This site is the most comprehensive on the web devoted to trans history and biography. Well over 1400 persons worthy of note, both famous and obscure, are discussed in detail, and many more are mentioned in passing.

There is a detailed Index arranged by vocation, doctor, activist group etc. There is also a Place Index arranged by City etc. This is still evolving.

In addition to this most articles have one or more labels at the bottom. Click one to go to similar persons. There is a full list of labels at the bottom of the right-hand sidebar. There is also a search box at the top left. Enjoy exploring!

Comments on this Encyclopedia

I have to continue to plug Zagria's blog: A Gender Variance Who's Who. She continues to come up with truly fascinating and moving portraits of trans and gender variant people from the last couple of centuries. She makes a great effort to reference her sources and the short biographies are incredible—stories which are at the same time heroic, devilish, sexy, chaste and incredibly resourceful ... every one of which would make for an amazing film. - GinaSF

I have unquestionably learned more about trans history from Zagria's A Gender Variance Who's Who than any other blog I've come across.  This site, coupled with Gender Variance in the Arts, is a wealth of information, starting with the incredibly comprehensive index of not just who, but also the what, where and when of transgender, transsexual, and general gender variant history and present.  In addition to that, the listing of online books and resources is invaluable.  This site is like a free university degree in gender studies, and should be introduced to anyone with an interest in the topic.  Hell, I'll just say it: everyone should follow this blog.- Lorax


I'm a history fanatic and Zagria's documentation of historical transgendered and transsexual women and men is nothing short of amazing! Check it out if you haven't. Crysti's Condo

Brenda Lana Smith R af D said...
The world is fortunate to have trans-journalist Zagria so diligently research and archive trans folk history... long may she continue doing so...

For those who are fighting to have society recognize trans identity as legitimate, as something other than a mental illness or a deception, it provides a historical parallax against which this modern argument can be measured. - Dr. Jillian T. Weiss 

Take a look at A Gender Variance Who's Who.  I guarantee it won't be a short visit! - Calie - T-central

This blog rocks! Seriously, these posts can keep me feeling fine on days when all is dark. Always fascinating, always heartbreaking. – S.

Caroline said...Sometimes I swear you are making some of these up then I remember fact is always far more interesting than fiction!


Zagria has produced probably the best historical documentary / who's who of the TG world as it existed around the time of Stonewall. It's a 5 star read. - Jim Beaux


The best TG facts blog around. - MegaBitch


Over the weekend I discovered a fantastic resource - Zagria’s Gender Variant Biographies Blog. What remarkable work!. – Helen Boyd


very interesting blog you have – Queers United


I congratulate Zagria for her research and highly recommend that you visit her blog. I found the biographies fascinating especially those that were new to me. -- Staci/Lana (Femulate)


Just a quick note to thank you for your Gender Variant Biography site - I came across it from a trackback to my own blog (thank you for the link!) - and today I have found it to be a very helpful resource in writing a post for The F-Word (where I am a regular blogger) – Helen G (Bird of Paradise)


I am blown away at the breadth of your research.—Gillian


Thank you very much for reviewing my book 'Male Femaling' in such a considered and thoughtful way. Much of what you say I agree with. – Richard Ekins.


If you haven't checked out Gender Variant Biography...get lost for a few hours - Southern Crossdresser

Ja, die Zagria site ken ik wel, als je af en toe googled op bepaalde namen kom je er regelmatig terecht, erg handig naslagwerk.  - Joandelynn

 В "Биографиях пионеров" большие пополнения - за это спасибо хозяйке сайта A Gender Variance Who's Who, обладающей воистину энциклопедическими знаниями. -- Mucho-Dyke.Narod

This essay from “A Gender Variance Who’s Who” about Ray is awesome. I want more information about his time running guns in drag for Pancho Villa. -- Freebeerwhileitlasts


BTW you have one of the best ever jendah blogs going. Big fan!- Gallus Mag






































































Tribunemag.co.uk on Liz Eden:



















Your blog is inconsequential, and of no true value - Tia Mc Guinness, JD, PhD, MBA

A sordid list, messily presented - CaroLines

Je trouve la traduction épuvantable ! Et le manque de respect pour l' identités de Mme. Godbour -- Anonymous



14 comments:

  1. Hallo aus Deutschland Dir und all deinen Lesern! Dein Blog sollte vielen ein Vorbild sein für Arbeit für Minderheiten!
    Keiner wird Dich Loben, jedoch einige sind Aufmerksam und verfolgen diesen Blog!
    Als Autorin und Schriftstellerin in Europa, Danke ich Ihnen für dieses was Sie an Information über alle Grenzen hinaus leisten! So mit großes Kompliment mit freundlichen wie herzlichen Grüßen
    Nikita Noemi Rothenbächer
    Mein Blogspot:Trans-Weib was ist Trans?

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  2. I like your blog. It mentions and discusses people that I never knew existed. It encourages people to be counted among many gender variant people.

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  3. really interesting blog - and you are totally right that my book 'The One-Sex Body on Trial' is overpriced! (unfortunately I don't set the price...!) I've got a pdf of the Preface online at http://oro.open.ac.uk/34265/1/Preface%26Contents.pdf and there's an excellent summary of the argument on http://iris-lcc.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/book-review-blood-on-king.html

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  4. Hi! Came across your blog while assisting a friend researching pre-war gender variant performers for a magazine article and lost hours browsing the biographies and articles you've collected here. There aren't enough spaces carved out in the world yet that are focused on gender issues and I really appreciate the obvious time, attention, and effort you've put in to assembling this one. It's obviously both a labor of self-exploration and what I hope is a continuously growing collection of uniquely presented info about non-binary gender identity in your biographical database. Anyway, though I'm personally cisgender, I *do* live in the world. So throughout my life I've needed access to info about my friends, family, and neighbors with potentially gender variant identities in order to be an informed ally (:gag:). I know that sites like yours help provide me historical, academic, and personal perspective I may not otherwise have access to and I appreciate the time and effort taken to share it. Just wanted to make sure I took at least five seconds to comment a thank you note for all the work you've done here that I enjoyed tonight and bookmarked to return to later. :)

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  5. Very well done! Very impressed with the tenacity it must have taken to put this together. As a trans person, I find this information useful, especially in discussions with other trans people who misunderstand things and those in the discovery state. Thank you :)

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  6. Thank you for your dedication. Know that somewhere, someone, is silently appreciating your efforts.

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  7. Hi Zagria, - you have been doing some wonderful work in keeping all this information together !
    To help keep it up to date Chritine Burns MBE, has just published a ‘Trans History - Our Journey From the Shadows’ in the UK though Unbound Publishers, ISBN 978-1-78352-471-6 (trade hbk) ISBN 978-1-78352-470-9 (ebook)
    I feel that this will fit in well with your collection of information.

    Kind regards
    Dawn
    x

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  8. Good grief, every time I visit your site, I'm stunned by how much effort, diligence, scholarship, and detail you have put into this masterwork of transgender history and knowledge. Don't take this the wrong way, but I certainly hope that you have made some provision for preserving the site should you get hit by a bus or abducted by aliens, or something. Losing this site and the untold work that you've put into it would be an enormous loss to our shared transgender heritage. - Una Nowling, TransasCity

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  9. Jeannie Nelson,

    You commented here, but your comment was almost all about Rachel Harlow. I have moved your comment to the Rachel Harlow page.

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  10. Hey there, this is such a wonderful site, I'm rapt to have found it! And may I suggest that you add Ayesha Kazan to your encyclopedia? Now in her mid 70's, Ayesha, my friend and neighbour, was a showgirl at Les Girls and Capriccio's back in the 60's and 70's, and while she's not on stage anymore she's still entertaining us Kings Cross locals today! Her story is told in a book by Gina Lennox and Frances Rush called, 'People Of The Cross: True Stories from People who Live and Work in Kings Cross', and you can find a couple of old youtube clips of her performing back in the day - she was an absolute bombshell!

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  11. Your blog is an astonishing resource. Please don't ever be bullied into taking it down - by anyone. Please back everything up and ensure there are ways of getting all this material back online, should it be removed without your consent.

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  12. Lynnea Urania Stuart19/4/22 17:21

    I bookmarked this site because of its years of excellence in historical integrity and content. I've looked to it many times when writing on trans issues. Keep up the good work.

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  13. Nora Rodriguez2/1/24 13:57

    Ms. Cowan, I found this site after googling a name in an old trans article I was transcribing and finding he had a page on here.

    I am overwhelmed by the resource you have assembled in documenting trans history. I feel like I have found something I did not know I was even missing from my life. Thank you so much!

    ReplyDelete

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