Beyond Magenta: Transgender and Nonbinary Teens Speak Out

A core premise of the trans movement is that trans identities are real, earnest, and natural. Anti-trans argumentation often frames the trans movement of the last 20 years as a fad. The modern concept of transgender identity (previously “transsexuality”) has only existed in the English-speaking world since roughly the 1950s. Likewise, terms such as “non-binary” and “genderqueer” began to emerge in the 1990s. However, Americans have been socially transitioning since the early colonial period.

Although they did not identify as “trans,” some historical Americans are retrospectively considered trans and/or nonbinary by modern standards. One of the earliest recorded examples was Thomas(ine) Hall, an English colonial servant. Thomas(ine) Hall was born in England in the early 1600s and immigrated to colonial Virginia in the 1620s. Hall was known to wear both masculine and feminine clothing at different times and interchangeably fill male and female social roles. Though assigned female, Hall was declared “both a man and a woman” (“Life Story: Thomas(ine) Hall.” Women and the American Story) after a series of interviews and examinations and required to wear a mix of male and female attire. Hall’s preferred pronouns are not recorded.

Another early figure, The Public Universal Friend (or simply “the Friend”), was assigned female at birth and christened Jemima Wilkinson in 1752 in Cumberland, Rhode Island. After recovering from a high fever in the 1770s, Wilkinson reported that Jemima’s soul had ascended to heaven; her body became the vessel for the Public Universal Friend, a genderless entity instructed by God to preach his gospel. The Friend refused to use pronouns of any kind and wore androgynous clothes. The Friend also founded the Society of Universal Friends, which was the first recorded religious community ever founded in the United States.

The first recorded case of an American undergoing sex reassignment surgery is that of Dr. Alan L. Hart, a transgender man born in 1890. Prior to transitioning, Hart studied medicine at Albany College and Stanford University; he was perceived as the only woman in these classes. In his lifetime, Hart changed his name, underwent a hysterectomy, had two marriages (both to women), opened a series of medical practices, distinguished himself in the study of tuberculosis, and wrote several books (Booth, Bryan. “Alberta Lucille Hart / Dr. Alan L. Hart: An Oregon ‘Pioneer.’” Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission).

Prior to the mainstreaming of trans identity, the most famous transgender person in America was Christine Jorgensen, a World War II veteran turned actress and chanteuse. She is regarded as America’s first transgender celebrity. Her transition was publicized in the 1950s against her will when the New York Daily News ran the headline “Ex-GI Becomes Blonde Bombshell” (“Style Icon: Christine Jorgensen.” Philistine).