Trans History
Trans and nonbinary people have always existed and will continue to exist.
Did you know that there was a non-binary preacher who traveled around New England in the years following the Revolutionary War?
Their name was Public Universal Friend, the founder of the Society of Universal Friends. The Friend promoted equality between genders, called for the abolition of slavery and encouraged sexual abstinence. In many ways, their theology was very similar to the Quaker beliefs in which they were raised. The community was progressive for the time period in that it was both integrated with Black members (several of whom had been enslaved in Rhode Island) and included a group of “Faithful Sisterhood” – a group of unmarried women who held leadership roles.
Despite oppressive systems and rigid gender roles throughout history, trans and nonbinary people have always existed and will always exist!
Although records of gender expansive people in colonial US history can be hard to track down, Thomas(ine) Hall’s story is memorialized by Jamestown, Virginia court records. Born in 1600, Thomas(ine) Hall was an English intersex person raised as a girl in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, who adopted a man’s hairstyle, name, and clothing in order to follow their brother into military service. After their service concluded, they changed their name back to Thomasine and made their living crafting bone lace and other needle work.
Upon their arrival to Jamestown, Virginia, Hall wore men’s clothing as an indentured servant. Soon, Hall confused neighbors by wearing women’s clothing and changing their name back to Thomasine. Hall was also rumored to have had sexual relations with both men and women. These rumors led to physical examinations and eventually the issue was brought to the Quarter Court of Jamestown in 1629. Governor John Pott presided over the court and ruled that Hall had a “dual nature” sex and was to wear men and women’s clothing together to signify their unique relationship to their gender and sex.
Thomas(ine) Hall is recognized as an early example of a gender expansive individual in America as they moved across the gender spectrum, presenting as both a man and a woman in a time when gender and identity was heavily defined by external societal institutions.