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Weimar Germany was among the most supportive societies for trans people in the history of the Europe. With newly available medical care, many flocked to Berlin to obtain treatment. The first transgender clinic, the Institute for Sexual Science, opened in 1919 and numerous queer and trans organizations flourished until Nazis seized power in 1933.
See the original Twitter conversation here.
A rampant misconception about the Stonewall Rioters figures them as white gay cis men. Along with anti-Black sentiment, this misunderstanding partially stems from black-and-white photography. While it was certainly mostly gay cis men who patronized Stonewall, it was indisputably instigated by the arrest of a Black drag king (Stormé DeLarverie) and fought by a multiracial, multigender group.
Japan had a short-lived heyday of transgender self-determination in the mid-century. Multiple clinics offered gender-affirming surgeries from around 1950 to 1965 before the nation banned them. Trans people hung out on the streets of Tokyo like in these Katsumi Watanabe photos.

1960s Japan was by no measure a haven for trans people. However, it wasn’t like the U.S., either. Trans folks congregated in bars with relaxed “crossdressing” laws compared to other countries. These newly colorized photos show the everyday lives of trans women in midcentury Tokyo.
See the original Twitter thread here.
Jackie Shane (1940-2019) was a Black trans Tennessean singer active from the 1950s-2000s. She came out as transgender at 13 to a supportive family in the Jim Crow south. Jackie should have been a superstar but the world wasn't ready for her legendary voice.
Think trans people are too mean about misgendering these days? From 1913 on, Zapatista colonel Amelio Robles Ávila (1889-1984) threatened to shoot anyone that called him a woman with his pistol. He lived openly as a man for 71 years and was supported by his family, peers, and government.
See the original Twitter conversation here.
Le Monocle was an influential, multiracial dyke/trans bar in 1930s Paris. Monocles were a bit like wearing a pride flag among the queer people assigned female at the time. Although the Nazis shut down the bar during the war, many patrons stayed in touch for years after.
Famed Hungarian-French nightlife artist Brassaï captured many photos of the club, now housed at the Cleveland Museum of Art.
See the original Twitter conversation here.
Stormé DeLarverie (1920-2014) was a Black drag king, bodyguard, and Stonewall veteran. After his arrest sparked the Stonewall Riots, he became a bouncer for multiple dyke bars. He became known as the "guardian of lesbians in the Village" and patrolled streets to stop gay bashings. He used multiple pronouns, eventually switching to he/him in his later life.
1960s San Francisco brought many trans women to California. These rare photos were digitized and colorized from James Patrick Driscoll's 1968 San Francisco State University thesis. Unfortunately, none of the trans women were named in the photos.
Christine Jorgensen (1926-1989) was one of the U.S.'s first trans celebrities. She helped introduce transgender identity to thousands of people after she returned from gender-affirming surgery in Denmark in 1952.
Tennessean Charlotte Francis McLeod (1925-2007) was the second U.S. trans woman to obtain gender-affirming surgery in Denmark after Christine Jorgensen in 1953. She was 28 years old.
At first, Charlotte McLeod's father didn't support her medical transition. However, after her surgery, he explained, "now that it’s over, I’m ready to accept Charlotte as my daughter[...] It's a little hard to get used to after all these years, but I will, you can bet on that."
Unlike present newspapers, nearly all reporting on Charlotte was positive and celebratory. A 1954 issue of the Nashville Banner noted her beauty and that all her friends, neighbors, and loved ones accepted her.
On the right, you clearly see the love and support in her father's eyes after she returned from surgery. He adored his daughter and celebrated her for who she was.
See the original Twitter thread here.
Dina Alma de Paradeda (1871-1906) was the first Brazilian trans woman to gain fame in Europe. Researchers reported she was the daughter of a Spanish noble, giving her the title "contessa." She met Magnus Hirschfeld in 1903 and had a large social circle of other queer and trans people.
These images were taken around 1897 in Naples. These images are colorized from a scan of Franz Ludwig von Neugebauer's (1856-1914) 1908 book
Hermaphroditismus beim Menschen via the Internet Archive (page 647).

A note from Eli: I could only find these two low-quality photos of de Paradeda, so if you know of any others, please send them my way!
Trans history often lives in unexpected places. Arthur Fellig (known professionally as Weegee, 1899-1968) was one of the first famous street photographers in NYC. Working in the 1930s-1940s, he captured an astonishing amount of trans city life while crossdressing laws were still in effect.
Trans women in midcentury New York faced immense pushback for openly expressing themselves. However, today's public often forgets how many of us were also celebrated entertainers, models, and stylists (among many other professions).
We typically think of the past as full of horrific persecution of trans people. It certainly wasn't safe but not as agonizing as in the popular imagination, either. Adding to this perception are a disproportionate amount of arrest records and photos like those of Weegee. Relatedly, photos like these over-represent white trans women, who were more likely to be in the same neighborhoods as those who could afford cameras. However un-representative of actual trans life of the past, this documentation is crucial for understanding how trans the trans community came to be as it is today.
Click here to see the original Twitter thread.
Christer Strömholm’s 1950s-60s photos of unnamed Parisian trans women are so gripping because they show everyday life during an era trans people weren't supposed to have existed. There were no spectacular police raids but instead love, laughter, and plenty of dancing.
Of the Strömholm photos that reveal more extraordinary scenes, trans women are intimately portrayed as entertainers and performers.
See the original Twitter thread here.
Mark Weston (1905-1978) transitioned in 1936. It's as if he was erased from the history books. He was one of the world's top athletes and Britain's number one "women's" shotputter for six years. His brother Harry was also trans.
Mark and Harry transitioned around the same time in the 1930s. Instead of accusing them of harm or "grooming," the responses ranged from the curious to the dramatic. Nearly all papers respected Mark's pronouns. His medical treatment was even widely celebrated as a breakthrough.
Like most trans people of his era, there's debate if Mark Weston was intersex. Nearly everyone claimed to be intersex at the time to obtain basic respect. He figured he was trans due to his clearly high T levels. Regardless, he spearheaded trans medical procedures in London.
After changing his IDs to male, Mark married Alberta Bray. Papers congratulated the couple across the globe. The pair then withdrew from the spotlight. "I want to get away from publicity and be allowed to live my own life with my wife," he explained following months of reporting.
Mark and Alberta raised three children and had long, happy, private lives. In his later years, Mark worked as a physiotherapist, helping athletes like himself feel comfortable in their own bodies. He passed away in 1978, age 72.
See the original Twitter thread here.
Louise Lawrence (1912-1976) was a trailblazer in the trans community. Yet, she's rarely heard of unless you study trans history. She helped organize a network of queer and trans people beginning in the 1940s, later working with the Mattachine Society and giving public lectures on gender. In 2018, the Louise Lawrence Transgender Archive opened in Vallejo, California.
Sylvia Rivera (1951-2002) and Marsha P. Johnson (1945-1992) were two of the most influential trans activists in history. We would not have the queer and trans movement as we know it today without them. They were Stonewall veterans and founders of the organization STAR. Due to the economic precarity of the queer and trans community of the 1970s, almost all photos of them during the decade were in black and white.
Trans people used to send portraits to psychiatrists for consults. This anonymous trans woman lived in San Francisco in 1964. Eli colored and digitized the image for the first time after locating it in the Robert Stoller collection at the UCLA archives.
Hitler called Magnus Hirschfeld, "the most dangerous Jew in Germany" for good reason. The queer activist and researcher founded the Institute for Sexual Science, what is widely considered the first transgender clinic in 1919.

Hirschfeld's brilliant work also took him around the world. He met trans people from six continents from 1892-1933. He also called for decolonization, the end of the British Empire, and economic liberation. He knew these systems were all deeply interwoven with trans oppression.
View the original Twitter thread here.
Gerd Katter (1910-1995) was a fierce trans teen activist. He transitioned as a child but was denied top surgery in 1927 due to his age (16). He went on to obtain a "transvestite passes" in 1928, which allowed him to dress how he wanted. He also helped bring together trans holocaust survivors to donated materials for preservation.
See the original Twitter conversation here.
Otto Spengler (1876-1940s) became the first known trans person to take synthetic hormones in 1928. She was also Magnus Hirschfeld's first medical patient. Otto knew she was a trans lesbian since she was 12 and loved to dress up for photographs. She transitioned in the early 1900s. The above portraits are from the 1900s in Magnus Hirschfeld's Die Transvestiten (1912).
Coccinelle (Jacqueline Dufresnoy) was a French trans model, actress, and showgirl. The multitalented artist was among France's first transgender celebrities. She made her debut in 1953 before swiftly becoming a cultural icon. Although her story has faded from the headlines, she reminds us that trans women have been adored by society in the past.
Six anonymous German subjects, most likely transmasculine people from c. 1910. The low-quality photo was a gift from Harry Benjamin to the Kinsey Institute in 1958.
See the original Twitter conversation here.