A Drama Preemption

September 28, 2011 ·

As I said before, I set out doing research into the etiology of the term “transgender’” to satisfy my curiosity about claims made about the term. I’ve therefore focused on the eras which are most consistently discussed: 1970 – 1979, 1980 – 1989 and 1990 – 1999.

However, in satisfying my curiosity by going about this in the way that I have, I realize that I’ve probably inspired more drama than I’ve allayed. Some of the 1990s era documents that I will release will use all sorts of “transgender” derivations.  In the early 1990s, there was a soup of “transgender” terminology being used by everyone from intersex leaders to transsexual leaders and they sometimes used these terms in ways that we do not use them today.

So, before I go into releasing documents associated with the 1990s which use terms like transgenderal, transgenderism, transgenderist, transgendered(s) and transgendering (in ways that we do not now recognize), I want to try to preempt at least some drama by putting the “Prince dun it” mythos to bed. Let me state it here and now that it is a fact that the concept of using a one compound word – combining “trans” and “gender” together into one word – to refer to people who cross cultural gender norms originated in 1914 German sexology writings. There is a huge period between 1914 and 1969 that I will focus on in my research blog after I finish posting on the 1990s.

1914 is the earliest use of the term that I’ve been able to find and even that was used with quotation marks which seems to suggest that the term was used before 1914. Since Prince was an illiterate baby in 1914, I think it’s safe to say that she did not coin the term nor was she the first to invent the concept.

I’m posting this preemption to discourage some who might be tempted to glom onto one document or another and disingenuously claim that it somehow validates their notion of lexiconic victimization by Prince who “coined the term transgender”.

After I post the 1990s documents, I’ll focus on the pre-1970s historical record. Until then, please keep all this in mind while I focus on the 1990s over the next month or so.

  • Do I think Prince had a hand in popularizing the term? Absolutely; I’ve never claimed otherwise.
  • Do I think Prince coined the term or was the first to invent or popularize the concept? No; such assertions are not supported by the historical record and are myths perpetuated by some who seem to like the victim narrative such claims afford them.
  • Do I think that the term can be traced by to one single originator? No; after months of trying, I feel that I’m basically at a dead end because the earliest use seems to be a quote from some uncited source. At this point, I’m thinking that we may never know the identity of the person who actually coined the term or created the conceptual framework of sticking the “trans” concept before the “gender” concept to create a new word for dealing with cultural expressions of gender which are not the stereotypical norm.

As I go forward with unearthing and publishing records relating to the etiology of the word “transgender” as it pertains to the 1990s, you may want to check out an excellent series by Zagria on this topic which begins with Cross-Gender, Transgender, Concepts and Usage, Pt. 1.

cross-posted from Ehipassiko

In category:Cristan Williams
Next Post

Transgender: Homelessness & HIV

I know someone who was kicked out of her family’s home because she was trans. When she was on the streets, she went to the only place she knew would be welcoming to someone like herself: a gay bar. When…
Read
Previous Post

Houston Community College: Trans People Need Not Apply

        Many of you will remember that Houston Community College (HCC) seemed to have attempted to cover up the anti-trans bashing of Lance Reyna, a female-to-male transgender student after he suffered an on-campus attack. On June 22,…
Read
Random Post

Stylebook? What Stylebook?

From the AP Stylebook: "Use the pronoun preferred by the individuals who have acquired the physical characteristics (by hormone therapy, body modification, or surgery) of the opposite sex and present themselves in a way that does not correspond with their…
Read
Random Post

Science and Ideology: The Blanchard-Bailey-Lawrence Model of Transsexuality

By Élise Hendrick (reprinted with permission) Autogynaephiles, Homosexuals, and Fabricators: The Blanchard-Bailey-Lawrence Taxonomy of Trans Women I. A Hypothetical Let us suppose that someone claimed to have found that rape is primarily a function of the sexuality and presentation of…
Read
Random Post

PJI pushes debunked lies to the press. Again.

Ex-gay groups are pounding their high chairs insisting that AB 1266 is not in effect. They claim that merely because they turned in signatures - valid or no - AB 1266, the California law codifying protections for trans children in…
Read
Random Post

Back to Oz

I really do hesitate to even write this post, as the topic is a rehash of one of the ugliest times for GLBT unity I've ever seen. Recently Matt Foreman said the following on the Michelangelo Signorile Show concerning the…
Read

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.