BONUS 0.20. Dialing in to Gender: Tracing Trans Internet History with Avery Dame-Griff

In this interview episode, Leigh sits down with scholar and creator of the Queer Digital History Project Avery Dame-Griff to discuss his book The Two Revolutions: A History of the Transgender Internet and all it contains about the magic of the evolution of trans folks on the internet. From BBSes (bulletin board system) to Twitter, we discuss how trans people have always existed on and created their own unique spaces on the World Wide Web, tapping into Avery’s extensive research, interviews, and media archaeology.

The Two Revolutions explores how the rise of the internet shaped transgender identity and activism from the 1980s to the present. Through extensive archival research and media archeology, Avery Dame-Griff reconstructs the manifold digital networks of transgender activists, cross-dressing computer hobbyists, and others interested in gender nonconformity who incited the second revolution of the title: the ascendance of "transgender" as an umbrella identity in the mid-1990s.

Dame-Griff argues that digital communications sparked significant momentum within what would become the transgender movement, but also further cemented existing power structures. Covering both a historical period that is largely neglected within the history of computing, and the poorly understood role of technology in queer and trans social movements, The Two Revolutions offers a new understanding of both revolutions-the internet's early development and the structures of communication that would take us to today's tipping point of trans visibility politics. Through a history of how trans people online exploited different digital infrastructures in the early days of the internet to build a community, The Two Revolutions tells a crucial part of trans history itself.

Dr. Avery Dame-Griff teaches courses on gender, race and sexuality in the US, LGBT studies, gender and technology, digital humanities, and feminist media studies at Gonzaga University. He founded and serves as primary curator of the Queer Digital History Project, an independent community history project cataloging and archiving pre-2010 LGBTQ spaces online. In 2022, he was selected to be a Public Humanities Fellow for Humanities Washington, developing a series of interactive online exhibits, teaching guides, and workshops about the history of LBGTQ+ communities in online spaces.

Where To Find Dr. Avery Dame-Griff Online:

• AveryDame.net

• Mastodon: apdamegriff@aoir.social

• Queer Digital History Project

More Exciting News in the World of Early Trans Internet!

As listeners may know, Leigh works at the GLBT Historical Society for their day job. And recently, a volunteer archivist, Cara Esten Hurtle, discovered an amazing CD-ROM containing the entirety of Transgender Forum, (TGForum.com) from 1995 to 1998, one of the largest trans communities online at that time, that Avery Dame-Griff also covers in his book! Hurtle uploaded the CD-rom online for anyone to peruse, and it’s absolutely amazing to see the 90s trans community right there before your very eyes!

yesterday, volunteering at the GLBT Historical Society, an archivist came in with this CD, still shrink-wrapped. this morning, I've uploaded it to the Internet Archive so everyone can have access to 90s trans community on CD-ROM.https://t.co/QsmqqZ0usU pic.twitter.com/EgNDCsZXuc

— cara.city elsewhere (@caraesten) October 25, 2023

The discovery has been covered by them online in a fantastic article which you can read here: This Archive Offers an Incredible Window Into the Early Trans Internet.

And you can peruse the CD-Rom of TGForum.com here, where Cara uploaded the archive! Just click the “START.HTM” file in the tgfcd window, and browse to your heart’s content! Want Leigh to do an interview with Cara about her discovery? Let us know!

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

BONUS 0.13. Before We Were Trans

For this bonus episode, Leigh sat down with Dr. Kit Heyam about their new book, Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender. We talked about gender diversity throughout the world, the importance of getting into “messy” or not easily-categorized gender variance in queer history, and more!

”Today’s narratives about trans people tend to feature individuals with stable gender identities that fit neatly into the categories of male or female. Those stories, while important, fail to account for the complex realities of many trans people’s lives.

Before We Were Trans illuminates the stories of people across the globe, from antiquity to the present, whose experiences of gender have defied binary categories. Blending historical analysis with sharp cultural criticism, trans historian and activist Kit Heyam offers a new, radically inclusive trans history, chronicling expressions of trans experience that are often overlooked, like gender-nonconforming fashion and wartime stage performance. Before We Were Trans transports us from Renaissance Venice to seventeenth-century Angola, from Edo Japan to early America, and looks to the past to uncover new horizons for possible trans futures.”

The book is out in North America TODAY, September 13, 2022, so go check it out!

Dr Kit Heyam (they/them or he/him) is a university lecturer, a queer history activist, and a trans awareness trainer who has worked with organizations across the United Kingdom. They have written for academic publications as well as articles for NOTCHES and The Public Medievalist. They live in Leeds, UK, with their partner Alex.

Where To Find Kit Online:

• www.kitheyam.com

• @krheyam on Twitter
  
  Some of Kit’s writing:

• The Amazing Life of Chevalier D’Eon zine

• “How Museums Hide Women’s and Queer Histories in Plain Sight”, The Public Medievalist

• "‘It was necessary’: Taking Joan of Arc on Their Own Terms”

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

32. Stealing Horses & Hearts: Trans Vagabonds of the Wild West

In this episode of History is Gay, Leigh and guest host Ashten Hope slap on some cowboy boots and head to the wild west to tip our hats to a slew of badass transgender pioneers. We’ll first meet Harry Allen, a handsome horse-stealing and heart-stealing trans man who was both loved and hated by papers and police across the pacific northwest. Then we’ll dance with the dazzling and talented Mrs. Nash, who’s baking and sewing charmed many a soldier boy. Lastly, prepare to be lassoed by the legendary Charley Parkhurst who was known as one of the best “whips” in all the west. Grab your horse and your headphones and get ready to ride into the fantastic lives of these frontier queers.

But first, let me introduce to you our new friend and guest host for this rootin’ tootin’ episode, Ashten Hope!

Ashten is a teacher in Texas, an avid birder, and runs a cryptid club! They also like to hike with their dog and read comics.

You can find more from Ashten on twitter at @AshtenHope!

A Closer Look at Our Trans Vagabonds of the Wild West

Harry Allen/Harry Livingston (aka Nell Pickerell)

Really, this is just going to be a slew of photos from the IMMENSE pile of newspaper articles we found on him. And when we say pile….

This isn’t even all of them!!!

Harry Allen was a frequent figure in the papers, with scandalous headlines especially focused around his many dramatic relationships. 1908.

Allen was known for his fashion. Truly an icon. We, too, would wear cowboy outfits great deal if we had them, Harry.

Honestly….we’ve seen worse headlines written about trans people in 2020 so….

Harry Allen: a scoundrel of the worst kind! Wearing the WRONG CLOTHES!

And finally, a joke that didn’t make it into the edit of the episode because it just works better visually, behold:

Who wore it better? Harry Allen, the original Florida Man. From Seattle.

Mrs. Nash

The only depiction there is of Mrs. Nash, from New York’s National Police Gazette, February 15, 1879

Charley Parkhurst

Illustration of Charley, showcasing the reason for his “One-Eyed Charley” nickname.

Charley with journalist J. Ross Browne, in an illustration from the 1865 edition of Harper’s Monthly

Charley Parkhurst’s tombstone in Watsonville, CA

The plaque on the Soquel fire station wall that marks and commemorates Charley/Charlie’s voting registration.

If you want to learn more about our wild west trans heroes, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Online Articles:

• Knute Berger. “Meet Nell Pickerell, transgender at-risk youth of yesteryear”. Crosscut, June 29, 2014.

• “Those Daring Stage Drivers”. CA Department of Parks and Recreation, 2008.

• A Note on the Historical Accuracy of the Jocker

• Janna Bommersbach. “Homos on the Range: How Gay Was the Wild West?”. True West Magazine, November 1, 2005.

• Sabrina Imbler. "The Forgotten Trans History of the Wild West". Atlas Obscura, June 21, 2019

• Livia Gershon. "The Forgotten Gender Nonconformists of the Old West". JStor Daily, April 27, 2018.

• Curt Eriksmoen. “Two tales of transgender behavior in 1800s Dakotas”. Inforum, October 15, 2016.

• “The Mysterious Mrs. Nash”. Midwestern Scout, April 20, 2016.

• An Essay from 19th Century U.S. Newspapers Database: Newspapers and the Press

• The History of Print from 1850-1899

• David Ng. “‘Out West’ at the Autry examines the history of homosexuals and transgender people in the Old West”. Los Angeles Times, Dec 15, 2009.

• Metroactive Features: Charley Parkhurst

Books and Print Articles:

• Re-Dressing America’s Frontier Past by Peter Boag

• Margaret Walsh. “Women’s Place on the American Frontier”. Journal of American Studies, Vol. 29, No 2. August 1995

• Peter Boag. “Go West Young Man, Go East Young Woman: Searching for the Trans in Western Gender History” in Western Historical Quarterly, Vol. 36, No. 5 (Winter 2005).

• Peter Boag. “The Trouble with Cross-Dressers: Researching and Writing the History of Sexual and Gender Transgressiveness in the Nineteenth-Century American West”, Oregon Historical Quarterly, Vol. 112, No 3. (Fall 2011)

• Elizabeth Reis. “Transgender History at a Crossroads: A Close Reading of a ‘Queer’ Story from 1857”. Early American Studies, Vol. 12, No. 3 (Fall 2014).

Newspaper Articles (where publicly available online, we have provided links!):

• “Thirty Years in Disguise: A Noted Old Californian Stage Driver is Discovered, After Death, To Be a Woman”. New York Times, January 9, 1880. Online.

• “A Woman By Nature – A Man By Choice”. Philadelphia Times, May 6, 1900: 18. Online.

• “Goes By the Name of Harry” Seattle Daily Times, Oct 12, 1901: 5.

• “Dolly Quappe’s Suicide. Loved a Masquerading Girl”. Los Angeles Times, Dec 26, 1901. Online.

• “Nell Pickerell in Court: Her Trial for Throwing a Spitoon at a Saloon Man is Continued”. Seattle Daily Times, Aug 4, 1902: 14.

• “Girl Tries to End Her Life: Pearl Waldron Falls in Love with Notorious Nell Pickerell.”. Seattle Daily Times, Nov 4, 1903: 3.

• “Nell Sees It All”. Seattle Daily Times, Jun 28, 1904: 3.

• “Nell Pickerell Again.”. Seattle Daily Times, Jul 10, 1904: 7.

• “Nell Pickerell Wanted on a Serious Charge”. Seattle Daily Times, Jan 23, 1906: 17.

• “Nell Pickerell Did Not Register: Girl Who Affects Man’s Attire Made No Effort to Be Recorded as a Voter”. Seattle Daily Times, Jan 28, 1906: 2.

• “Woman Declines to Act as Stool Pigeon” Seattle Daily Times, Mar 31, 1906: 7.

• The Notorious Nell Pickerell in Town”. The Ellensburgh Capital, Feb 13, 1907. Online.

• “Nell Pickerell in the Toils Again” Seattle Daily Times, Mar 23, 1907: 2.

• “Deadly Love Trap of the Youth Who is a Girl”, The Seattle Sunday Times, Jan 12, 1908.

• “Strange Story of a Seattle Girl”, San Diego Union and Daily Bee, Mar 22, 1908.

• “Nell Pickerell Tended Bar in Montana Town”. Seattle Daily Times, Apr 27, 1908

• “How Catherine Madden Fell a Victim to Strong Drink; Why Nell Pickerell Will Not Wear Women’s Clothing”. The Spokesman Review, Oct 22, 1911: 24. Online.

• “Nell Pickerell Returning to Jail”. The Spokesman Review, Nov 15, 1911: 5. Online.

• “Nell Pickerell Denies Her Sex; Woman Who Dresses in Male Attire Starts Story She Is a ‘Real Man’; Rumor Causes Sensation”. The Spokesman Review, Nov 22, 1911: 6. Online.

• “Fighter, Bootlegger and ‘Bad Man’ is Miss Pickerell For Love of Whom Three Women Have Killed Themselves”. Tacoma Times, April 12, 1912. Online.

• “Woman Jailed”. Seattle Daily Times, Apr 22, 1912: 19.

• “Trousered Woman Bites Policeman”. Seattle Daily Times, July 22, 1915: 2.

• “Woman is Freed”. Seattle Daily Times, Aug 19, 1915: 11.

• “Nell Pickerell Stabbed”. Seattle Daily Times, Sept 27, 1916: 5.

• “Nell Pickerell May Die of Wounds”. Seattle Star, Sept 27, 1916. Online.

• “Nell Pickerell Asks $50 Pay for Services”. Seattle Daily Times, Jul 1, 1917: 19.

• “Nell Pickerell is Dead: Masqueraded as Man, Attracting Attention Here.” Seattle Daily Times, Dec 22, 1922: 11.

• “Nell Pickerell Dead". Seattle Star, Dec 28, 1922. Online.

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

26. A Royal Troublemaker in King Kristina of Sweden

What better way to start off the cold, wintery season than with a new episode of History Is Gay and a trip to, as Rene Descartes said, the land of rocks and ice and bears? For this episode, Leigh is joined by fantabulous guest host V Silverman to explore the fascinating history of King Kristina of Sweden. A probably nonbinary, most likely asexual, definitely biromantic monarch of 17th century Sweden, Kristina was known for their aesthetic tastes, insatiable hunger for knowledge, and absolutely atrocious spending habits. Follow our hosts as they track Kristina’s claiming of power, conversion to Catholicism, cavorting around Europe, and countercultural influence, with a few pit stops and power-grabs along the way.

Hey look, a guest host!

Meet V!

V is awesome. Friend of the pod, they are the fantastic artist behind our Geographic Queers gear designs, and joins us for the most delightfully genderqueer episode chock full of they/thems. V is also the co-host of the fantastic podcast Fuzzy Logic, an educational-ish, comedy-ish podcast where the hosts know very little about a whole lot. Listen, learn, and LOL! You can find more things from V at their website, or check them out on twitter @nikeagxy!

A Closer Look at King Kristina of Sweden

A rare portrait of a young Kristina, by Jacob Heinrich Elbfas, at 14 years old and uncharacteristically in a wig and feminine clothing.

A portrait of Kristina, by Sébastien Bourdon

Christina of Sweden by Sébastien Bourdon, 1653. This was Kristina’s favorite painting and hung in their bedroom to the end of their life.

The maidenly Belle, and Kristina’s intimate lady-in-waiting, Ebba Sparre.

Kristina and the Saumais playing a prank on poor Ebba Sparre, making her unwittingly read from a raunchy novel aloud. The GUFFAWS!

Axel Oxy-boy!

Kristina (on the left side of the right table), in an argument with Rene Descartes, in a romanticized painting by Nils Forsberg (1842-1934), after Pierre-Louis Dumesnil the Younger (1698-1781)

A portrait of Kristina in their later years, circa 1685.

And lastly, Kristina again in their elder years, rocking that badass androgynous style.

A Selection of Kristina’s Maxims:

• “We should be more miserly with our time than with our money”

• “It is more difficult to do evil than to do good”

• “Custom makes us insensible to almost everything”

• “We should never believe anything we have not dared to doubt”

• “A prince must think of himself a slave crowned by the people”

• “Happiness does not lie in the opinions of others”

• “Life is too short for love”

• “It requires more courage to marry than to go to war”

• “Patience is the virtue of those that lack either courage or force”
  

If you want to learn more about Kristina of Sweden, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Online Articles:

• Christina, Queen of Sweden. Maxims of a Queen, Christina of Sweden (1626-89).

• Queen Christina of Sweden, Lesbian Troublemaker

• Encyclopedia Britannica: Christina Queen of Sweden

• A Journal of the Swedish Embassy in the Years 1653 and 1654, Vol. II by Whitlocke

• GLBTQ Archive: Sweden

Books and Print Articles:

• Christina, Queen of Sweden: The Restless Life of a European Eccentric by Veronica Buckley

• Queer, There and Everywhere by Sarah Prager

• Surpassing the Love of Men by Lillian Faderman

• Who’s Who in Gay & Lesbian History ed. Robert Aldrich & Garry Wotherspoon

• “Two Portraits of a Queen: Calderón and the Enigmatic Christina of Sweden” by Deborah Compte, Hispanic Journal, Vol. 27, No. 1

• “Christina of Sweden's Patronage of Bernini: The Mirror of Truth Revealed by Time” by Lilian H. Zirpolo, Woman’s Art Journal, Vol. 26, No. 1

• Beneath the surface: the portraiture and visual rhetoric of Sweden's Queen Christina” by Nathan Alan Popp, University of Iowa

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!