No cute bunnies or lambs in my files, I'm afraid. I do, however, have a lot of queer chickens. This is a painting of a hen-cock (c. 1900), a prize fighter, by English artist Herbert Atkinson. 🥚🐥🐔
We've been sharing lots of history related articles over the past week - obviously because it's #LGBTHistoryMonth in the UK, but also because there's a lot to be gained by knowing our history.
All too often, timelines of key milestones in trans and/or broader LGBTQ+ history entirely ignore the work and histories of people in the global majority.
That's one of the reasons we love the timeline on the Trans and Intersex History in Africa website.
Just a reminder that, following the Royal Society event in Jan, my article 'Mendel's Closet: Genetics, Eugenics and the Exceptions of Sex in Edwardian Britain' has been made freely available until the end of Feb/LGBTQ+ History Month.
Farewell forever to Cecilia Gentili, a giant of art and advocacy for trans people, immigrants, and sex workers. She will be sorely missed.
"Gentili was in the midst of a period of creative flourishing, having released her stunning debut book Faltas: Letters to Everyone in My Hometown Who Isn’t My Rapist in 2022, and performing her autobiographical off-Broadway show Red Ink in 2023...
In her organizing work, Gentili was known for bringing explosive trans joy to every project she touched. Last summer, she birthed and co-organized Transmissions Fest, the first all-trans music festival in New York City, with proceeds benefiting LGBTQ+ charities. 'We are often included in Pride events, but we’re not centered,' she said. 'And there’s a difference.' In 2020, she hosted Fierce Futures, a fundraiser supporting organizations that serve Black trans people."
Gynandromorph bordered white moth from Charles Barrett's Lepidoptera of the British Isles (1901). 🦋
At 11am (GMT) next Wednesday (31 Jan) I will be discussing my article 'Mendel's Closet' as part of the Royal Society history of science seminar series. 🏳️🌈 🧬
There's this myth that trans people are a 'new phenomenon' or that people 'can always tell' if someone is trans. But there's so much evidence to prove otherwise.
Take Willmer 'Little Axe' Broadnax, a popular gospel singer in the 1940s. People only found out that he was trans after his death in 1992.
#QueerHistory Zeitungen haben in der Weimarer Republik maßgeblich zur öffentlichen Meinungsbildung über Homosexualität beigetragen. Wie berichteten sie über Schwule und über Verurteilungen nach Paragraf 175? https://www.queer.de/detail.php?article_id=48135
📢 At 11am (GMT) on Wednesday 31 January I will be discussing (online) my latest article, 'Mendel's Closet,' as part of the Royal Society history of science seminar series. 🧬🏳️🌈🐦
#OnThisDay, 8 Jan 1977, lawyer and civil rights activist Pauli Murray becomes the first African-American woman to be ordained in the US Episcopal church.
Murray had previously coined the term “Jane Crow” in 1965 to explain the double discrimination faced by black women.
Murray struggled with her gender identity, and might today call herself gender non-conforming, queer or non-binary.