trans history
nonfiction about transgender history
created by Jake99
last updated March, 2026
Comments
Iâm wondering if thereâs a book on pre-WW2 Berlin? Perhaps in translation? The city had a trans clinic, the only one in the world. I learned about it in Milo Toddâs The Lilac People. So I did a search and found this: The Forgotten History of the Worldâs First Trans Clinic Great little list, btw!
Jake99OP
I did a little dive into my library (please note that I haven't read these yet but I did consult my copies) and the closest ones in English I can currently offer you are as follows:
- Queer Identities and Politics in Germany: A History, 1880â1945 by Clayton J. Whisnant: correct country and correct time period, but general queer history without a specific focus on trans issues (there's at least some content on Hirschfeld though)
- The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports by Michael Waters: correct time period and focus on trans issues, but not specific to Germany/Berlin (except for the 1936 Olympic games)
- The Intermediaries: A Weimar Story by Brandy Schillace: correct country, time period and focus on trans people, specifically on Magnus Hirschfeld's Institute of Sexology, BUT it is fiction (apparently written by a historian, but nonetheless fiction)
Thank you so much for taking the time to find these, Jake! I find great historical fiction tries to be as accurate as possible with respect to the underlying history, and only shifts a few things to suit the plot and protagonists. It looks like this book is one of those. Libby has a copy of The Intermediaries, so thatâs great! Will see if my public library has the nonfiction.
Jake99OP
Of course!! I hope they work for you!! đ I wanted to add one more book here because it's exactly on topic, but unfortunately it's not translated:
- Der Liebe und dem Leid: Das Institut fĂźr Sexualwissenschaft 1919-1933 by Rainer Herrn: German language nonfiction about Magnus Hirschfeld's Institute of Sexology
Thanks, again!
Jake99OP
Amazing news, I was in a bookstore today and they had the perfect thing and I immediately thought of you!
Berlin's Third Sex by Magnus Hirschfeld, published in English by the University of Toronto Press in May 2025!
So cool! Going to check this out. Maybe my public library has a physical copy. (I would hope so, itâs the Toronto PL). I can always make a request to purchase.
Jake99OP
Oh yay so you're basically in the right place! I hope they have it or can get it for you!! đ
cracks knuckles
TBR list is going to get longer.
Jake99OP
Mine too, I found some new ones through making this list đ
nice, do you have any tips on where to start? I realize I havenât read any of these yet
Jake99OP
I will take a risk now and be super honest here, I haven't read any of them yet either. A bunch of them are currently already on my shelf waiting for my attention, but I struggle immensely with reading nonfiction, especially right now. That said, I'd just start with any one that speaks to you based on the title/description and/or is easiest for you to access. Though I will say that Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender is part of the Justice for All quest, if that's an extra incentive.
appreciating your honesty, and thereâs absolutely nothing bad about sitting down, contemplating your own little library, researching other suitable books, and creating a lovely list for yourself and all of us to dive into the history of trans non-fiction!! (thank you loads loads loads) I really get struggling with non-fiction, especially when I âm not enjoying my reading as much as at other times. that being said, please donât stress yourself about reading non-fiction, itâs downright amazing that youâre still reading despite struggling as is! (and I find taking breaks just as admirable, actually, as whatâs most important is to look after your needs and not force yourself into a hobby if itâs unenjoyable at the moment) (anyway, Iâm past my bed time and am finding it quite hard to stop yapping right now, as you might be able to tell) and I just might pick whatever speaks to me the most at the moment, then!
Jake99OP
Yeah that was exactly it, I was making a little PB-shelf for myself with all the trans history nonfiction I knew, but it got a bit bigger than anticipated and I thought "I don't think I can keep this just for myself, other people might want this too đ¤đ¤"
One day my brain will have to explain to me how it can read Wikipedia articles for hours, yet it completely checks out if the same topic is presented in book form đ¤ˇââď¸ I wish I could just touch nonfiction books and instantly absorb the knowledge within đ Luckily with fiction I just scraped by a slump by re-embracing my moodreading tendencies đĽš
(But it is the yappsite, the (y)app, precisely for that đ)
Happy picking!! đ¤
yeah, we do want this too, we do! and youâre doing gods work by summarizing all that knowledge into this list đđź
absorbing a nonfiction books knowledge just by touching it? yes please, whereâs that supernatural power when itâs needed the most!! thereâs so many more books and much more knowledge than could ever be absorbed and honestly sometimes itâs fucking me up juuust a tiny bit đ¤đź glad to hear you managed to scrape by a fiction slump!! and your wikipedia reading sessions do sound quite iconic, actually đŻ
the puns are taking me out đ so excited for pagebounds yearly yapp up!! đđđŹ
Jake99OP
Aww noo that's too much, I've just been nerding out a bit đĽšđĽš
My brain would get so biiiiig đ§ But it's really so weird realising how much knowledge there is, and how little we can get to within one life. Makes you feel so small, a bit like thinking about the universe does. đ Would be so interesting to get stats on my Wikipedia usage, like time spent, ampunt read etc. đ
Lol not the yapp up too đđđ¤Łđ¤Ł
ohhh can you imagine?? weâd just be stumbling around all the time, as our heads would get so humongous, theyâd be rolling left and right đ𫣠Wikipedia Wrapped when??? đ
Jake99OP
I'd probably be getting a wheelbarrow for it đ Wikipedia Wrapped now apparently, according to @cybug đ¤đ
okay, wow, Wikipedia Wrapped is wild đŻ really paints a picture, that humongous head / wheelbarrow combination!! :D
My trans history reading is certainly lacking as I think Iâve only read one book, but its not on the list so I thought I would comment and suggest A Short History of Trans Misogyny by Jules Gill-Peterson
Jake99OP
Thank you for the suggestion! I have added the book to the list.
General note, which I'm including here because this is currently the best spot I have to put it: I have weighed for a long time on whether to include this book or not. Ultimately, lists are for the community, so if a community member now requests it to be added and it technically fits the (obvious and inferable) criteria of the list, I feel like should add it, even if I have personal reasons against it. (I know this is now weirdly vague, but I am intentionally not elaborating more because I don't want to replicate a discussion on PB that should be reserved for trans community spaces, or at most the forum of the suggested book, which I have not read and am assessing based on its title, description and reviews alone.)
Thatâs honestly fair! I did enjoy my reading experience of the book and learned a lot from it, but I have also read criticisms of it from trans people, which are, of course, fully valid. Itâs been a hot minute since I have read it, so my memory is not exactly fresh/clear, but I would like to revisit it sometime now that I have more knowledge/nuance of what is discussed in the book. Also, I donât want you to feel pressured to add it to the listâ it was less a request and more of a suggestion. đ
Jake99OP
Thank you! I want to reassure you that I didn't feel pressured at all! I had previously been aware of the book and until now didn't include it for my many reasons, but since you suggested it, I decided to reevaluate if my reasons should take precedence over the community goal of lists. I also didn't want to retroactively specify and add my "mental rules" for this list in the description, since it would outwardly look like I'm changing these "rules" to specifically exclude a suggestion. That's definitely not my goal, and I decided that I will stick to the previously specified nonfiction, trans, history. So it did make sense to add this book, because it's about trans issues and it has a historical focus, which means it's definitely within the defined scope of the list.
Also here to suggest "Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity" by C. Riley Snorton and "Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Riotous Black Girls, Troublesome Women, and Queer Radicals" by Saidiya Hartman
Jake99OP
Thank you for the suggestions! Black in Both Sides is already on the list. Would you mind telling me a bit about Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments? I haven't read the book and from descriptions online I'm unsure how it relates to trans history.
Sorry I missed that you already had "Black on Both Sides"! And I remember hearing buzz specifically about how it included trans histories when it came out, but since I can't find that now I'm going to go ahead and read it and report back, re: "Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments". :)
Jake99OP
No worries at all! đ Ooh interesting! I hadn't heard about the book before, now I'm really looking forward to hearing back from you about your assessment of it! đ¤
Amazing list as always. đââď¸đ I'll have to see where I can find any of these to read them in 2026 đđŤĄ
Jake99OP
Thank you! đ I did my best to mainly focus on more recent works in the hope that they'd be more easily available đĽš
We'll see what I can get to! I'm hoping to read more non-fiction next year and this list will definitely help! :)
Jake99OP
Yayy that's so cool!! I hope you'll manage to find all that interest you!! đ
I hope so! :)
I am currently listening to Before We Were Trans and was literally just thinking I need to find more books about trans history. Then I refreshed my PB feed and this was the first thing I saw. So please get out of my head but also Thank you!!!
Jake99OP
Oops, accidental hive mind, or maybe shared brain cells? đ But I'm glad the list found you right when you were wishing for it! đ¤
what a fantastic list! i am enby and my husband is trans so i definitely will be diving into some of these books. one iâve read is the transgender issue: and argument for justice by shon faye who is a trans woman.
Jake99OP
Thank you for the suggestion! I had been looking into this book but haven't read it, from the description and reviews I was under the impression that it was more focused on trans rights in the UK and not on trans history. Is there a main historical focus?
itâs been so long since i read it so someone else might have an answer but i recall she does explain many of the history. using history to explain current debates. history that is tied to real world impacts. she had SO many links to a lot of historical stuff that i learnt. history of our trans rights. thatâs what i recall but i could be wrong!
Jake99OP
No worries and thank you for elaborating! Since I haven't read it myself and it's been a while for you, I'll hold off on adding it for the time being, at least until someone (else) might be able to weigh in of if the historical aspect is the main and and most integral component of the book. I hope this works for you, too; and history nonwithstanding it's a great rec, so it's cool that it can now be found here in the comments for anyone who's interested in learning more! đ
that makes sense of course! i will reread it actually and report back to you!
Jake99OP
Naww that's so kind! But please don't feel forced to do that if you didn't mean to reread it, whether at all or any time soon!
