate reaction to fascism.

    According to Donald Trump and other enemies of democracy, ‘antifa’ is a real political party – but as Bray explains, antifa (or anti-fascism) is merely the belief that fascism and authoritarianism are inherently wrong and is no more a political party than other political terms like ‘liberal’ or ‘conservative.’ In fact, anyone can be anti-fascist regardless of whether they identify as a Democrat, Republican, Socialist, Libertarian, or something else as long as they remain opposed to authoritarian rule. The reason why more leftists identify with anti-fascism compared to conservatives is because the far-right leans into power consolidation but anti-fascism is nonpartisan. In the face of fascism, everyone must be united to preserve democracy.

    Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook is less likely to be found in a public library, but it is commonly uploaded on the internet. Check the Internet Archive for a few uploads and YouTube for audio versions.

    Strongmen by Ruth Ben-Ghiat

    As one of the most recently published books on this list, Strongmen discusses the lengthy history of fascist leaders and the movements that opposed them – ranging from historical examples like Adolf Hitler to contemporary fascists like Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. It’s a great read if you’re interested in the personalities and egos that lead fascist leaders to assume power – but it’s a dense book. Ben-Ghiat is another historian, so Strongmen is just as much a history book as a political one.

    Ben-Ghiat’s book isn’t entirely gloomy, though – she makes it clear that while authoritarian rulers do terrible things to their countries, they’re awfully predictable since they are pushed by their egos and beliefs to forcibly move nations. That doesn’t alleviate the harm caused by fascist movements, but it does guide activists to understand their opponents and the movements that stand behind them. With current events, we’re seeing this play out between the extraordinarily public and fragile egos of Donald Trump and Elon Musk – while the two men publicly collaborate, it is also incredibly clear that they are competing against each other to be America’s sitting president.

    Strongmen is available in some libraries, as well as several places online via PDF – but you might have to do some digging since it does not have a centralized version on major sites like Internet Archive.

    Why Bad Governments Happen to Good People by Danny Katch

    Another book inspired and published right after Trump’s 2016 election, Why Bad Governments Happen to Good People explores the political system that enabled Trump to rise to power in the first place. Compared to other titles on this list, Katch’s book is lesser known, more humorous, and an easier read than books like Strongmen.

    Katch uses the current political system as an introductory point for socialism in the United States – most Americans dislike capitalism even if they lack the words to verbalize it after decades of pro-capitalism propaganda. He wrote it after his 2015 work Socialism… Seriously: A Brief Guide to Human Liberation to outline how the United States was capable of putting Donald Trump in the White House after the two-term presidency of Barack Obama. Can America turn back and restore democracy? Can Americans vote fascism out of power?

    Unfortunately, Why Bad Governments Happen to Good People isn’t broadly available – it’s unlikely to be in your local library and there are no full editions of the work online. At the time of this article, the only way to get a copy is to purchase it online either as an e-book or paperback.

    How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt

    Levitsky and Ziblatt wrote How Democracies Die in 2018, also in response to Donald Trump’s rise within the Republican Party. Rather than focus on just Trump, they write about the long-standing tradition among political leaders to subvert democracy to further increase their individual power. Rooted in political theory, How Democracies Die pushes readers towards the center – in the grand scheme of democracy, political parties must tolerate and respect their opponents as legitimate even when they disagree to ensure fair elections based on the public’s interests. They also explain the dangers of abusing the various branches of government – but given the period, How Democracies Die isn’t able to hold up to the current reality of the Republican Party that wages war on democracy.

    Considered one of the most important books on political theory from the first Trump administration, How Democracies Die is not a guidebook for Donald Trump’s return to office – these periods illustrate the schism between advocating for moderate opinions and the paradox of tolerance since tolerating fascist parties will ultimately lead to the destruction of democracy. Yet, that doesn’t make the book null: Levitsky and Ziblatt explain how America got here and is a time capsule when tolerance was still an option. Even if tolerance is no longer able to defend democracy, How Democracies Die invites readers to think critically about the cost and benefits of such tolerance as they fight for a future.

    How Democracies Die was even read and carried by President Joe Biden during his term, which he occasionally read passages from – so it shouldn’t be difficult to locate a copy near you. If your library doesn’t have a version available, check out the Internet Archive.

    The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman

    In 1991, Art Spiegelman published the final chapters of the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel Maus: A Survivor’s Tale – the story uses the real-life experiences of Spiegelman’s father as a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor, depicting Jewish people as mice, Germans as cats, and Poles as pigs. The entire series was published between 1980 to 1991, which makes up The Complete Maus today.

    Since Maus directly deals with the Holocaust, it’s been banned as ‘inappropriate’ in recent years. After being banned in a Tennessee district in 2022, the series skyrocketed as an Amazon best-seller as more school districts throughout the country tried to follow suit. Additionally, Maus‘s availability varies around the world since countries like Russia have banned the book due to its inclusion of the Nazi swastika. Most American schools have not successfully banned Maus, although the book is still aimed at youth ages 13 and older due to its violent content and depictions of the Holocaust.

    Most public libraries should have Maus, although it might depend on the state you’re residing in due to censorship laws and book bans. It’s available on the Internet Archive and as an audiobook on YouTube – but considering it’s a graphic novel, I recommend actually reading it over listening to the series.

    Banned Books

    As a general rule, any book that is banned is a book worth reading. Censorship grows alongside fascism, and book bans have been steadily climbing in number by Republicans through school boards and library takeovers.

    There is no singular database of the world’s banned books – but PEN International and PEN America have countless lists on their websites of the most banned books throughout the world. Barnes and Noble also have a database of banned books based on information available to them.

  • Trans History: American Revolution

    Trans History: American Revolution

    CONTENT WARNINGS: 🔫 War, 😱 Queer Panic, ✝️ Religion

    Liberty or Death, History and Present

    The American Revolution is the two decades between 1765 and 1783 that moved the British colonists to declare independence and establish the United States of America. Most Americans are familiar with battles like Lexington, Bunker Hill, Brooklyn, Fort Washington, and others – fewer are well-versed in the ideological and political movement that drove colonists to war.

    The war itself lasted from 1775 until 1783, marked by first shots fired in the Battles of Lexington and Concord. It is viewed as America’s ‘first’ war since previous conflicts between colonists and Native Americans, the Spanish, and the French were under British control. The American Revolution is also a great example of the key point “history is subjective” – had American colonists lost the war with Britain, history detailing their struggles would have been altered or lost even if the United States eventually got its independence centuries later like Canada. Since the United States won the Revolutionary War, our accounts of it are written to depict revolutionaries as heroes rather than the traitors they were seen as by Britain.

    The American Revolution is also one of our best examples of protest leading to action in North America – the next example won’t come for another hundred years through the Civil War. The current Trump era has been filled with questions on whether a second American civil war will break out due to the extreme ideological division inflamed by Make America Great Against rhetoric. What pushed American colonists to put their lives on the line for the sake of a better society? Until 1775, the colonists were a short fuse and a lot of gunpowder waiting to explode, but the sentiments then aren’t too far from what people are feeling today as the Trump administration plays heavily into fascism.

    “…The war is inevitable and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come. It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

    Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death!” speech delivered on March 23rd, 1775 to the Second Virginia Convention – one month before the start of the American Revolution.

    Until the Battles of Lexington and Concord, colonists were divided on whether to take up arms against Britain. Patrick Henry was one of many who argued with British loyalists on the perceived safety of remaining part of the British Empire – his words alone didn’t spark the Revolution. Instead, the Revolution is infamously marked by the first shots fired at Lexington and Concord. History doesn’t remember whether it was the colonists or British soldiers that fired first, but the resulting battle sparked overwhelming support by colonists to join the cause for independence over the injustice. Once the fuse had been lit, there was no going back – today, we are in a similar state of unease that will be exacerbated over the coming years of the Trump administration. If individuals become desperate enough to die because life under the status quo is unbearable, the spark may finally be lit again.

    The Escapades of Deborah Sampson

    The adventures of Hannah Snell, published in The Female Soldier, who enlisted in the British army and Royal Marines as her brother-in-law during the 1740s gave rise to similar people assigned female at birth who wanted to fight for a higher cause despite gender-based barriers. In the United States, the beginning of these stories starts with Deborah Sampson – a Massachusetts-born woman who enlisted in the American Revolutionary Army as a man named Robert Shurtleff. Sampson served a year and a half in the Continental Army before being discharged by General Henry Knox and excommunicated by the First Baptist Church of Middleborough on the strong suspicion of “dressing in men’s clothes, and enlisting as a Soldier in the Army” and having “for some time before behaved very loose and unchristian like.”

    At the very least, Sampson was an interesting person – after their discharge, they married Benjamin Gannett and had three children in Massachusetts. In 1797, Herman Mann published The Female Review, a semi-fictional biography of Sampson’s life as a soldier that included multiple romantic encounters between a cross-dressing Sampson and women. It’s noted that even if these romances are entirely fictional, their inclusion in a widely respectable book made these stories seem relatively acceptable despite the period. Most historians write Sampson as both heterosexual and cisgender since they resumed life as a woman after their military service – but it’s worth viewing their story as a genderqueer character that felt such passion for their country that they defied gendered roles of the church.

    While Sampson is the most written female soldier during the Revolutionary War, they weren’t the only ones. Anna Maria Lane of Virginia was another notable example who served alongside their husband, and Sampson and Lane’s service inspired hundreds more during the later Civil War.

    Rumors of Queer Debachery

    Merrymount and the colonies in Massachusetts weren’t the only places where queer attitudes were forming. In the early days of America, Richmond hid a network of individuals who would be identified as gay today. Most of these folks have been disregarded by historians for having intimate same-sex relationships – this notion has been used by cisgender heterosexual historians to assert straightness throughout the ages. These historians would fume that it is a stretch to propose any of these individuals fostered queer sentiments, which is why it’s just as important to consider that possibility.

    The values of colonial Americans are largely incompatible with our own today. Until recently, historians claimed intimate same-sex friendships were the product of the times. Today, people are more concerned that same-sex friendships will come across as queer due to anti-gay beliefs and toxic masculinity fostered during the Lavender Scare. Colonists could do anything short of sexual intercourse and not be considered homosexual since it was socially acceptable to be emotional. What if those men and women existed in a society where both emotionality and queerness were socially accepted? Without fears of execution and hell looming over them, they would have been likely to experiment with queerness common today – the only reason queer and transgender people ‘exist recently’ is because it is safe enough for them to be open.

    In 1625, Richard Cornish was the first English colonist executed in the New World for sodomy for making a sexual advance on one of his crewmates in Virginia. Letters between Alexander Hamilton and John Laurens were purposely not published by Hamilton’s son J.C. for the sake of his father’s reputation, later commented on as romantic by Dr. Allan McLane Hamilton in the 1890s – despite that intimate same-sex friendship would have still been socially acceptable during McLane’s era.

    Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben was a German-born American officer who reformed the Continental Army but was ridiculed as being likely homosexual – who interestingly worked with his “ardent admirers” Alexander Hamilton and John Laurens. Steuben’s experiences differ from those of Lieutenant Frederick Gotthold Enslin, documented as the first United States soldier court-martialed for “attempting to commit sodomy” with another soldier in the Continental Army and told “never to return.” This contrast between Enslin and Steuben shows that while queerness was unacceptable in colonial America, the young United States was willing to look past Steuben’s affairs due to his military experience and class.

    Portrait of Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben by Charles Willson Peale, 1780

    In 1771, eventual President John Adams was appointed as the attorney for Lendall Pitts against John Gray when Pitts injured Gray out of outrage when he found out the young woman he had been flirting with was actually a man. Even though the presiding judge Thomas Hutchinson and Adams tried to condemn Gray by citing a Massachusetts law from 1696 that prohibited crossdressing, the jury found Pitts at fault for the damages he inflicted on Gray. This is perhaps the earliest case of gay and trans panic as a legal defense in the Americas, even if it didn’t work in Pitts’s favor.

    The young United States of America was infatuated with the governments and heroics of ancient Greece and Rome, which is why the foundational principles of our current democracy are misrepresented as Greek and Roman ideas rather than the more similar governments of Native Americans that inspired Benjamin Franklin. This tradition of obsession with Greece and Rome has followed us through the centuries – albeit ironically since both ancient Greece and Rome found queerness as socially acceptable before the Christianization that came with their downfall. Their teachers taught these great leaders as righteous, straight, and ultimately admirable – the reality of Greece and Rome’s queerness wouldn’t be uncovered for centuries. Under a Christian retelling of history, these American leaders followed and kept queer stories out of the history books at every possible turn.

    Up until this point, British history was American history; British religion was American religion. The social movement that fueled the war for independence was based on the belief that Americans needed to carve out their own country, values, and history separate from Britain. William Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England was published for the first time in America in 1772, informing colonists of the deep crimes associated with queerness in his section on “crime against nature, committed either with man or beast.” Blackstone cited Leviticus 20:13 about “a crime not fit to be named; peccatum illud horribile, inter christianos non nominandum” with penalties as a crime against nature with “deeper malignity” than rape.

    Rivington’s New-York Gazetteer, which was published throughout New England from 1773 until 1775, contained a story about Mary Frith on September 7th, 1775 under Curious Sketches of Singular Characters. While the story contains inaccuracies, it describes the real-world fence that ruled the London underworld as a cutpurse. Frith went by several names (Mary, Moll, and Mal) and lived an exceedingly eccentric life, and regularly ignored social boundaries by publicly dressing as a man, smoking a pipe (Frith is regarded as the ‘first female smoker of England’ since only men used pipes), and performed as a man on stage at the Fortune Theatre despite British law. The Gazetteer writes that Frith was “a woman of a maſculine ſpirit and make, who was commonly ſuppoſed to have been a hermaphrodite, practiſed, or was inſtumental to almoſt every crime and wild frolic which is notorious in the moſt abandoned and eccentric of both ſexes… It was at this time almoſt as rare a ſight to ſee a woman with a pipe, as to ſee one of the ſex in man’s apparel.”

    AUTHOR’S NOTE: Old English often uses the letter ſ instead of “s” in modern English. The quotes used in this article are copied as much as possible according to their published text.

    On the other side of America, Spaniards were regularly writing about the Native American communities they were trying to forcibly convert through their missions. On his expedition with Juan Bautista de Anza, Jesuit Father Pedro Font wrote: “Among the women I saw some men dressed like women, with whom they go about regularly, never joining the men. The commander called them amaricados, perhaps because the Yumas call effeminate men maricas. I asked who these men were, and they replied that they were not men like the rest, and for this reason they went around covered this way. From this I inferred they must be hermaphrodites, but from what I learned later I understood that they were sodomites, dedicated to nefarious practices. From all the foregoing I conclude that in this matter of incontinence there will be much to do when the Holy Faith and the Christian religion are established among them.” Francisco Palóu reported similar findings in 1777 among the missions he founded, “Two laymen arrived at the house of a convert, one of them in the usual clothing, but the other dressed like a woman and called by them a Joya [Jewel]… When they were rebuked for such an enormous crime, the layman answered that the Joya was his wife!”

    The Life of the Public Universal Friend

    One of the most notable transgender figures from the American Revolution was the Public Universal Friend (PUF), born Jemima Wilkinson in Rhode Island to a Quaker family. The Friend suffered severe illness (likely typhus) in 1776 at the age of 24 – upon recovering, they claimed they had died and been reanimated as a genderless evangelist upon their new name as the Friend. From that day onward, the Public Universal Friend shunned their birth name and gendered pronouns as they preached throughout New England.

    The Friend purposely identified as neither male nor female. “I am that I am,” they replied when asked about their gender. When a man criticized the Friend for dressing in men’s clothing, they responded, “There is nothing indecent or improper in my dress or appearance; I am not accountable to mortals.” Given the time period, the Friend’s mannerisms infuriated others who took to writing scandalous papers on the Friend being a manipulative woman and fraudster. It’s important to note the prior experiences of nonbinary colonists before the Friend, like Thomas(sine) Hall – even though the Friend was disowned by the religious community they grew up in, their gender identity was accepted more as a preacher than Hall’s.

    A painting of the Public Universal Friend

    Their followers became the Society of Universal Friends, which followed a theology similar to Quakerism that stressed the importance of free will, opposition to slavery, and support of sexual abstinence. While the Society ceased to exist after the 1860s after the death of the Friend and their closest followers, they had founded the town of Jerusalem upon acquiring land in western New York. The Friend would preach sermons with long sections of scripture without the use of a Bible, and their theology resonated with Free Quakers and other individuals disillusioned by mainstream Quakerism during the revolutionary period. They taught that women should “obey God rather than men,” arguing that anyone regardless of gender could gain access to God through universal salvation. The Society called for the abolition of slavery with the Friend persuading followers to free enslaved people – which is why several formerly enslaved Black Americans joined the Friend’s congregation. Their religious meetings were kept public and housed and fed visitors of all backgrounds, including Native Americans.

    At its height, the Society of Universal Friends had hundreds of followers – it’s estimated that around 300 people joined the Friend in Jerusalem alone, and their message reached thousands through their journeys in New England and the Mid-Atlantic. Their teachings on peace weren’t necessarily radical for the time given similar messages by other leaders throughout the First Great Awakening, but their nonbinary identity made their story unique.

    Charlotte d’Éon: Transgender Spy

    D’Éon (known as Charles, Charlotte, and Chevalière d’Éon de Beaumont) was a French diplomat, soldier, and spy who gathered intelligence against England and Russia after fighting in the Seven Years’ War. They were born into a poor noble family, leading them to study civil and canon law in Paris during the 1740s before later becoming appointed as a royal censor at the age of 30. D’Éon became a spy under the Secret du Roi employed by King Louis XV in 1756.

    Chevalier d’Éon wearing the chivalric Order of Saint Louis

    For over half of d’Éon’s life, they lived as a man – save for one account when d’Éon infiltrated the court of Empress Elizabeth of Russia as a woman. Despite likely being biologically male and being raised as a man, d’Éon claimed being assigned female at birth and wrongly raised male due to inheritance laws to the court of King Louis XVI in 1777. The court recognized d’Éon as legally female and permitted to return to France if d’Éon dressed appropriately in women’s clothing and remained in Tonnerre – later preventing Mademoiselle d’Éon from joining French troops in aid of the American Revolution.

    Now, it’s important to note that this series is centered on US transgender history – d’Éon was not American, nor did she ever come to North America. However, her story did make it to the colonies – the Pennsylvania Ledger published a translation of d’Éon’s farewell letter to the public on January 28th, 1778. The Ledger wrote, “On Tueſday the firſt of July laſt, a judgement at the tribunal of the King’s Bench to decide my ſex. In conſequence I keep, with regret, my word with the publick, I leave with pain my dear England, where I believed I had found tranquillity and liberty, to retire to my native country, to be near to an Auguſt Maſter, whoſe protection and goodneſs will prove a greater aſſurance of tranquillity, than all the Magna Chartas of this Iſland… It will then be the proper time and place to offer all my reaſons againſt the three witneſſes that gave evidence on my ſex.” This lone publication comes right after d’Éon was recognized as a woman by France, but also establishes that d’Éon was known to American colonists – and many other newspapers and magazines published similar stories in the following years.

    There’s a ton of information detailing d’Éon’s life – and since I don’t want to take away from American history, check out the following sources if her story and broader European transgender history interest you.

    British Museum
    History Channel
    Lost in History

    While both the stories on d’Éon and Mary Frith take place abroad, they’re still notable in the larger context of transgender American history. Until this point, there is little to zero mention of gender-diverse individuals in colonial America. Transgender history is instead gleaned through colonial studies on gender non-conforming Native Americans and the Europeans that resented them and the rare occasional court document taking an individual to trial for defying societal norms. In a period just as short as the Great Awakening, colonists have publications on Deborah Sampson, Mary Frith, the Public Universal Friend, and d’Éon – as well as numerous queer cisgender individuals. Why are these stories suddenly appearing in print?

    TRANS HISTORY KEY POINT
    History is censored.     History is written by a minority who control the narrative. If the writers disagree with reality, they can literally rewrite history – after a certain point in time when no one is around to remember reality, their revised history will be left to tell the story.

    Religious leaders of the time would have likely argued the influx of gender diversity was a product of sin, resulting from colonists becoming lax in their relationship with the divine after the Great Awakening. An alternative answer is that these stories were considered too inappropriate under British rule – so these stories were only able to be printed once the strictly policed presses of New England were controlled by Americans. In Europe, gender diversity was neither new nor necessarily uncommon even if it was condemned – it’s likely that British rulers purposely censored the information and literature sent overseas throughout the hundreds of years before colonists declared their independence.

    Knowledge Check

    1. Deborah Sampson, a woman from _____, enlisted in the American Revolutionary Army under the name Robert Shurtleff.
      a. Virginia
      b. Massachusetts
      c. Georgia
      d. Maine
    2. True or False: Colonists were undecided on revolution until the Battles of Lexington and Concord.
    3. Fill in the Blank: New England was home to _____, a genderless evangelist who grew up in a Rhode Island Quaker community.
    4. The case Gray v. Pitts is considered to be one of the first instances of _____ in North America.
      a. Jury Nullification
      b. Set Precedent
      c. Gay Panic
      d. None of the Above
    5. True or False: Charlotte d’Éon was a transgender French spy who assisted in the American Revolution.
    ANSWER KEY
    1. B / 2. TRUE / 3. THE PUBLIC UNIVERSAL FRIEND / 4. C / 5. FALSE

    Further Reading

    DISCLAIMER: While the links below work at the time this article was originally published, they may not forever – especially when government officials are intentionally purging official-reviewed research and censoring mainstream media.

    Colonial America: The Age of Sodomitical Sin by Jonathan Ned Katz (2012)

    Gay American History by Jonathan Ned Katz (1976)

    LGBTQIA+ Community Records by the National Archives (2025)

    Moll Cutpurse by Britannica (2025)

    Revolution: American Colonial Settlers Make a New Nation by Jonathan Ned Katz (2012)

    The American Revolution by the Library of Congress (2025)

    The Case of Chevalier D’Eon by Rictor Norton (2025)

    US History #7 and Black American History #8 by Crash Course

  • Fight Back: Actions You Can Do to Combat Fascism

    Fight Back: Actions You Can Do to Combat Fascism

    At the beginning of February, I created a set of shareable images of actions anyone can take if they’re feeling angry, upset, or otherwise motivated due to the current anti-trans political climate. It’s a fantastic starting point as a guide – this post is more advanced for folks wanting additional context.

    DISCLAIMER: This guide does NOT promote illegal activity and does not incite the public to violate the law. This article is strictly for informational purposes and takes no responsibility for what individuals do with this information.

    Why act? Why does it matter?

    It is easy to give in to hopelessness. The world can be a terrible place and there are individuals in power whose mission is to eradicate transness alongside other people deemed invaluable by themselves and the organizations that support them. There has never been a time within human history without queerness and there will never be a time without us – the world is overwhelmingly a better place with trans folks like you and me in it, which is why we must act. It is unfair and exhausting, but do not let bullies push you out of existence – your life is worth fighting for, as are the future lives of transgender kids and the past histories of transgender elders they erase.

    Most Americans are not aware of what is going on. The United States is one of the best countries in the world at distributing propaganda to its citizens, and most Americans lack media literacy skills regardless of their age, political affiliation, or educational background. Americans are not stupid, but most of us are unable to connect the dots on how fascism is taking hold in our government based on past fascist regimes. Currently, mainstream American media is owned and controlled by the Republican party – this isn’t an exaggeration. Large news sites like the New York Times and Washington Post are being censored by their billionaire owners, and similar actions are being done by television media like CNN by moving ‘controversial’ hosts to worse spots. The top social media platforms also fall into this, with sites like Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, and even TikTok catering to the GOP. Google changed the official name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America while removing Black History Month and LGBTQIA+ topics and doodles.

    Why? Personally, I think Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook are great case examples. At the end of the day, Zuckerberg and most other insanely wealthy people do not subscribe to the ideas or politics of the GOP: they’re in the business of making as much money as possible, regardless of the political party in power. Many were shocked when Facebook officially released its new rules stating harmful speech against transgender folks was no longer considered hate speech on the platform – but Mark is attempting to appeal to what he believes will get him the most profit. These term updates and making the office “more masculine” aren’t that different from when Facebook changed into a rainbow logo in June. Similarly, Bezos barred the Washington Post from making a political endorsement in 2024 because he feared making the ‘wrong’ endorsement would harm profits since an angry Trump would be liable to use his political power to persecute his enemies. Elon is super-gluing himself to Trump’s backside because he believes it will produce the most profit. Unfortunately, the same thing happened during Hitler’s rise to power and Nazism as BBC History writes, “The elites [of 1930s Germany] thought they could ride Hitler like a horse. But they soon discovered that they were the horse and that Hitler was the horseman.” Like those German elites, today’s American billionaires believe they can use fascism to deepen their pockets – even if they lack the foresight or integrity to see how terrible a decision that is in the long run.

    Combined, most of the actions I recommend circle around visibility. If the American public cannot see our anguish because we are being censored by mainstream media, then we must draw attention until they are unable to censor us.

    That being said, I’m a strong believer that there is more than one way to be an activist and incite change. For a movement to work, we can’t all be on soapboxes and leading marches: to lead a successful demonstration in your community, you need leaders but you also need folks well-versed in first aid, marketing, security, and empathy to make it work. I’m a fan of education as a form of activism (hence this blog) – there’s so much value in meeting people where they are and opening their values to social justice. The American public largely wants ‘radical’ programs like universal healthcare, better wages, and marriage equality, but they lack the language to see their value beyond the GOP versus Democrat binary that pushes them to see anything ‘radical’ as un-American and communist. When considering what actions you want to take, that’s worth remembering: to win the American public over and see our struggle, we have to cater to their human nature and play to their values. Our fight is everyone’s fight in the war on fascism, so open them up to ideas like fascism is inherently un-American, hatred is un-Christlike, and anyone who preaches hatred over empathy should be questioned.

    All of the actions discussed can be performed with or without a large group. Many forms of social change can be carried out best with a small group of tight-knit folks united by a common cause (also known as an affinity group) – so empower yourself and your friends to get out there. Every action, no matter how small, is valuable. Even if just one person sees your message before it is removed or censored, it matters and is worth the effort.

    Do Not Comply: In Advance or Otherwise

    “Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.” – On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder

    Laws do not dictate morality and something being legal does not make it okay. Fascism relies on obedience and thrives when individuals obey in advance. We are already witnessing this – upon Trump’s executive orders, hundreds of hospitals immediately halted transgender care in fear of violating the administration’s unjust orders. Upon Trump’s return to the White House, sites like Facebook preemptively changed its guidelines to harm transgender users. When Trump banned DEI via order, thousands of companies compiled without a second thought because it is easier to follow unjust laws than it is to sue or refuse to obey.

    On Tyranny goes into this a great deal, and I recommend the entire book – it’s easy to follow and uses historical examples from previous fascist regimes, and compares them to modern times. Snyder explains, “If lawyers had followed the norm of no execution without trial, if doctors had accepted the rule of no surgery without consent, if businessmen had endorsed the prohibition of slavery, if bureaucrats had refused to handle paperwork involving murder, then the Nazi regime would have been much harder pressed to carry out the atrocities by which we remember it.” In other words, fascism would not have been able to flourish if the public had been resistant or refused to comply with terrible rules. Remind people of their values, personal and professional ethics, and their role in preventing tragedy. Call out institutions and people who comply in advance. Offer space to change and learn, and encourage them to stand up.

    Call Your Reps

    This action is… Legal!

    Admittedly, this is hard to do – it’s easy to be overwhelmed with life and be too socially awkward to call your elected officials. No matter your social skills, you’re entitled to be heard by your representatives because they work for you.

    Emails, written letters, and petitions usually get dumped directly into the trash before being read. Some officials are better than others about reading these, but they’re commonly disregarded unless they’re presented in a remarkable way. Phone calls are harder to ignore – which is why Republicans call a LOT. On an average day, right-wingers call their elected officials four times compared to others. When specific issues come up like queer rights being included on an upcoming bill, that number skyrockets 11:1. Unlike unread emails and letters, representatives have to listen to phone calls. Officials assign staff to listen to all callers every day and report on the top issues via a summary. When a topic gets enough attention, that representative will be pushed to take a stance based on the views of their callers since they’re assumed to be voting constituents – even if that view contradicts their party platform.

    The phone numbers of all elected officials in Congress are publicly available. Some people find it helpful to save these numbers in their contact list to call regularly. If you don’t know who represents you in Congress, usa.gov/elected-officials will give you current information based on your address to direct you. Take the information there and insert it into house.gov and senate.gov to get the contact details of your officials. You will likely be sent to their personal website, which you will need to navigate to find their phone number – most ‘contact’ forms will try to force you to stop at an email, so look for something like ‘offices.’

    When calling, make sure you have a script. It’s easy to stumble over your words, especially as you’re calling about issues that matter deeply to you. After enough practice, you’ll be able to call without a script – but there’s no rush. I have a practice script focused on DOGE, but it’s not hard to write one with AI tools like ChatGPT available to organize your thoughts.

    Anyone Can Write

    This action is… Legal!

    Even if major media outlets are catering to fascism, news isn’t dead. Everyone and anyone is qualified to write op-eds and letters to the editor. A select number is published in print and online with each release, letting your message be read by thousands. Opinion sections have been used to highlight political topics for decades since it’s a free way to publish your work. The following buttons direct you to relevant places for both the Post and NYT.

    The New York Times
    The Washington Post

    Major news publications have thousands of writers submit their work each day – so you are less likely to be published compared to other outlets. That doesn’t mean it isn’t worth it – keep writing until you get published, and then keep writing for the cause. Look up the specific submission guidelines for your local, regional, or national news of choice. All newspapers (as well as many other media outlets) invite reader submissions.

    Make Your Mark

    This action is… Illegal!

    It’s easy to post flyers, stickers, and other messages in your community. You can look up a recipe for wheat pasting, the old-school method of sticking flyers, online – or you can purchase a can of high-strength spray adhesive at any local home improvement store. Like always, public libraries are your friend since they offer printing services significantly cheaper than commercial alternatives like Staples or Office Depot – some libraries have self-service stations that allow you to print without getting the help or approval of staff.

    Label 228s are free stickers issued by the United States Postal Service meant to allow the general public to easily write addresses on packages. These labels can even be ordered and mailed for free directly to your home – which is why they became widely associated with graffiti culture beginning in the 1990s. ‘Slaps’ are easy to access, decorate, and adhere to – but it’s technically illegal to use Label 228s for non-mail purposes.

    Get Label 228s

    Some places are more legal to tag than others. Walls, utility poles, and public restrooms are generally considered illegal unless you have permission from the city or business owner. Of course, in the words of many graffiti artists who use spray paint, paint markers, and other tools to leave their mark: “No face, no case.” On the other end of the spectrum, lots of community venues have public boards where anyone can place flyers – but a political or pro-trans message may be likely to be taken down in these locations.

    Under Title 18, Section 333 of the United States Code, defacement of currency is a punishable crime. Defacement is defined as mutilating, cutting, disfiguring, perforating, uniting, or cementing together bills with the intent to make them unfit to be used – but it leaves two things to note. One, it’s only a crime if you are caught defacing currency – it’s not a crime to have defaced money and there is no way to know who wrote what on a bill which is why money defacement is an unprosecutable crime. Secondly, writing on money is not considered defacement despite what most people believe. It’s actually commonly used to spread messages regarding social change since cash is widely used.

    Here are some cool resources on the topic if tagging interests you:
    Beautiful Trouble Toolkit
    CrimethInc. Tools
    r/graffhelp
    r/sticker

    Spread the Word

    This action is… Illegal!

    Okay, spreading information as a whole is not illegal – but the following method is. Most people have a mailbox to receive items through the postal service – these mailboxes must be kept safe and easy to access for packages to be regularly delivered. It is illegal to place items in mailboxes if you are not authorized postal personnel (ex. a mail carrier or rural mail carrier) since without postage, it’s considered tampering with mail and a violation of federal law.

    It is fully legal to send mail through the postal service, but you’ll have to pay postage. As long as the mail doesn’t violate any major rules, the USPS will send it – including junk mail. USPS even has an online tool to allow you to send mail in bulk based on zip code, “Every Door Direct Mail.” However, it is extremely uncommon for people to be arrested or prosecuted for placing mail directly into someone’s mailbox without postage or the USPS. Generally, this law only gets brought up when local companies try to send a ton of junk mail to communities.

    Similarly, it’s sometimes legal to put flyers on cars and other personal transportation. Even when cars are parked in public areas, it can be considered trespassing since the car is private property – but these laws fluctuate too greatly to make large-scale assumptions. Look up your local laws to determine if it’s legal in your area or risk getting into trouble if you’re caught.

    Show Up

    This action is… Legal!

    The Constitution guarantees the Freedoms of Speech, Assembly, and Petition to ALL people within the United States – regardless of citizenship, political view, gender identity, sexuality, race, ethnicity, class, etc. In relation to social change, these rights give you well-protected status to be in ‘traditional public forums’ like streets, parks, sidewalks, and government buildings. When demonstrating in these spaces, you don’t need a permit to protest, picket, hand out flyers, or speak out as long as you’re not blocking traffic.

    Some cities require individuals to fill out permits to hold demonstrations regardless of whether they’re in a public forum. It’s up to you whether you want to complete the appropriate paperwork or go for the “ask for forgiveness later” approach – again, remember you have the right regardless of permit regulations.

    Stay in Touch

    This action is… Legal!

    Keep community connections and share information about upcoming actions in your social network. In deeply dangerous times when fascism is at its worst, it is easy for the general public to forget about the marginalized since those in power work to cover up the inhumane damage caused. By being a regular person in your community, you establish a connection that can’t easily be forgotten. When people realize they know a trans person, it’s difficult to demonize us once we are seen as people.

    “Make eye contact and small talk. This is not just polite. It is part of being a citizen and a responsible member of society… A smile, a handshake, or a word of greeting—banal gestures in a normal situation—took on great significance. When friends, colleagues, and acquaintances looked away or crossed the street to avoid contact, fear grew.” – On Tyranny, Chapter 12

    As mentioned at the beginning of this article, most actions can be done alone or with just a few friends. If you’re engaging in high-risk work that dabbles in activities either illegal or disliked by political opponents, you should learn some digital safety. Learn more about activism and digital safety here. As Snyder elaborates, “Nastier rulers will use what they know about you to push you around. Scrub your computer of malware on a regular basis. Remember that email is skywriting. Consider using alternative forms of the internet, or simply using it less. Have personal exchanges in person. For the same reason, resolve any legal trouble. Tyrants seek the hook on which to hang you. Try not to have hooks.”

    Lastly, it is important to stay up-to-date on current events – even if it’s triggering and exhausting. Fascism works best when it overwhelms you, but it is important to keep acting. This is difficult to do even when fascism is at bay, but an uninformed activist isn’t capable of much change. Pick a few select news sources that you can trust as reliable and do not feed into sensationalism – enough to keep you current on events, but not too much to overwhelm.