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FOR ALL THE SELF-MADE MEN.

(slogan subject to change)

Welcome to the Trans Guy Archive! This is a collaborative history archive for one of the most forgotten groups in the LGBTQ+ community.

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In the fight for trans* justice and liberation, trans men/mascs have been largely ignored, both in society at large and within the LGBTQ+ community. Trans history largely skews in favor of trans women/femmes -- for better or for worse -- leaving many along the masculine spectrum feeling lost and alienated, even in their own community. This archive aims to serve as an informational and social space for all to learn about the beauty, vitality, and strength of trans men/masculine figures throughout the centuries. This is for all transsexual and transgender men, demiboys, butches, those who are "kinda guys", lesboys, transmascs, multigender, and anyone who falls along the masculine spectrum.

 

Trans guys have always been here, and we're not going anywhere.

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As historians, it's important to try and not retroactively apply modern-day labels to historical figures. Terms like "transgender" or even "transsexual" are remarkably new phrases in the vast scheme of history, and people have used a wide variety of phrases to try and define their existence. For people who lived before the coining of these terms, this archive uses "trans" as a verb, rather than a noun/adjective. Regardless of how an individual may have identified, they are still trans-ing (transitioning) their gender to a more masculine state. The identities explored on this archive will largely not fit neatly into modern-day expectations of identity and gender. Everyone is invited to keep an open mind.

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Furthermore, it is the goal of the Trans Guy Archive to present topics and theory that is oftentimes dense and hard to understand in an engaging and easier to understand context -- but without erasing the nuance present in topics by oversimplifying them. Too often, professional academics purposefully write in over-complicated ways that make higher education inaccessible to the average person who does not have an engaged background in historical subjects. 

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By using a blend of formal and informal language throughout the archive, the TGA hopes to ease the fear of studying complex topics and provide the average person a casual look into the workings of historians.

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TLDR -- You have no excuse to say "I ain't reading all that" ;-)

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On top of the archive, this space also aims to act as a sort of "one stop shop" for trans guys around the country and world to find educational and academic content about themselves, written by people just like them. In the Event Calendar, you may find a party in your city to make friends; in the Trans Guy Glossary, you can learn the definition of that word you've been seeing everywhere, and so on.

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The primary focus of the TGA will continue to be a record of trans guy history, but given how difficult it is for trans guys to find community and information - even within the wider queer community - we thought it'd be a good idea to have a single, organized space for everything you wanted to know.

Welcome, dudes!

Note: TGA is still very new and there are still a lot of placeholder photos and text! Please allow us some time to spruce it up and update with more info and images!

  • Why was this archive made?
    As a historian currently pursuing my Masters degree in History and a transsexual man myself, I often found it really frustrating at the lack of trans guys to relate to in queer studies. Much of queer studies revolves around cis gay men and trans women, and while this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it can create a lot of disconnect. Over the years, I've come across bits and snippets of articles, newspaper clippings, photos, and other sources detailing the rich lives of trans men/masc people, and I wanted to share my findings with the rest of the world. Similarly, pages like the Event calendar may inspire people browsing this site to go out and meet more friends (and lovers) like themselves. I sincerely hope this site can help somebody.
  • What can I send into the transguyarchive?
    If you are a trans guy (or are uploading on behalf of someone who is), you can send in... photos of yourself (if you are a trans guy) photos of trans events you went to (everyone in the photo must consent to being uploaded) places and spaces safe for our community resources surrounding HRT, surgeries, updating legal paperwork, etc. transmasculine historical figures you've found (newspaper clippings, interviews, articles, etc.) your own testimonies (section TBD) upcoming events safe for our community important trans male/masculine artists/content creators queer/trans theory sources, articles, essays, etc. If you're looking to submit writing and/or photographs, head to the Articles section and fill out our submission form. If you're looking to submit anything else, head to the Contact page.
  • Why doesn't the site search function work for the Trans Profiles section?
    To be perfectly honest, I'm not entirely sure. Wix gives users a maximum of 100 static pages, and given the scope of this site as an archive, that may not be enough for the profiles plus everything else. To rectify this, the Profiles section uses dynamic pages, a built-in program from Wix. Thankfully, this solves the page limit issue, but for some unknown reason, prevents each page from being searched by Wix. I genuinely don't have a solution to this. I've tried to search for an answer and have come up dry every time. If you know a working solution, please feel free to reach out! Otherwise, once you click on your desired era (medieval, early modern, etc), simply use the hyperlinks at the top of the page to jump to whomever you want to read about.
  • Is this place a digital equivalent of a children's treehouse with a "NO GIRLZ ALLOWED" sign?
    No, obviously not lol. Throughout history there have been many male-only clubs and groups that have excluded women on a sexist basis, and understandably there may be some apprehension seeing a website like this. Women and other genders are absolutely welcome to explore the archive and contribute the works of their comrades, friends, and lovers! Trans women/femmes absolutely deserve their own archive, and as a transsexual man, I felt the most comfortable writing about my own people.
  • Why do you say "trans guys" everywhere? Why not say just men or just mascs?
    While both terms are equally valid to use, there's a definite distinction between them. "Transmasc(uline)" generally refers to people along the masculine gender spectrum who may or may not identify as Male (i.e. nonbinary people, butch lesbians, etc.). "Trans man" refers to an individual who does identify as Male. Some trans men may not want to be referred to as 'just masculine', and many transmasc individuals do not wish to be referred to as male. "Trans guys" is used as an easy fix, since it covers just about everyone in our community; including in the site name. The "trans male/masc archive" would've been too wordy.
  • Why do you call yourself a "transsexual" man? Isn't that word outdated and offensive?
    Like many things, this requires a degree of nuance. For those unaware, at it's core definition, transsexual is an adjective that refers to a person who is transitioning their biological sex (typically with HRT and surgery) to align with their gender identity; transgender is an adjective that refers to a person transitioning their gender (by whatever means they deem necessary) to align with their identity. I identify as transsexual as opposed to transgender because before I came out at 13, I didn't have a strong conception of gender, and definitely not one for myself. As I half-jokingly tell my friends, "I was only a girl because they told me to be." Transsexual fits me better because there's really no gender to transition here, just my sex, since I've really always been a guy, just one that was unaware for a long time. To answer the last part, yes, transsexual has historically sometimes been used as a catch-all term and a slur to describe all trans people. But given the ever-changing nature of language and context, many have decided to reclaim it, just as the larger LGBTQ+ community has gone about with the word "queer".
  • What's the difference between this site and the Digital Transgender Archive?
    Well, for one, that site is better made and this one has only been around for a fraction of the time DTA has. To be frank, this archive is a personal project of mine as a semi-professional historian, and I wanted to make a place for all my research. I also want to be more active in my community, and I thought this would be a good place to start. Maybe one day this archive will be able to rival DTA. You should definitely check out the Digital Transgender Archive in all its glory, it's truly a great resource and has been referenced on here many times.
  • Will you ever add information about DIY testosterone?
    As of now, probably not. The FDA controls and regulates testosterone (in all it's forms) extremely tightly compared to estrogen/spironolactone, and naturally DIY testosterone is illegal. I'm simply not comfortable putting my archive at risk of being taken down. If you're 'academically' interested in the topic, I invite you to do your own research. This website isn't the only place for these sorts of things.
  • So you think the history of trans women/femmes doesn't matter???
    If you looked at "the majority of trans history has been focused on trans women/femmes, for better or for worse, so I made my own space to talk about the history of trans men/mascs" and came to that conclusion*, take a moment and think about why you believe another minority group advocating for equal visibility and inclusion is an infringement on your space. There is more than enough room for us all in annals of history. *If you are not Chronically Online, please know this does not apply to you.
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