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August is Transgender History Month, in celebration of the long history of trans and nonbinary people around the world. After efforts led by activist Jupiter Peraza, Transgender History Month was first declared in San Francisco in 2021, followed by other Californian cities and then the state itself in 2023 [1,2]. Since then, Trans History Month has come to be celebrated officially and unofficially across the US. The celebration honors the trans and nonbinary history-makers and trailblazers of the past, as well as affirms the presence and future of trans and nonbinary people today. 

Cisgender describes people whose gender identities match the gender associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. For example, a cisgender woman was assigned female at birth and identifies with the experience of women. When someone’s internal sense of whether they are male, female, or another gender does not match the roles and behaviors expected of that person based on the sex they were assigned at birth, that person may be trans and/or nonbinary [3,4]. 

A nonbinary person has a gender identity that is outside of the binary male and female gender system or is a mix of the traditional genders, whereas a cisgender person has a gender identity that is either male or female. Some nonbinary people are also transgender. 

A transgender person has a gender identity that differs from the one associated with the sex that they were assigned at birth, whereas a cisgender person has a gender identity that matches their assigned sex. Transgender people can also be nonbinary.

Trans and nonbinary people have existed in many capacities and in many cultures throughout history, from the Roman Empire to present-day Iran, long before terms such as transgender and nonbinary became prevalent [5]. Here are just a handful of notable trans and nonbinary individuals in the US [2]:

• The Public Universal Friend was a Quaker preacher who did not use gendered pronouns and refused to respond to their birth name. They dressed in an androgynous or masculine way, which was rare during the mid- and late 1700s, and gained a substantial religious following.
• We’Wha was a skilled weaver and potter and was a member of the Zuni delegation to Washington D.C. in 1886. She was a lhamana, a person assigned male at birth who takes on the social roles of women in Zuni culture. 
• Charley Parkhurst, also known as One-Eyed-Charlie, was a rancher, stagecoach driver, and farmhand in California in the mid-1800s. He may have been the first person assigned female at birth to vote in the US election in 1868.
• Hosteen Klah was a Diné (Navajo) medicine man and artisan who co-founded the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian in New Mexico in 1921. He was nádleehi, a person assigned male at birth who encompasses both masculine and feminine spirits.
• Willmer Broadnax was a gospel singer who formed a quartet called Little Axe and the Golden Echoes in the 1940s. He was a Black trans man whose trans identity was not discovered until his death.
• Silvia Rivera was a trans activist in New York born in 1951. Together with Marsha P. Johnson and Zazu Nova, she became involved in the Stonewall uprisings and started the Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries.
• Teresita la Campesina was a ranchera singer and sex worker in the 70s who was involved in AIDS activism and HIV prevention organizations in the Bay Area in the late 90s. She was a trans Latine who identified as both a man and a woman.

Trans and nonbinary people experience disproportionate levels of discrimination, harassment, and violence in accessing public spaces and opportunities [6]. It is important to remember that mobility justice includes safety and access for trans people. This Trans History Month, we honor the vibrance and resilience of trans and nonbinary people of the past, and we reflect on how we can celebrate and uplift trans and nonbinary people of today.

References

1. Assigned Media. The History of Trans History Month. Available at: https://assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/history-of-trans-history/
2. The Transgender District. What is Transgender History Month? Available at: https://www.transgenderhistorymonth.com/
3. WebMD. What Does it Mean to Be Transgender? Available at: https://www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/what-is-transgender
4. WebMD. What Does it Mean to Be Nonbinary? Available at: https://www.webmd.com/sex/what-is-non-binary-sex
5. PBS. World Gender Customs. Available at: https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/content/two-spirits_map-html/
6. Human Rights Council. The Epidemic of Violence Against the Transgender & Gender-Expansive Community in the U.S. Available at: https://reports.hrc.org/an-epidemic-of-violence-2024

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