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Farm Hand Born: Unknown Died: approx. February, 1892 Transcription: ​ At the death of "Henry" Arm-strong, a farm hand, a Juno, Tenn., it was discovered that he was a wo-man, who for twenty-five years had concealed her sex, posing as a man, whereas she had been a mother. ​ From the The St. Johns Herald, Feb. 11, 1892. Courtesy of the Digital Transgender Archive. Last updated: December 6th, 2025.

Soldier Born: Unknown Died: Unknown Transcription: ​ A Colored Fille du Regiment. ​ The Providence Journal relates that last May, while the 12th Rhode Island regiment was at Lancaster, Ky., a chubby young Anglo-African, asnwering to the name of "Tommy," came into camp, desiring to en-ter the service of one of Uncle Sam's offi-cers, a nd was taken by one of the captains of the 12th as a body servant. In that ca-pacity "Tommy" accompanied the regi-ment in its marches, and on its return to Providence, winning many pleasant words for good behavior. When the regiment was dismissed "Tommy" went to live with the Lieutenant. There the refinements were to much for "Tommy," and the cap-tains body servant proved to be a veritable daughter of the regiment, a girl of less than twenty summers, who had been able to conceal her sex in the huise of a boy that the captain, at whose feet she had slept, had no suspicion that he was harbor-ing a sable "woman and sister," determin-ed on achieving liberty at even the expense of a temporary renounciation of red band-annss and calico. The officers no reccol-lect that "Tommy" wouldn't ride horse-back, and declined the most tempting prop-osition to go a swimming. She has been properly provided for. ​ From the Cleveland Morning Leader, Sep. 11, 1863. Courtesy of the Digital Transgender Archive. Last updated: December 6th, 2025. Transcribed/Edited by Aidrian.

Baron, Doctor Born: September 6th, 1912 Died: September 12th, 1991 Ewan, with dog. Sir Ewan Forbes-Sempill, 11th Baronet was born in Scotland  on September 6th, 1912 to John Forbes-Sempill, 18th Lord Sempill and Gwendolyn Prodger. Sir Ewan Forbes-Sempill, who identified as a trans man, is most well known for being involved in a lengthy custody battle over the estate of his late father. His case in the British legal system helped to determine the precedent on whether a person’s legal sex was a determining factor in male primogeniture (succession). Initially born as Elizabeth Forbes-Sempill, Ewan would later contend that his birth registration as female was considered a “ghastly mistake”. His mother nicknamed him “Benjie”, and the nickname continued to be used into Forbes-Sempill’s adult life. According to his book, The Aul’ Days, Forbes-Sempill frequently dressed as a boy and spent a large time playing with his male cousins. Forbes-Sempill similarly recalled a hatred of being “made to dress up [in women’s clothing” for social events and engagements. ​ Forbes-Sempill was given an educated upbringing and was able to speak and write fluently in Doric as well as various European languages. He also refused to attend an all-girls school. As he grew, Forbes-Sempill studied in Dresden while visiting cities such as Prague and Vienna, which allowed him access to various gender-affirming treatments. His parents seemed to have a fairly lax view on his gender – his mother in particular was quite progressive for the time period. She would often take him to various European medical specialists for gender-affirming treatments such as testosterone shots. Though, he was still expected to dress in feminine clothing and appear as a female debutante even after the emergence of facial hair. ​ In 1939, Forbes-Sempill was accepted into the University of Aberdeen as a medical student. He would later graduate in 1944 and take up a post in the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary as a Junior Casualty Officer, swiftly being promoted to Senior Casualty Officer not long after. He would begin to work as a general practitioner in Aberdeenshire in 1945.  ​ After moving to Aberdeenshire, Forbes-Sempill continued to publicly present himself as a man in his daily life. In 1952, he legally and formally became male by requesting a warrant for birth re-registration and changed his name to Ewan. He announced this change with a short notice in the Aberdeen Press and Journal in September 12th, 1952: “Dr E. Forbes-Sempill henceforth wishes to be known as Dr Ewan Forbes-Sempill”. He was reportedly very candid with the curious press. He described his situation as, “a ghastly mistake. I was carelessly registered as a girl in the first place, but of course, that was forty years ago ... the doctors in those days were mistaken, too ... I have been sacrificed to prudery, and the horror which our parents had about sex.” ​ He would marry Isabella Mitchell, his housekeeper for the last five years, on October 10th, 1952. The union took place at the kirk in Kildrummy, where he had recently joined. ​ Until 1965, the issue of Forbes-Sempill’s legal gender remained relatively under the radar. In December of 1965, his elder brother died, leaving daughters but no sons. Scotland followed a law of primogeniture – only male sons were allowed to inherit their father’s property and lands. The Times cited that the heir for the baronetcy should be the Hon. Ewan Forbes-Sempill, but this was challenged by Forbes-Sempill’s cousin, John Forbes-Sempill, arguing that Ewan was legally still a woman, and thus the title should pass to John and not Ewan. ​ For some context, there were times in which gender re-registration was allowed in legal cases. Typically, it was in the case that “the sex of a child was indeterminate at birth and it was later discovered ... that an error had been made”. The judge who preceded over the case determined that “as a matter of probability, the second petitioner [Ewan Forbes-Sempill] is a ... hermaphrodite,” though experts at the time observed that they believed Forbes-Sempill’s condition was closer to that of a ‘standard’ female-to-male transsexual, or a trans man. In any case, John Forbes-Sempill challenged the ruling, which led the case to be referred to the Home Secretary, James Callaghan, who was the individual responsible for the Roll of Baronetage. It was finally declared in December of 1968 that Ewan Forbes-Sempill would be entered into the Roll as the rightful heir and holder of the title.  ​ Forbes-Sempill’s case was kept under a great deal of secrecy for the time. The records of the case were not made available in Scotland under 1991, with additional documents being made available to the public in 1994. Further release of Forbes-Sempill’s records are limited and were restricted from being publicly documented until 2021. ​ After taking the baronetcy, Forbes-Sempill would then drop the “Sempill” from his surname. Once he had the inheritance case officially settled, Ewan would then leave the public eye and return to his rural residence at Brux, Scotland. Forbes was an elder at the kirk in Kildrummy and was later appointed a Justice of the Peace in Aberdeenshire in 1969. In 1984, he published a book on his early years, titled The Aul’ Days. ​ Forbes passed away on September 12th, 1991 and left no children. He was succeeded in his baronetcy by his cousin John – the one who had challenged him back in the 1960s. Ewan’s wife, Isabella, wouldn’t pass away until 2002. Gallery Bibliography Barnes, Lesley-Anne (2007). "Gender Identity and Scottish Law: The Legal Response to Transsexuality". Edinburgh Law Review. 11 (2): 162–186. doi:10.3366/elr.2007.11.2.162  ​ Forbes, Ewan. The Aul’ Days. The Internet Archive. Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press, 1984 . https://archive.org/details/auldaysforb00forb/mode/2up .  ​ “Isabella, Lady Forbes.” The Telegraph. March 2, 2002. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1386476/Isabella-Lady-Forbes.html .  ​ Merritt, Stephanie. “The Hidden Case of Ewan Forbes by Zoë Playdon Review – a Fascinating Transgender Life.” The Guardian, December 26, 2021 . https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/dec/26/the-hidden-case-of-ewan-forbes-by-zoe-playdon-review-a-fascinating-transgender-life .  ​ Playdon, Zoë. The Hidden Case of Ewan Forbes: And the Unwritten History of the Trans Experience. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021.  Last updated: December 6th, 2025. Edited by Aidrian.

Author, Activist, Speaker Born: June 16th, 1951 Died: March 2nd, 1991 Lou Graydon Sullivan was born on June 16th, 1951 in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. Beloved within his community of transsexual men, he was the first public trans man to identify as homosexual. Also, he was a prolific writer and activist, who often spoke at medical conventions regarding transsexual health, despite not being a doctor himself (Milks). Lou’s brother, Flame Sullivan, commented that “...they usually put him at the end of the conference, so he could blow everybody away… He knew what he was talking about. More than some of these doctors did.” (Milks). Among many other published works, Sullivan is most well-known for his book, Information for the Female-to-Male Crossdresser and Transsexual , which he first published in 1980, which has since been revised and updated twice. He is also known for his work We Both Laughed in Pleasure – a selection of his diary entries, published posthumously. Sullivan’s main goal was to further the understanding of transsexual men and to push for better research into FTM medical procedures. At this time, when a trans* person medically transitioned, it was thought that they did so to live as a heterosexual (Lybarger). Sullivan, being openly gay, challenged that by being in a relationship with a cisgender man for eleven years before leaving him to pursue medical transition (Milks).   Sullivan expertly used his own personal testimony to convince doctors and other medical professionals that not only should he receive medical intervention by nature of being a transsexual man, but that he should regardless of whom he loves. A series of four interviews he gave with Dr. Ira Pauly are available on the Internet Archive, where Sullivan discusses the arguments he’d heard from medical professionals and other activists on his transition. The video interviews can be accessed by clicking here. Sullivan appeared to be largely successful in spreading the idea that gender and sexuality have no correlation to one another (Rawson), though there was a significant challenge from the then-present psychology community, who believed that only heterosexual trans* people could exist.   Outside of the medical world, Sullivan was a prolific activist. In 1986 he began hosting quarterly F.T.M. get-togethers and wrote about the meetings in a newsletter called, very simply, FTM (Milks). Many copies of FTM are still available for free reading on the Digital Transgender Archive . The newsletter accepted all sorts of writing and media from trans men and masculine folk throughout the world. Articles ranged from poems about masculinity, rituals for gaining stronger manhood, ads for “Menace Man” t-shirts and silicone packers, to studies on medical transitioning, erotic articles and short stories, photos of surgery, and state-by-state resources for newsletter readers.   In June of 1986, Sullivan underwent bottom surgery. In early 1987, he was diagnosed with AIDS (Lybarger). In the time before his death, he published his book, as well as a biography on Jack Bee Garland – someone also assigned female at birth who lived as a man and published many pieces of writing, and is assumed by contemporary standards to have been a trans man. Sullivan is known to be the first publicly recognized trans man to live – and die – from AIDS-related complications. The now famous quote from this difficult point in his life: “They told me at the gender clinic that I could not live as a gay man… but it looks like I will die as one.” (Milks) Sullivan passed away on March 2nd, 1991, in San Francisco at the age of thirty-nine. We Both Laughed in Pleasure would not be published until 2019. Sullivan has since been honored on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor at the Stonewall National Monument in 2019 (Keehnen) and Sullivan’s work has received widespread recognition online and in in-person trans* circles. Gallery Bibliography Keehnen, Owen. “Lou Sullivan.” Edited by Carrie Maxwell. Legacy Project Chicago. Accessed May 28, 2025. https://legacyprojectchicago.org/person/lou-sullivan .  ​ Lybarger, Jeremy. “Lou Sullivan’s Diaries Are a Radical Testament to Trans Happiness.” The New Yorker, September 16, 2019. https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/lou-sullivans-diaries-are-a-radical-testament-to-trans-happiness .  ​ Milks, Megan. “Overlooked No More: Lou Sullivan, Author and Transgender Activist.” The New York Times, June 9, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/09/obituaries/lou-sullivan-overlooked.html .  ​ Rawson, K.J. “Living and Dying as a Gay Trans Man: Lou Sullivan’s Rhetorical Legacy.” Peitho: Journal of the Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric & Composition , August 15, 2020. https://wac.colostate.edu/docs/peitho/article/living-and-dying-as-a-gay-trans-man-lou-sullivans-rhetorical-legacy/ .  ​ Stryker, Susan. "The Difficult Decades." In Transgender History. Berkeley, CA: Seal Press, 2008. Last updated: December 6th, 2025. Edited by Aidrian.

Kelly shortandqueer has been publishing shortandqueer zine since 2004, incorporating his queer and transgender identities into his writing about lots of other subjects, including friendships/relationships, navigating family dynamics, health issues, baseball, periods, his love of potatoes and more! All of Kelly's zines are available for purchase on his website. All zines are between $1.50-2, or the full set for $30.

by Santos J. Arce originally published February 7, 2024 When I open hookup apps like Scruff or Grindr, I often feel like I’m walking to school in my neighborhood growing up. I lived in the areas of Brooklyn and Queens that artists like Notorious B.I.G. and Nas wrote about, during the time when their classics were first released. I wasn’t into hip-hop back then, though; I was a punk, and it felt like everyone on the street commented on my style of dress either because it was so different from the prevailing culture, or because they didn’t understand why such a cute young woman would choose to dress so butch. Looking back, I get that it came from a heritage of oppression and scarcity. Othering me was a backwards way of guarding community integrity. In any event, all the street chatter eventually just became irrelevant stuff I learned to tune out. Years later, I’m tuning out different chatter, and facing a similar mix of misconceptions, othering, and protectiveness, from guys on the apps. This is not another piece about how terrible the apps are. We know they’re chaotic. I do have good experiences off the apps, and I’m gonna talk about them, but after 18 years of medical transition, and so many iterations of myself, it does bear stating why and how messages like “so ur a woman?” or “I wanna fuck some pussy” feel basic, irrelevant, and draining. ** Read the rest of the article for free on THEM ** *The Trans Guy Archive claims no ownership over this article. All rights go directly to Santos Arce and THEM magazine. This article is shared for the express purpose of visibility and ease of access.

A select few photos from the Trans March, 2010. All images belong to the Trans March account on Flickr.  The TGA only shares them here for the purposes of archival protection. The whole Trans March library can be accessed for free at the link provided above.

A select few photos from the Trans March, 2009. All images belong to the Trans March account on Flickr . The TGA only shares them here for the purposes of archival protection. The whole Trans March library can be accessed for free at the link provided above.

A select few photos from the Trans March, 2008. All images belong to the Trans March account on Flickr. The TGA only shares them here for the purposes of archival protection. The whole Trans March library can be accessed for free at the link provided above.

A select few photos from the Trans March, 2007. All images belong to the Trans March account on Flickr. The TGA only shares them here for the purposes of archival protection. The whole Trans March library can be accessed for free at the link provided above.

A select few photos from the Trans March, 2006. All images belong to the Trans March account on Flickr.  The TGA only shares them here for the purposes of archival protection. The whole Trans March library can be accessed for free at the link provided above.

A select few photos from the Trans March, 2004. All images belong to the Trans March account on Flickr. The TGA only shares them here for the purposes of archival protection. The whole Trans March library can be accessed for free at the link provided above.