By Chris Lederhos, Lab Technician at Old Town Library
“Celebrated throughout the month of August in San Francisco, Transgender History Month is legally recognized by Mayoral Proclamation. It is a month in which Transgender San Franciscans honor the rich history and contributions of transgender history makers, pioneers, trailblazers and affirms the ongoing presence of transgender people in San Francisco and around the world.” – Transgender History Month
In 2021, activist Jupiter Peraza and The Transgender District led the advocacy efforts to recognize the month of August as “Transgender History Month” in the City and County of San Francisco. With the support of the City and County of San Francisco’s Office of Transgender Initiatives (OTI) and the Women’s Foundation of California, Ms. Peraza and The Transgender District advocated to the Mayor and received full support for the commemorative month.
Mayor London Breed signed and declared by proclamation, the month of August in the City and County of San Francisco as Transgender History Month on August 24th, 2021.
Transgender people have always existed! Despite numerous attempts to erase the stories of transgender, gender nonconforming, nonbinary, and other genderqueer people and communities, there are many figures throughout human history, all over the world, whose names are etched in time.
Find selections for Transgender History Month below.
The LGBTQ+ history book
Proffesor Michael Bronski, Dr. Kit Heyam, Professor Valerie Traub, Jon Astbury, Hannah Ayres.
“Exploring and explaining the most important ideas and events in LGBTQ+ history and culture, this book showcases the breadth of the LGBTQ+ experience. This diverse, global account explores the most important moments, movements, and phenomena, from the first known lesbian love poetry of Sappho to Kinsey’s modern sexuality studies, and features biographies of key figures from Anne Lister to Audre Lorde. Dive deep into the pages of The LGBTQ + History book to discover: Thought-provoking graphics and flow charts demystify the central concepts behind key moments in LGBTQ+ history, from eromenos and erastes in the Ancient World to political lesbianism. ; Features insightful quotes from leading historians, philosophers, cultural commentators, economists, anthropologists, sociologists, activists, and politicians. ; Includes biography boxes and directory entries on the lives of important but lesser-known individuals, alongside well-known names including Sappho, Oscar Wilde, Anne Lister, Harvey Milk, and Marsha P. Johnson. ; Global in scope with a localizable directory. The LGBTQ+ History Book celebrates the victories and untold triumphs of LGBTQ+ people throughout history, such as the Stonewall Riots and first gender affirmation surgeries, as well as commemorating moments of tragedy and persecution, from the Renaissance Italian ‘Night Police’ to the 20th century ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ policy. The book also includes major cultural cornerstones – the secret language of polari, Black and Latine ballroom culture, and the many flags of the community–and the history of LGBTQ+ spaces, from 18th-century ‘molly houses’ to modern ‘gaybourhoods’. The LGBTQ+ History Book celebrates the long, proud–and often hidden – history of LGBTQ+ people, cultures, and places from around the world.
Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender events, 1848-2006
by Lillian Faderman
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Events selects events that help to mark the definition of gender, the emergence of social, cultural, and political movements, and the struggles to gain civil rights. In some cases, one event represents and offers a discussion of many. For example, the article on Illinois becoming the first state to abolish its laws against consensual homosexual acts in 1961 also discusses the effect of this action on other states. In particular, essays also include cross-references to related articles within the set.
Transgender warriors : Making history from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman
by Leslie Feinberg
In this fascinating personal journey through history, the author uncovers persuasive evidence that there have always been people who crossed the cultural boundaries of gender.
Before We Were Trans : A new history of gender
By Kit Heyam
Across the world today, people of all ages are doing fascinating, creative, messy things with gender. These people have a rich history – but one that is often left behind by narratives of trans lives that focus on people with stable, binary, uncomplicated gender identities. As a result, these stories tend to be recent, binary, stereotyped, medicalized, and white. Before We Were Trans is a new and different story of gender, that seeks not to be comprehensive or definitive, but – by blending culture, feminism, and politics – to widen the scope of what we think of as trans history by telling the stories of people across the globe whose experience of gender has been transgressive, or not characterized by stability or binary categories. Transporting us from Renaissance Venice to seventeenth-century Angola, from Edo Japan to North America, the stories this book tells leave questions and resist conclusions. They are fraught with ambiguity, and defy modern Western terminology and categories – not least the category of ‘trans’ itself. But telling them provides a history that reflects the richness of modern trans reality more closely than any previously written.
The Transgender Child : A handbook for parents and professionals supporting transgender and nonbinary children
By Stephanie Brill and Rachel Pepper
Ever since its initial publication in 2008, The Transgender Child has been lauded as the most trusted source of information for families wanting to understand and affirm their transgender, gender-expansive, or nonbinary child. Utilized around the world and translated into multiple languages, The Transgender Child has won accolades from medical and mental health professionals, teachers, and, most especially, from parents. Authors Stephanie Brill and Rachel Pepper have now thoroughly revised and updated their ground-breaking classic with expanded coverage of gender development, affirming parenting practices, mental health and wellness, medical decision-making, legal advocacy, and how best to ensure school success, from preschool through the high school years. Drawing upon their extensive joint expertise as pioneers in the field of gender-affirming care, and enriched with the wisdom of parents who’ve already walked this path, as well as the voices of multiple professional experts, Brill and Pepper once again provide a compassionate and educational guide for anyone who cares about, or works with, a child who falls outside expected gender norms.
Make it Count : My fight to become the first transgender Olympic runner
By CeCé Telfer
CeCé Telfer is a warrior. The first openly transgender woman to win an NCAA championship, she has contended with transphobia on and off the track since childhood. Now, she stands at the crossroads of a national and international conversation about equity in sports, forced to advocate for her personhood and rights at every turn. After spending years training for the 2024 Olympics, Telfer has been sidelined and silenced more times than she can count. But she’s never been good at taking no for an answer. From coming of age in Jamaica, where she grew up hearing a constant barrage of slurs, to beginning her new life in Toronto and then New Hampshire, where she realized what running could offer her, to living in the backseat of her car while searching for a coach, to Mexico, where she trained for the US Trials, this book follows the arc of Telfer’s Olympic dream. But it’s also the story of resilience and athleticism, of a runner who found clarity in her sport that otherwise eluded her— a sense of being simply alive on this earth, a human moving through space.
Door by Door: How Sarah McBride became America’s first openly transgender senator
By Meeg Pincus, Illustrated by Meridth McKean Gimbel.
A picture book biography of Delaware State Senator Sarah McBride.
Gender Heroes : 25 amazing transgender, non-binary and genderqueer trailblazers from past and present!
By Filipa Namorado.
There have been many amazing cisgender men and women throughout history who have changed the world. But what about all the incredible transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people who have equally transformed our lives? This bold and beautifully illustrated book tells their stories for children aged 5+.
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