A brief timeline of transgender history milestones

Histories of LGBTQ+ communities are continually being learned. Legacies, names and movements are unearthed as new understandings emerge from times that have passed. There is no LGBTQ+ without the T, ever. Trans voices, trans activism, and trans people have helped us build a foundation on which the queer movement has thrived. Yet, despite their decades of persistence and brilliance, trans communities are often relegated to contemporary moments. The Stonewall uprising has, unofficially, been pencilled in as the mythologised starting point of their heritage; a notably Westernised pinpoint, too. However, this isn’t the case. Trans communities and people have long existed before our modern timelines. Like many marginalised identities and communities, the history of the trans community is not preserved – whether this is in educational curricula or regular retellings of LGBTQ+ liberation. While it’s not possible to capture the grand extent of trans history and all of its diverse peoples, we can offer a brief insight into several illuminating historic milestones that embody the perseverance of the community.

Before we begin, it’s worth acknowledging our modern application and definition of the