Here to Stay: Transgender Trailblazers Throughout History

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Trans, drag, intersex, 2 spirit, nonbinary, genderqueer: some people talk as if these identities were invented yesterday – but that isn’t the case! Like sexuality, gender has always been complicated and full of natural variations. Throughout history, we find many people who were not consistently cisgender.

Nonconforming people throughout history have often been oppressed by society. However, if you look closely at the historical record you will find countless trailblazers who lived as themselves. A major source of this untold history lies in the masterpieces of the world’s great art museums. In this talk, Professor Lear will discuss a number of fascinating examples from his historic and cultural tours around the world.

• See the Intersex and trans deities of the Classical world
• a Tahitian Mahu in the middle of Gaugin’s most famous painting
• Japanese drag actors
• a French diplomat and spy of the 18th century who claimed (falsely?) to have been living as a male though biologically female
• the genderqueer lesbian who married a woman in 19th-century England
• The most famous American and French actresses of the 19th century, both famous for drag
• A French 19th-century painter who was probably a lesbian, possibly trans, possibly intersex—and who sits in the middle of the Met’s 2nd largest painting

After this talk, we will honor Marsha P Johnson as one of the earliest trans activists in modern times, who took the mantel from the many trailblazers in history who just wanted to be who they are. Nothing more; nothing less.