Lost Stories from TRANS History 1850–1950

Discover the trailblazing lives of thirty trans people who will radically change everything you've been told about transgender history.

Highlighting influential individuals from 1850 to 1950 who are all but unknown today, Eli Erlick shares thirty remarkable stories from romance to rebellion and mystery to murder. These narratives chronicle the grit, joy and survival of trans people long before gender became an everyday term.

Organised into four parts, paralleling today's controversies over gender identity - kids, activists, workers and athletes - Before Gender introduces figures whose forgotten stories transform the discussion. These ground-breaking histories include two of the first teens to access gender-affirming medical treatment, a countess who instigated an LGBTQ+ riot forty years before Stonewall and the greatest female billiards player of the 1910s.

Bold and visionary, Erlick's debut uncovers these lost stories from the depths of the archives to narrate trans lives in a way that has never been attempted before.

Reviews:

'Before Gender is at once a vital weapon in the fight against the denial of trans history and a heart-stopping collection of human stories. I'm thrilled to know the people in its pages and I already know they will stay with me.'
Kit Heyam, author of Before We Were Trans

'An eye-opening read, crisply written, on such a timely topic.'
Susan Stryker, author of Transgender History: The Roots of Today's Revolution

'Not only have trans people always existed; we have always sought ways to live fuller and more authentic lives. Before Gender chronicles trans people from 1850 to 1950 growing up, working, falling in love, getting in trouble, playing sports and building community as we've always done and always will do.'
Maia Kobabe, author of Gender Queer and Breathe

About the Author:

Eli Erlick is an internationally acclaimed activist, author and educator. In 2011, she founded Trans Student Educational Resources (TSER), an organisation dedicated to transforming the educational environment for trans students. Since then, she has been at the forefront of social justice issues through her research, organising and cultural criticism. Erlick's work and writing have been featured in hundreds of outlets, including the New York Times, Time Magazine and the Washington Post. She lives in New York City, where she continues to fight for trans liberation.

Table of Contents:

Introduction: rewriting the narrative

THE KIDS
The brothers: Mark and David Ferrow
The outlaw: Effie Smith
The singer: Masoud El Amaratly
The shoemaker: Ray Leonard
The lover: Mabel Stanley
The girl bandit: Emma Heinrich
The horse thief: Willie Ray

THE ACTIVISTS
The freed woman: Sally-Tom
The countess: Gerda von Zobeltitz
The petitioner: Carl Crawford
The runaway: Mollie Wilson
The healer: Muksamse'lapli
The pacifist: Sadie Acosta
The community leader: Georgia Black
The guardian: Okiyo
The professor: Maude Milbourne

THE WORKERS
The maid: Josephine Robinson
The cobra woman: Elise Marks
The dancer: Albín Pleva
The florist: John Berger
The butler: Alfred Grouard
The craftswoman: Ann Storcy
The boy-of-all-work: Frank Williams

THE ATHLETES
The billiardist: Frances Anderson
The matador: Agustín Rodríguez
The pentathlete: Stefan Pekar
The wrestler: Bill Winters
The teammates: Léon Caurla and Pierre Brésolles

Conclusion: a new gender history
Index