Agustín Rodríguez is another individual I almost did not include in Before Gender due to existing writings on him. He was never a well-known figure in the English-speaking world, but there have been a handful of short articles about him over the past few decades. However, almost every text from the past 70 years misgendered him and did not look past his first bullfighting retirement in 1912. Agustín is a perfect example of the various means by which trans men in sports are erased. Before Gender offers Agustín’s first complete biography, accounting for his gender and accomplishments in full.
I’ve been a vegetarian for over 15 years and think bullfighting is a deeply unethical sport. However, we have to account for its cultural history in Spain, particularly around the turn of the 20th century when there was almost no pushback against animal abuse (only a few intellectuals from the Generación del 98 were writing against matadors). I believe we can still celebrate Agustín as an accomplished athlete, even if we do not support matadors in the present.
Agustín had many photos and stories that I could not include in Before Gender. Thankfully, I can share some of them here!
My personal favorite photo of Agustín is from this hand-colored June 10, 1906 front page of La Fiesta Nacional.
Spain’s national library contained a trove of forgotten documents surrounding Agustín’s life.
Perhaps the single most important article about Agustín comes from his 1934 Ahora cover story.
Along with the stunning photos, the Ahora article revealed that Agustín was living as a man in private – and had been since 1909!
Reporters argued about Agustín’s gender, pronouns, and honorifics. Here, they suggest some editors may use gender-neutral “lo” in lieu of la or el (highlighted). Keeping in mind this is the 1910s, I found this to be one of the most fascinating discussions about the matador (Gedeón, Sept. 10, 1911).
A newspaper jokingly claims La Reverte (feminine) and Reverte (masculine) competed in a “single performance” (La Tribuna, Sep 29, 1912).
There are an impressive number of photos of Agustín in action, like the one in this 1912 magazine (upper right image).
Agustín shortly before he transitioned, from Nuevo Mundo 754, 1908.
Many journalists and public figures were confused about Agustín’s gender. Some were sympathetic, while others sensationalized his story (La Mañana, Oct 25, 1914, page 1).
The Mar 9, 1992, edition of Sports Illustrated misunderstood Agustín as a trans woman. This may trace back to earlier English language articles that made the same mistake.
