Gender Across Cultures and Time

Transgender Figures in History

Trans Hisotry Vol 1 - Jackson Bird

Trans History Vol 2 - Jackson Bird

Quick Reads

Transgender History - Wikipedia's extensive article with information about trans people throughout history and around the world

Seven Things You Didn't Know - A list of transgender facts from history put together by the Human Rights Council

Billy Tipton - (December 29, 1914 – January 21, 1989) "was an American jazz musician, bandleader, and talent broker. Tipton lived and identified as a man for most of his adult life; after his death, friends and family were surprised to learn that he was transgender."

Christine Jorgensen (May 30, 1926 – May 3, 1989) was an American actress, singer and recording artist, who is also famous for being the first trans woman to undergo surgical transition.

Books

Becoming a Visible Man- (2020, 2nd ed) Jamison Green is a leading activist and speaker, and a trans man. His autobiography is informative and compelling, and provides fascinating insight into the history of FTMs prior to the rise of the information age.



Safety in Numbers: A Trans History"What was it like to be transgender before there was such a thing as a trans community? Pioneers who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s reflect on their personal experience, while young people in the community today offer their own stories."

Gender Customs Around the World

While the two gender binary is all that many of us in western society have ever known, many human cultures throughout history and all over the world have an entirely different paradigm. Click on a location pin to learn more about how gender has traditionally been viewed in that region.

World Gender Customs MapHundreds of cultures recognize multiple genders worldwide, and polygendered societies can be traced to antiquity on nearly every continent. The concept of an exclusive gender binary is relatively recent in human history. Still, there are dozens of modern cultures that exist with much broader gender diversity. They do not (necessarily) identify with terms such as "gay" or "transgender," which are primarily Western post-industrial neologisms.

BBC World Service looks at gender in native cultures around the world.

National Geographic looks at the five genders of an Indonesian community.

Gender in the Phillipines

Out of the mouths of babes. What kids think about gender around the world.

Kumu Hina - "a powerful film about the struggle to maintain Pacific Islander culture and values within the Westernized society of modern day Hawaiʻi. It is told through the lens of an extraordinary Native Hawaiian who is both a proud and confident māhū, or transgender woman, and an honored and respected kumu, or teacher, cultural practitioner, and community leader."

Kumu Hina Official Site - The True Meaning of Aloha

Watch on Peacock - Kumu Hina

Watch on Vimeo - Kumu Hina

Watch on PrideCentral's YouTube Channel - Kumu Hina

Watch on YouTube - PBS Hawaii Special - A Place in the Middle (24 min) Contains abridged selections from the movie.