I taught this class 4 times in 2019-2020. You can download the handout from the google drive under Class Handouts, or you can read my notes here. This class/discussion was largely based off notes that Baron Samson from the Midrealm (now Northshield?) graciously shared. Please ask me if you have questions!
Beyond the Binary: Trans Experience in History and the SCA
Marcello Fornarius
This class will provide an overview of some historical examples of people who don’t fit in a binary gender classification as well as information about common courtesies for modern Trans* folk in the SCA.
Start with: Caveat about terminology and we can’t know what historical people thought or felt, and some of these are more gender binary bending than necessarily trans. Puritan tradition, Victorians….
Aside: British Colonies and homophobia:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/11/asia/british-empire-lgbt-rights-section-377-intl/index.html http://theconversation.com/how-britains-colonial-legacy-still-affects-lgbt-politics-around-the-world-95799
Part I: Historical Examples: (most from previous handout)
1460 BCE Hatshepsut
450 BCE Torah has 6 genders
400 BCE Hijra community
203 CE Elagabalus
567 Saint Anastasia
Norse mythology/shield maidens: http://freya.theladyofthelabyrinth.com/?page_id=211
https://www.publicmedievalist.com/queer-asgard/
[Joan of Arc?]
1322 Kalonymus (poem from appendix)
1354 Rolandino Roncaglia
1365 Cristine de Pizan
1395 John Rykener (Eleanor)
1580s-1663 Nzinga, King of Ndongo (Angola) fought off Portugese slave traders. Wore male regalia and insisted her husbands wore feminine garb.
https://www.theroot.com/rebel-week-the-women-who-freed-a-thousand-slaves-1841580702
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-spirit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersex (includes factoid about güevedoces in Domincan Republic)
Part II: Basic Trans Ally for modern SCAdians
Trans umbrella / NB things / terminology
NEVER DEADNAME ANYONE
Don’t randomly out trans friends or family without permission. ALWAYS Ask first
1) just cause we’re trans doesn;t mean we’re going to be friends,
2) for some people that’s super dangerous
Pronouns and Forms of address
Sex vs Gender (identity vs expression vs attraction)
Medical questions (don’t ask)
links
https://www.publicmedievalist.com/gsma-toc/
MidRealm notes/references: http://samiitiger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Trans-101-Outline-Known-World-2.2019.pdf
References
Dall'Orto, Giovanni. n.d. ROLANDO RONCAGLIA PROCESSING. Accessed July 30, 2017.
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=http://archive.is/MLkon&prev=search.
n.d. Definition of cis. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cis.
n.d. Elagabalus. Accessed January 31, 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elagabalus.
Greenberg, Rabbi Steven, ed. n.d. Even Bochan, Kalonymus ben Kalonymus. Accessed June 22, 2018.
https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/115323.2?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en.
Khaleeli, Homa. 2014. Hijra: India's third gender claims its place in law . April 16. Accessed January 31,
2019. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/apr/16/india-third-gender-claims-place-inlaw.
Medwed, Robbie. 2015. More Than Just Male and Female: The Six Genders in Classical Judaism. June 1.
Accessed June 24, 2018. http://www.sojourngsd.org/blog/sixgenders.
Mijatovic, Alexis. n.d. "A Brief Biography of Elagabalus: the transgender ruler of Rome." OutHistory.
Accessed June 4, 2018. http://outhistory.org/exhibits/show/tgi-bios/elagabalus.
Murayeva, Marianna G, and Raisa Maria Toivo, . 2013. Gender in Late Medieval and Early Modern
Europe. New York, New York: Routledge.
Nambiar, Sridevi. 2017. A Brief History Of Hijra, India’s Third Gender. January 1. Accessed June 4, 2018.
https://theculturetrip.com/asia/india/articles/a-brief-history-of-hijra-indias-third-gender/.
1998. "The Questioning of John Rykener, A Male Cross-Dressing Prostitute, 1395." Internet Medieval
Source Book. May. Accessed July 30, 2017.
http://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1395rykener.asp.
Wilson, Elizabeth B. 2006. The Queen Who Would Be King. September. Accessed February 1, 2019.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-queen-who-would-be-king-130328511/.