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Before Gender

Lost Stories from Trans History, 1850-1950

Author: Eli Erlick

Explore the trailblazing lives of 30 trans people who radically change everything you’ve been told about transgender history

Highlighting influential individuals from 1850–1950 who are all but unknown today, Eli Erlick shares 30 remarkable stories from romance to rebellion and mystery to murder. These narratives chronicle the grit, joy, and survival of trans people long before gender became an everyday term.

Organized into 4 parts paralleling today’s controversies over gender identity (kids, activists, workers, and athletes), Before Gender introduces figures whose forgotten stories transform the discussion:

Mark and David Ferrow, 2 of the first trans teens to access gender-affirming medical treatment following overwhelming support from their friends, family, and neighbors
Gerda von Zobeltitz, a trans countess who instigated an LGBTQ+ riot 40 years before Stonewall
Frank Williams, a young trans man who was fired from over a dozen jobs for his gender
Frances Anderson, the world’s greatest female billiards player of the 1910s

Bold and visionary, Erlick’s debut uncovers these lost stories from the depths of the archives to narrate trans lives in a way that has never been attempted before.