"Beautiful, Not Broken" - The Historical Fight Towards Gender Freedom

“How the f*** did I end up being born in this day and age with clowns like these?”

“You can’t deny biology, regardless what is going on in someone’s mind.”

“Pick up arms and head to Ukraine…this topic is so trivial by comparison.”

The following statements were all derived from the comments section of Sky News’ Instagram post documenting the protest which contested the continuation of conversion therapy for those experiencing gender dysphoria in the UK. Whilst thousands of individuals were lining Downing Street, amplifying their voices amidst a sea of prejudice, internet trolls were priming their keyboards, ready to fire off at the first inclination of understandable uproar.

Devastatingly though, this wasn’t the first battle for peace that the trans community had encountered. In fact, the Government’s shunning of gender identity pre-dates the 21st century by decades. Often regarded by many as trivial ‘attention seekers’ or worse, the devil incarnates, simply due to being adjacent to the picture of ‘normality’ painted by society, those who feel as though their given gender doesn’t align with their psyche have always been prey to the apex predator oligarchs of the world. Therefore, the latest slap in the face from the UK Government was a mere nail in the coffin of discrimination.

Media From Wix

But where there is darkness, light always shines within; turn every corner throughout human history and you will see the nobles. Valiant trans and agender activists have ensured that the gender queer voice is heard over the crowds trying to silence them.

Gaining an insight into some of these voices truly rejuvenates the soul, alerting those who have never had to fight for the right to be humanised, regarding their gender identity, to a life of constant trials and tribulations, simply to survive, that they may not have known even existed.

Individuals have bravely contravened the ‘binary’ format of gender as far back as 9000 years ago. Artistic depictions of transgender individuals were derived from the Mediterranean throughout the dawn of human civilisation. Additionally, Sumerian and Akkadian (Ancient Greek) texts from 4500 years ago are said to document transgender priests known as ‘gala’.

Ancient Greece also bore the foundations for future gender non-conformity in other ways, as did the countries of Phrygia and Rome. Scholars believe many of the ‘galli’ priests at the time may have been trans women, a notable figure being Roman emperor Elagabalus, who preferred to be addressed as lady rather than lord and sought reassignment surgery in around the 200 AD period.

Indian and Thai natives are recognised as some of the pioneers for expressing themselves as a gender distinct from the traditional two back in the ancient period. The Indian subcontinent of ‘Hijras’ and the Thai region of ‘Kathoeys’ formed a plethora of trans-feminine third gender social and spiritual communities, groups which have been heavily documented via scripture for centuries, and that also include trans male figures.

However, before moving forward it is important to note the distinction between many similar sounding terms which are often regarded by the unaware as being synonymous with each other.

Prior to 1910, there was no definitive term to define an individual who believed that their birth sex and gender were incongruent. Even though the term ‘transvestite’ was circulated in this year by German sexologist Magnus Hirschfield, the noun is defined today as ‘a person who dresses in clothes primarily associated with the opposite sex (typically used of a man).’

In essence, a transvestite typically aligns their gender with their birth sex, simply presenting otherwise out of love for a particular hobby or look, such as a drag queen or king. Fundamentally though, this of course may not apply to everyone.

In 1949, the term transsexual was distributed across the general public, defined in today’s dictionary as an adjective ‘denoting or relating to a transgender person, especially one whose bodily characteristics have been altered through surgery or hormone treatment to bring them into alignment with their gender identity’.

Thought to be an early recognition of what we recognise as transgender individuals today, it metamorphosed in 1971 to the latter term, hence many people now classify themselves as transgender, preferring to adopt its shorter form: trans, which was coined mainly in Britain in 1996.

Although many align their identity with the noun transgender, its meaning being a person who has ‘a gender identity or gender expression that differs from the sex that they were assigned at birth’, there are those who are more comfortable with the term transsexual, as several believe the desire to receive surgery in order to affirm one’s identity is what distinguishes it from the later term.

There are, of course, those who don’t mind which is used, or those who believe that the word transgender accommodates this factor also. In fact, in conversing with many young trans individuals, I discovered that a large majority reject the term transexual altogether, along with ‘transvestite’, deeming them to be outdated upon their reliance on being defined by whether an individual has or hasn’t had gender reassignment surgery. Moreover, it is a matter of preference.

In today’s society, the term transgender is the most frequently uttered among those who do not identify with their birth sex, but it can also be used as an umbrella term, encompassing a variety of gender expressions such as gender non binary, where a person is neither ‘male’ nor ‘female’, androgyne, a person having a gender that is either both masculine and feminine or between the two, and gender fluid, a person whose gender expression shifts outside of society’s common expectations of gender, which can often alternate between different ends of the masculine and feminine spectrum.

Fortunately, today there are many different terms which individuals can use to feel accepted within themselves, all of which are valid, and come with their own distinct pronouns, which should be respected and confirmed if unknown.

As history and human civilisation progressed, so did the freedom of gender expression, albeit gradually. Evidence of individuals presenting in ways atypical to the binary norm can be found at almost every pinnacle moment. These include the Middle Ages, which saw the further emergence of trans men and women across Europe, and the 1800s post-colonial America, during which it was documented that several people began new lives as men, even serving in the military, such as Albert Cashier and James Barry.

To many, the concept of gender-reassignment surgery, which enables a person’s desired gender to correlate with their birth sex, seems the epitome of modern medicine. However, we have one pioneering physician and sexologist to thank for paving the way for those who have access to such operations in today’s era.

Magnus Hirschfield, despite eventually having his revolutionary work concerning transgender surgeries destroyed by the Nazis in 1933 and his German citizenship revoked, aided in some of the earliest ovarian and uterus transplants, allowing many who were screaming into the void for acceptance the chance to feel at least some comfort amidst the terrors of war. His activism regarding the LGBTQ+ community and his own gay identity cannot be understated; he worked tirelessly to help those who felt lost in a period which was plagued by Nazi homophobic and transphobic Nazi persecution, risking both his profession and his own life until his death in 1935.

Although Hirschfield’s achievements in the progression of medical care towards trans individuals was monumental for the era, the fight for gender liberation was far from over. In the decades that followed, both trans and gay individuals were forced to retaliate against targeted police brutality on multiple occasions, notably, the 1959 Cooper Donuts Riot in Los Angeles, observed by many historians as one of the first modern LGBTQ+ uprisings in the United States.

Soon after, the Compton’s Cafeteria Riots of 1966 against the harassment of drag queens and trans people would act as the catalyst towards transgender activism in San Francisco. With tensions between trans individuals and police simmering across the decade, it would take just three years before the arduous battle for equality reached a tumultuous boil.

Ask almost any LGBTQ+ individual about Stonewall, and regardless of whether they themselves were alive during its occurrence, a subsequent shiver will be sent down their spine. The riot in 1969 spanned across three days, commencing at the Stonewall Inn in Lower Manhattan, when people at the renowned gay bar were finally pushed to the point of contention after yet another police raid Even looking at the harrowing images of gay and transgender youths pleading with hopeless expressions to law enforcement, simply for the right to live freely in America, the country supposedly founded on the basis of freedom, evokes insatiable anger and frustration.

Centuries of prejudice can do unimaginable things to the psyche of an individual. There comes a point where the consistent abuse, nefarious treatment and discrimination ignites a spark to make change. Though the journey may be agonising, and the road to solace winding, the eventual reward of freedom via sacrifice is worth every taunt and punch. And that is what the heroic individuals of the Greenwich Village and Stonewall Inn decided during those three days.

Trans and LGBTQ+ activism accelerated after the riots ceased. To commemorate the fallen. To commemorate those who lived in a world which barely knew of the term transgender. To commemorate the future generations of children who would grow up with similar struggles. A year later, in 1970, the first pride marches took place in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco, with many of their occupants citing the Stonewall riots as their inspiration for finally feeling comfortable enough to publicly show their identity.

Nowadays, LGBTQ+ pride marches are held annually across June, in honour of the Stonewall Riots, all over the world, with millions of members celebrating the noble fight of Lower Manhattan’s gay and trans community back in 1969. One key figure whose light still shines in the hearts of many is Marsha P. Johnson, a self-identified drag queen and LGBTQ+ liberation activist.

She was a figurehead of Stonewall and is fondly loved and remembered by many within the community as being outspoken about her own identity and previous struggles to find peace within a society that hated anything that juxtaposed normality. Marsha has been commonly depicted in illustrations, excerpts and flags alike since her untimely death in 1992, of which many suspect foul play to be involved in.

So where do trans individuals stand under the gaze of society today? Whilst identifying as anything other than cisgender is no longer illegal in many Western Countries, there are still 13 counties which specifically criminalise trans people, with it not being possible to officially change one’s gender status in at least 47 United Nations member states.

Due to these petrifying statistics, today’s trans community could be forgiven for harbouring a certain level of contempt for modern society.

In speaking to, Samantha Nelson, a transgender installation manager at Penguin however, I actually found her theology to be the antithesis of this. She said: “Along the way I discovered that none of us ever know the internal conflicts that people around us are dealing with, and we should never insist we know better or suggest that we have all the answers.

“What we can do is come together to create an environment and culture where people feel safe and supported, a place where everyone can belong.”

If the commentary beneath the news article mentioned at the beginning proves anything, it is that, whether legal in certain places or not, the fight towards total equality for all genders and identities is far from being lit, despite the plethora of activists who continue to lick the blue touch paper.

I believe the trans activists across April’s national protests in Britain phrased it best:

“Queerness doesn’t need a cure”.

But whilst the UK Government and the global oligarchs alike continue to try to silence the trans community, it is vital that their voices remain amplified. Regardless of age, race or background, they exist, and deserve to be recognised by society as valid and amicable human beings.

And though the walk toward complete trans liberation may be slow, I found solace in the fact that Samantha has finally reached a stage of comfort in her life:

“I could now stand proud and say I am a woman. Always have been. Always will be.”