Trans People throughout history

By Paul and Simon

Throughout history transgender and third gender individuals have been prevalent and accepted in a large amount of history, whether for ceremonial/traditional purposes to people literally seeking out gender affirming care or simply socially transitioning all are present in the historical record.

Disclaimer: there are very secondary sources for this. Any source we use is at most a tertiary source (might not be a real term). A lot of primary sources were translated centuries ago and words have changed meaning since then, also some languages (like sumerian) don't use gendered pronouns and gender is conveyed in other ways, also a lot of context is missing (just google sumerian dog + bar joke and see what comes up).

Part One: Mesopotamia and ancient history. In ancient Mesopotamia (at least during the sumerian period) gender was a concept very similar to our own concept of gender back in the 50's, with the exception of one thing. Some religious and governmental roles either may have been considered part of a third gender or definitely were not traditionally male or female.

For example the cult of Ishtar (also known as Inanna), who later migrated to Greece and became Aphrodite, was the goddess of war, sexuality, fertility, love, and being the queen of heaven, she was uniquely associated with transgender identities and multiple members of her following and priesthood held third-gender identities, such as the Gala, which were musicians who sang for Ishtar, it was a group that may have been made up of those who were assigned male and female at birth, however all sang in a dialect reserved for women imitating the goddesses, in addition to this a poem made for Ishtar has the following quote in reference to her (referred to as Inanna) “to turn a man into a woman is and a woman into a man is yours Inanna.” there are also myths were someone referred to with a female adjective is described as being transformed by Ishtar by the goddess handing them a spear “as if they were a man” and renaming them, they are then referred to with the epithet of “transformed”. There are also possible third gendered individuals in the historical record for example a statue of someone who appears androgynous or possibly born female but has a male name (this statue was also dedicated to Inanna). And also “Silimabzuta of Inanna” who is described as a hermaphrodite (in translation over a century ago) but may be better literally described by other people as Person-Man-Woman. See source for more information on all topics. Also, in the myth of Enki and Ninmah, Nimah makes people she sees as broken or flawed and her husband Enki gives them a good life, one of these is a person with quote “neither penis or vagina” this intersex person may have held a third gender role but we don't know as the translation is unclear.

Part Two: Elagabalus. Elagabalus (who will be referred to with they/them pronouns) was a roman emperor who took power in 218 CE but was assassinated after four years, their one claim to fame was that they might be transgender or nonbinary. Born male, Elagabalus expressed an unusual amount of attraction to men, for context Roman (and Greek) men were supposed to be attracted to men and would regularly have romantic and sexual relationships with men and women, Elagabalus (at least from what we’ve heard) would only have relationships with men and in fact married a man and would call themselves his wife, he later, when meeting a man who he hoped to add to his collection of lovers, would request to be referred to as a woman, wore jewelry and makeup (which was not the norm for men) and requested the invention of bottom surgery so he could receive it.

Part Three: indigenous societies and third genders. Before the advent of colonization, many societies had genders other than male or female which held ceremonial or traditional roles (like in mesopotamia). While they might not identify as nonbinary, trans or genderqueer in the “traditional” sense they are an important reminder of the prevalence of gender nonconformity in society.

Hijras are a third gender present in hinduism, they are made up of people who are born male or are intersex and receive religious education as they are seen as religious figures. Their existence has resulted in protections for nonbinary people in portions of southeast asia.

Muxes are a group in Mexico of people who are born males but typically have a female gender identity, often holding a traditionally female role in the household. They originate in indigenous Zapotec culture.

Bakla is a word originating in the Philippines to describe born males who present a feminine identity, many are LGBTQ+ and traditionally served as leaders in the community even though this faces opposition due to the effects of colonization.

Two-Spirit is a term used to describe people in Native American communities who traditionally are thought to hold both a male and female spirit in them, they are seen as having a unique perspective and were traditionally leaders, they were actively suppressed during colonization. Two-Spirit is a blanket term and does not belong to a specific tribe or group.

South Sulawesi third genders, in Indonesia the island of South Sulawesi has multiple traditional third genders (it is not a literal term). There are the Calabai, who are born male but occupy a traditionally feminine role, The Calalai are the opposite, they are born female but occupy a role similar to that of traditional male roles. And finally there are the Bissu, which are seen as both male and female, they perform religious ceremonies and are seen as religious leaders.

The Sekrata are a third gender that originates in the Sakalava people of Madagascar, they are born male but present female and hold a third position within society. They are seen as sacred.