Before Gender: Lost Stories from Trans History, 1850-1950
Beacon, 2025
Agent: Jill Marr
An expansive exploration of the exciting lives of 30 trans people from 1850-1950 that radically changes everything you’ve been told about transgender history
Focusing on 30 influential individuals who are all but unknown today, activist, writer, and educator Eli Erlick highlights how trans people of the past were much more vibrant, creative, and respected than in the popular imagination. These remarkable stories range from romance to rebellion and mystery to murder, all exploring the grit, joy, and survival of trans people before the word gender entered our vocabulary. Together, each narrative provides new insights into the self-determination of transgender figures that will change the world for trans people today.
Organized in 4 parts, each section corresponds to today’s controversies over gender identity:
- Kids features 7 stories of young trans people, including brothers Mark and David Ferrow, who became two of the first children to access transgender medical treatment following overwhelming support from their friends, family, and neighbors.
- Activists follows 9 influential individuals, like Sally-Tom, a trans woman recently freed from slavery, who won the first known government approval for a legal change of sex, and Gerda von Zobeltitz, a trans countess who instigated a forgotten LGBTQ+ riot 40 years before Stonewall.
- Workers tracks the lives of 7 figures like snake charmer Elise Marks and florist John Berger, who were forced to hide their trans status to find employment, love, and safety.
- Athletes highlights 5 competitors, including the world’s greatest female billiards player of the 1910s, trans woman Francis Anderson.
Bold and visionary, Erlick’s debut lifts these stories from the depths of the archives to narrate trans lives in a way that has never been attempted before.
Accolades:
“I’ve been researching transgender history for a long time, and many of these stories are new to me. What an eye-opening read, crisply written, on such a timely topic.” —Susan Stryker, author of Transgender History: The Roots of Today’s Revolution
“With this tour de force history of thirty trans people from 1850 to 1950, Eli Erlick shows us a whole new side to trans narratives that both informs and entertains.” —Riki Wilchins, author of Queer Theory/Gender Theory
“We are so lucky to have a gifted storyteller unearth these lost tales of our trans and nonbinary forebears, and weave them all together into this heartwarming, uplifting book. Before Gender shows that history can be both entertaining and impactful while addressing the most pressing issues for trans people today.” —Kate Bornstein, author of Gender Outlaw
“Not only have trans people always existed; we have always sought ways to live fuller and more authentic lives. Before Gender chronicles trans people from 1850 to 1950 growing up, working, falling in love, getting in trouble, playing sports, and building community as we’ve always done and always will do.”
—Maia Kobabe, author of Gender Queer
'Before Gender is at once a vital weapon in the fight against the denial of trans history and a heart-stopping collection of human stories. I'm thrilled to know the people in its pages and I already know they will stay with me.'--Kit Heyam, author of Before We Were Trans
Reviews:
“'Transgender people are nothing new,' according to this brilliant survey of 'forgotten' trans lives. Historian Erlick makes a persuasive case that the anxiety surrounding trans identities today has not always been present in popular culture—that trans people have 'existed... everywhere from the largest cities to the most remote villages' and been generally accepted by their communities. It’s an essential and eye-opening paradigm shift." Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Trans readers will find powerful validation within Before Gender, and all readers will learn history that helps them make sense of our current moment. As Erlick quotes activist José Rizal in the afterword: 'Know history, know self. No history, no self.' Before Gender is a powerful antidote to hatred and an affirmation of trans lives." BookPage (starred review)
“Erlick powerfully—and compellingly—argues that it’s not the existence of transgender people that’s new; what’s new is the anxiety around them.”--Library Journal
"This riveting, compassionate collection of life stories uses a process of transgender historiography to introduce new biographical information and to analyze the ways the stories of trans people were written in the past. The historical biographies collected in Before Gender show that, while society’s language about gender has changed, trans people have always been part of communities around the world—and that it’s crucial to get to know their stories."--Foreword Reviews