We Have Always Existed
Transgender History
To my trans siblings,
There’s a lot of noise out there about us, and most of it isn’t true.
You and I, and our fellow trans siblings know that. Even the quislings among us do. But when they control the narrative, they can say whatever they want about us.
They can use mainstream media to tell everybody that being transgender is a crazy modern thing made up by the woke mob all they want, but that’s not going to make it true.
My trans sibling, you and I are the culmination of a rich, glorious transgender tradition, in the Mediterranean and Near East at least, that spans more than ten thousand years.
We’re older than Rome, older than Greece, older than ancient Egypt, older than Persia and Babylon.
We’re older than Islam, older than Christianity, older than Judaism.
We predate the fundamental building blocks of Western civilization.
Before any of it, we were here.
If you’re new to transgender history, this might come as a surprise, and that’s a shame.
You and I, and all our trans siblings, deserve to know about our shared, beautiful transgender history.
But nobody has been telling these ancient stories in an organized, accessible way.
At least, not until now.
Welcome. I’m Sophie Edwards, a transgender woman and the host of We Have Always Existed.
We Have Always Existed is a video essay series that explores the wealth of transgender history and mythology in the ancient Mediterranean and Near East.
These are stories cisgender researchers have either briefly glossed over or ignored entirely.
In We Have Always Existed, you’ll discover:
Historical Transgender Individuals
We have a number of stories about individual people in the ancient world whose stories can be read as transgender. But the sources we have on them are often problematic.
In some cases, we have to question whether or not what we’re told is true. In others, we’re sometimes brought to question whether they even existed at all. In still others, we find evidence that shows they were unambiguously transgender.
Below, you’ll find more about the various stories of transgender individuals in history.
From emperors to saints to lovers of kings, their stories have made their way to us, and now we get to explore them.
The Enarees
We’ll explore the Enarees, the priestesses of the Scythian culture of the Black Sea and further east.
These were assigned male at birth, but who dressed as women, spoke like women, and played a woman’s role in society.
What’s more, they may have figured out an early form of HRT, 2500 years ago.
We’ll find out everything we can about them, including literary and archaeological evidence. We’ll even explore one of their graves, and the goods we’ve pulled from it.
Transgender Archaeology
When it comes to exploring the evidence for transgender people in the past, we’ve got more than just the historical record to explore. Archaeological evidence can reveal a lot to us as well.
Archaeological evidence refers to the physical things left behind by the peoples of the past. From megaliths like the Colosseum to the coins people held in their pockets and much more, these things can help us understand a great deal about those who came before us.
Sometimes, we can even use archaeological evidence to confirm the existence of transgender people. In some cases, this is a result of the graves we’ve discovered. In others, it’s related to statues. But regardless, when we interpret these and other items, we can interpret them in a way that reveals the transgender stories beneath.
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The Gallae
The Gallae were a religious order in the Roman state, devoted to a goddess who goes by many names: Ops, Rhea, Berecyntia, Dindymene, Mater Magna, and many more. Today, she’s best known as Kybele.
The Gallae originated in Anatolia, modern day Turkey. They were assigned male at birth, but dressed as women, wore makeup, and castrated themselves, all in the service of their goddess.
Together, we’ll explore the Gallae. We’ll work to understand their lives, their rituals, how the Roman world viewed and treated them, and much more.
Even further, we’ll take a look at a legal ruling that recognized them as a third gender.
Transgender Mythology
Strictly speaking, mythology isn’t history. However, the myths created and told by ancient peoples can tell us a lot about how they viewed the world, and themselves.
Ancient peoples used mythology to make sense of the world around them. The more destructive elements of nature were a result of the gods’ ire, but so were the more beneficial. Mythological stories are full of the supernatural, but in particular the Greeks and Romans loved transformation stories. We find people transformed into all manner of animals, plants, inanimate objects, and for our purposes today, into a different gender.
What can these stories of gender transformation tell us about the people who told them?
Transgender Figures in Early Christianity
Many transgender people today view Christians, as a whole, as our enemies. This is as unfortunate as it is understandable. After all, many anti-trans movements are spearheaded by people who claim to do what they’re doing in the name of Christ. But it wasn’t always that way.
Not only can we find examples of gender nonconformity in the early Christian church, there are plenty of lines of scripture that support our existence.
Furthermore, there are quite a few saints, and other important Christian figures we know of who are easily read as transmasculine.
Trans Men in History
Stories about trans men, or transmasculine individuals in history.
Transgender History
All the stories of transgender history released thus far.
Trans Women in History
Stories about trans women, or transfeminine individuals in history.
What’s more, you’ll get a better understanding of your place in the human story, which goes back even further than we have history to read.
It might not change what’s happening today, and it might not change the minds of any committed transphobes who don’t seem to care about living in reality. But I hope you’ll walk away from this series feeling empowered.
My trans sibling, you and I are so much more than what the forces of hatred want you to be.
You’re beautiful. You’re wonderful. And you’re more powerful than you realize.
Join us, won’t you?