Transgender history in the United Kingdom

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Plea and Memoranda Roll of John/Eleanor Rykener (1395) Corporation of London Records Office, Plea and Memoranda Roll A34, m.2 (1395).jpg
Plea and Memoranda Roll of John/Eleanor Rykener (1395)

This article addresses the history of transgender people across the British Isles in the United Kingdom, the British colonies and the Kingdom of England until the present day. Transgender people were historically recognised in the UK by varying titles and cultural gender indicators, such as dress. People dressing and living differently from their sex assignment at birth and contributing to various aspects of British history and culture have been documented from the 14th century to the present day. In the 20th century, advances in medicine, social and biological sciences and transgender activism have influenced transgender life in the UK.

Contents

Overview

Transgender History in Britain is long and complex, and does not always conform to the same modern or medical definition, with gender roles frequently changing during the first millennium CE under varying ruling groups such as the Celts, Romans and Anglo-Saxons.

Early Transgender history can said to begin with Roman Britain, when the Roman conquest of Britain was successful at colonising Britainnia, as the Britons used a vernacular language, therefore not leaving extensive written records. Definitions of gender changed to fit patriarchal Roman gender roles such as the Pater familias at this time which lowered inheritance, political and marriage rights of British Celtic women to the legal status of Women in ancient Rome for example. These patriarchal ideas emerged with the cultural and legal implications of the Roman conquest of Britain and resumed in English practices and identity. Transgender people in Roman society are known to have been engaged in the worship of Cybele as Galli. [1]

Anglo Saxon Society also continued its persecution of transgender or gender non-conforming peoples, referring to them as bæddel or bædling. [2] More research is required on Medieval England and Transgender identity, but authors have also begun to question the roles of transgender people through reexamining evidence such as old gravesites like the 10th century Birka of Viking persons. [3] Persecution by the Roman Catholic Church in the 11th century played a role in persecuting LGBT groups from the 12th century onwards (see Council of London in 1102). This has continued when Pope Benedict XVI condemned the contents of the Equality Act 2010. [4] This was responded to by the British transgender community with his state visit in the same year being opposed by transgender women like Adèle Anderson.

During the Early Medieval period, whilst gender roles were strictly defined, some people such as John/Eleanor Rykener prove that gender non-conformity was present in Britain. At the time, the term hermaphrodite or less frequently androgyny was used to refer to transgender, non-binary and queer peoples during the medieval Early Modern English period. Medieval Welsh and French literature such as the Mabinogion mentions the story of Gilfaethwy and Gwydion, and Le Roman de Silence which also contain Transgender themes, but often perpetuate the idea of gender conformity and only returning to one's sex assignment at birth.

During the Elizabethan and Stuart era, roles for transgender people were limited, but were reflected somewhat in genderfluid roles in theatre. This became suppressed during the rise of Oliver Cromwell, but returned with the Glorious Revolution (see the Arts section). From the 18th century on, greater number of male identifying transgender people, such as Charles Hamilton began to be identified as 'female husbands'. [5] This neologist phrase was penned by Henry Fielding for his 1746 play 'Female Husband'. [6] Increased awareness and language about the condition eventually led to the term 'Transgender' and Gender Dysphoria being coined in the 20th century, with continued activism leading to greater visibility and public awareness of issues faced by the Trans community in the present day.

In October 2023, it was reported that hate crimes against transgender people in England and Wales had risen 11%, which represented 4,732 offences in the last year. [7]

Labels

Many outdated labels include transvestite (1910 by Magnus Hirschfeld), transsexual (1949) and hermaphrodite. New terminology only began to be introduced into the English language with the emergence of more visible transgender activism in the early 20th century, with terminology initially being adopted in from Germany by gay and transgender writers like Edward Carpenter and Thomas Baty from the work of Karl Ulrich's Uranian theories, and the term transgender coined in 1965, [8] shortened to 'trans' in 1996. Other terms such as androgyne were first used in English in 1552. [9]

In the arts

A Grand Dame Pantomime3.jpg
A Grand Dame

Perhaps deriving from the patriarchal nature of its society, British theatre has often played with notions of sexuality and gender. Early examples such as the portrayals found in 17th-century plays like William Shakespeare's Cymbeline (1611) in the character of Imogen, and Thomas Randolph's Amyntas (1630), portray supernatural and comic tropes and show how gender and sex was seen and understood as fluctuating ideas. [10] Other literary traditions such as science fiction also enabled British writers to engage and ask questions regarding the role of gender and class (such as The Blazing World ) merged in British culture and contemporary society, as well as female-to-male crossdressers were frequently portrayed as heroines in English literature. Later throughout the 17th until the 20th centuries further theatrical roles such as the Restoration Rake, later Macaroni, Grand Dame (found in Pantomime) and the "drag artists performing in camp and shipboard theatricals ... during the Great War" explored and gave acceptable boundaries for queer people living in a cis-heteronormative environment. [11]

A Busy Day

Crossdressing in silent films began when Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel took the tradition of female impersonation in the English music halls when they went to North America in 1910. In the early 20th century, writers (most famously Virginia Woolf) began to engage with new ideas of sexuality and gender identity. In 21st-century retellings, reworking and reappraisal in queer theory of old folklore and mythology such as Tam Lin and Hervor, plays such as As You Like It and works of science fiction have also been popular as an emerging form of trans literature. [12]

Timeline of transgender events

Weston in transition Mary Edith Louise Weston 1936b.jpg
Weston in transition

Non-binary

David Bowie on Top of the Pops in 1974 David Bowie - TopPop 1974 10.png
David Bowie on Top of the Pops in 1974

Non-binary people as a group have long existed in the UK, however recorded instance of Non-binary people are scarce due to misconceptions and conflation around gender and sex, and erasure in the written record over time. Non-binary people still suffer from the lingering effects of transphobia and lingering effects of systematic racism under British colonisation.

Cross-dressing is noted to have occurred in British society from the 14th century on. In 1394, John/Eleanor Rykener a prostitute working mainly in London (near Cheapside), but also active in Oxford, was arrested for cross-dressing and interrogated. In 1685, Arabella Hunt divorced her 'husband' Amy Poulter on the grounds that their marriage as two women is not recognised under the law, however initially complaining that Poulter was a hermaphrodite. In 1732, 'Princess Seraphina' (noted as the first drag queen in England) charged Tom Gordon with stealing his crossdresser clothing. [27] In 1812, surgeon James Miranda Barry was found to be biologically female on examination at death and the infamous Boulton and Park case in 1870 took place under heightened Victorian societal legal and moral pressure on transgender peoples, both being acquitted in 1871.

In the early 20th century, gender nonconforming or third gender ideas begin to become widespread and accepted between the 1920–1940s. In the 1960s and 1970s, designers like Michael Fish began to promote androgynous fashion, which were made popular by musicians such as Mick Jagger, David Bowie and Freddie Mercury. As the 1980s progressed, the acceptability of gendered clothing began to break down (such as Annie Lennox) and by the 21st century the gender spectrum had begun to become mainstream in fashion with unisex clothing becoming popular.

Timeline of non-binary events

Intersex

Aphrodite Urania Griepenkerl, Venus Urania.jpg
Aphrodite Urania

Intersex peoples have a long history in Britain, with early history particularly in Wales, often falling under the Greek notion of androgyny derived from Ancient Greek and Roman ideals inherently found in the creation myths such as Aphrodite. An early English colonial subject of the American colonies to challenge binary gender roles was Thomas(ine) Hall, a servant who, in the 1620s, alternately dressed in both men's and women's clothing. Hall is likely to have been intersex as they were ordered by the Virginia court to wear both men's breeches and a woman's apron and cap simultaneously by John Pott. However other examples such as Mary Henly, a female-assigned individual in Massachusetts, was charged with illegally wearing men's clothing in 1692, as her wearing an opposing gender marker was "seeming to confound the course of nature." [36]

During the Victorian era, medical authors introduced the terms "true hermaphrodite" for an individual who has both ovarian and testicular tissue, verified under a microscope, "male pseudo-hermaphrodite" for a person with testicular tissue, but either female or ambiguous sexual anatomy, and "female pseudo-hermaphrodite" for a person with ovarian tissue, but either male or ambiguous sexual anatomy. In 1915 The terms 'intersex' for the individual and 'intersexuality' for the phenomenon were coined in the German language by endocrinologist Richard Goldschmidt after studies on gypsy moths. One year later, Goldschmidt used the term to describe pseudohermaphroditism in humans, and in 1932 in Germany, the first intersex surgery to female is carried out. Surgeries in the UK for intersex people were undertaken at Charing Cross Hospital at this time. With the introduction of new writing on the topic, the topic of Intersex peoples began to introduced into the academic circles in the UK in the 1940s to 1960s when a more prevailing notion of tolerance began to take root.

Timeline of intersex events

Mappa Mundi Depiction Hermaphrodite-Hereford.jpg
Mappa Mundi Depiction

British trans people

See also

Related Research Articles

The word cisgender describes a person whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth, i.e., someone who is not transgender. The prefix cis- is Latin and means on this side of. The term cisgender was coined in 1994 and entered into dictionaries starting in 2015 as a result of changes in social discourse about gender. The term has been and continues to be controversial and subject to critique.

Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the individual's gender identity. Gender expression typically reflects a person's gender identity, but this is not always the case. While a person may express behaviors, attitudes, and appearances consistent with a particular gender role, such expression may not necessarily reflect their gender identity. The term gender identity was coined by psychiatry professor Robert J. Stoller in 1964 and popularized by the controversial psychologist John Money.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to transgender topics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trans man</span> Man assigned female at birth

A trans man is a man who was assigned female at birth. Trans men have a male gender identity, and many trans men choose to undergo surgical or hormonal transition, or both, to alter their appearance in a way that aligns with their gender identity or alleviates gender dysphoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transgender rights in Iran</span>

Transgender rights in Iran are limited, with a narrow degree of official recognition of transgender identities by the government, but with trans individuals facing very high levels of discrimination, from the law, the state, and from the wider society.

American-Canadian sexologist Ray Blanchard proposed a psychological typology of gender dysphoria, transsexualism, and fetishistic transvestism in a series of academic papers through the 1980s and 1990s. Building on the work of earlier researchers, including his colleague Kurt Freund, Blanchard categorized trans women into two groups: homosexual transsexuals who are attracted exclusively to men and are feminine in both behavior and appearance; and autogynephilic transsexuals who experience sexual arousal at the idea of having a female body (autogynephilia). Blanchard and his supporters argue that the typology explains differences between the two groups in childhood gender nonconformity, sexual orientation, history of sexual fetishism, and age of transition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transgender sexuality</span> Sexuality of transgender people

Sexuality in transgender individuals encompasses all the issues of sexuality of other groups, including establishing a sexual identity, learning to deal with one's sexual needs, and finding a partner, but may be complicated by issues of gender dysphoria, side effects of surgery, physiological and emotional effects of hormone replacement therapy, psychological aspects of expressing sexuality after medical transition, or social aspects of expressing their gender.

In the context of gender, passing is when someone is perceived as a gender they identify as or are attempting to be seen as, rather than their biological sex. Historically, this was common among women who served in occupations where women were prohibited, such as in combat roles in the military. For transgender people, it is when the person is perceived as cisgender instead of the sex they were assigned at birth. The person may, for example, be a transgender man who is perceived as a cisgender man.

The relationship between transgender people and religion varies widely around the world. Religions range from condemning any gender variance to honoring transgender people as religious leaders. Views within a single religion can vary considerably, as can views between different faiths.

Mak Nyah, alternatively spelled maknyah, is a Malay vernacular term for trans women in Malaysia. It arose in the late 1980s in order to distinguish trans women from other minorities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transgender</span> Gender identity other than sex assigned at birth

A transgender person is someone whose gender identity differs from that typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. Some transgender people who desire medical assistance to transition from one sex to another identify as transsexual. Transgender, often shortened as trans, is also an umbrella term; in addition to including people whose gender identity is the opposite of their assigned sex, it may also include people who are non-binary or genderqueer. Other definitions of transgender also include people who belong to a third gender, or else conceptualize transgender people as a third gender. The term may also include cross-dressers or drag kings and drag queens in some contexts. The term transgender does not have a universally accepted definition, including among researchers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transsexual</span> People experiencing a gender identity inconsistent with their assigned sex

Transsexual people experience a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desire to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance to help them align their body with their identified sex or gender.

Androgyny is the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics. Androgyny may be expressed with regard to biological sex, gender identity, or gender expression.

Gender systems are the social structures that establish the number of genders and their associated gender roles in every society. A gender role is "everything that a person says and does to indicate to others or to the self the degree that one is either male, female, or androgynous. This includes but is not limited to sexual and erotic arousal and response." Gender identity is one's own personal experience with gender role and the persistence of one's individuality as male, female, or androgynous, especially in self-awareness and behavior. A gender binary is one example of a gender system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of LGBT topics</span> Overview of and topical guide to LGBT topics

The following outline offers an overview and guide to LGBT topics.

Accounts of transgender people have been identified going back to ancient times in cultures worldwide. The modern terms and meanings of "transgender", "gender", "gender identity", and "gender role" only emerged in the 1950s and 1960s. As a result, opinions vary on how to categorize historical accounts of gender-variant people and identities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legal recognition of non-binary gender</span>

Multiple countries legally recognize non-binary or third gender classifications. These classifications are typically based on a person's gender identity. In some countries, such classifications may only be available to intersex people, born with sex characteristics that "do not fit the typical definitions for male or female bodies."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intersex people and military service</span> Minority in military service

Military service of intersex people varies greatly by country. Some armed forces such as the Australian fully embrace intersex people in modern-day while others have vague rules or policies or treat the subject on a case by case basis, such as the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intersex people in the United States military</span>

The regulations regarding the service of intersex people in the United States Armed Forces are vague and inconsistent due to the broad nature of humans with intersex conditions. The United States Armed Forces as a whole does not officially ban intersex people from service but does exclude many based on the form of their status. Policies regarding all intersex people are not addressed formally although depending on the type of sex variation some intersex people are allowed to serve. The United States military and their requirements for service makes it so they are frequently in a unique predicament when it comes to intersex bodies. With their position of needing to discern between male and female bodies, they are exposed to a broad variety of people, such as those who are intersex whose bodies may not match either classification and are more difficult to make decisions on. This ambiguity leads to confusion regarding military medical, behavioral, and legal laws.

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