Primary Source Set: challenging the gender binary
Gender variance has a long and complicated history, nuanced by race, class, ability and sexuality. One of the strategies of colonization was to standardize gender according to white supremacist and religious values. This disrupted genders within indigenous communities across the Americas and Africa, and indigenous peoples are still policed and attacked for their gender variance today. Even white genders were disrupted over time; scholars have argued that previously, during the Middle Ages, Europeans had a more nuanced and fluid approach to gender, which was rigidified into a binary by a variety of religious and colonial practices. Chattel slavery, too, had an impact on gender; for instance, enslaved peoples were forced into white supremacist gender categories.
With this history in mind, this source set takes a wide view of gender variance. Some of the terms used to describe gender in this set include nonbinary, genderqueer, bi-gender, gender-nonconforming and androgynous. There is also mention of intersex people, but, in order to respect that not all intersex people identify as nonbinary or trans, these references are limited to cases where intersexuality is mentioned along with gender fluidity. Two Spirit people are not included in this source set, to recognize that “Two Spirit” is a specifically indigenous term with very different applications and histories than the other terms included in this set. The GLBT Historical Society maintains reference guides specific to holdings related to Native American LGBTQ and Two Spirit people, and to holdings related to intersex people.
Sources included in this set vary from items that introduce people who challenge conventional notions of the gender binary—such as Sylvester, Mani Mitchell, Hida Viloria, Ari Kane, and Tryfan Morys Eibhlyn Llwyd—to items that document changes in views of gender variance, both in trans communities and beyond.
A 2004 advertisement for the genderqueer people’s support group United Genders of the Universe. From the GLBT Historical Society Periodicals collection (GLBT-PER).
Selected Source Set
Additional Resources
The GLBT Historical Society offers a source sets on “Trans Men” and “Trans Women.”
The GLBT Historical Society offers a source set on Sylvester.
Holdings related to Native American LGBTQ/Two-Spirit People research guide.
Holdings related to Transgender, Nonbinary, and Intersex People research guide.
Contact reference@glbthistory.org for research questions or information about reproductions or permissions.
These primary source sets are just a small sampling of our digitized materials. Additional resources are available in our digital collections. Our extensive archival holdings are searchable through our catalog.