Chair in Transgender Studies

featureDonate featureArchives featureMailing list

2026 Art Award

Applications for the Chair in Transgender Studies inaugural Art Award are NOW OPEN!

2026 Art Award

Vancouver Island Trans Resources

Check out our new and improved Vancouver Island Trans Resource list.

Vancouver Island Trans Resources

Nachos Night

Next Nachos Night — Thursday, April 23rd, 2026 4:00 -6:00PM at the Grad House Restaurant!

Nachos Night

2026 Scholarships & Fellowships

Applications for this year's Scholarships & Fellowships now open! Deadline: April 30, 2026.

2026 Scholarships & Fellowships

Chair in Transgender Studies

Territory acknowledgement


We acknowledge and respect the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Songhees and Xʷsepsəm/Esquimalt) Peoples on whose territory the university stands, and the Lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.

Our Vision


A world where Trans+ and all gender-diverse people can thrive free from the limitations of gender and intersecting oppressions.

Our Mission


Provide inspiration and hope to Trans+ people and our allies everywhere. Contribute to the development and dissemination of accurate knowledge about Trans+ people. Help to build strong and resilient Trans+ social and cultural communities.

Our Commitment


We are committed to applying an intersectional lens in our work to advance reconciliation, racial justice, equity, and inclusion for all.

Our work is fostering research and scholarship in Transgender Studies

  • Encouraging both existing and new scholars to pursue careers in Transgender Studies and building local, national and international linkages with others working in Transgender Studies
  • Hosting visiting academic and community scholars
  • Proactive community outreach and knowledge mobilization
  • Teaching and mentoring related to the area of Transgender Studies
  • Assisting faculty to integrate Transgender Studies content into their courses
  • Subject matter expert of the Transgender Archives
  • Fundraising in support of the Chair in Transgender Studies and the Transgender Archives

 

Research

Academic and community-based scholars visit with us throughout the year. Many of them have come to make use of the Transgender Archives.

Read more

Moving Trans History Forward

Community activists, researchers, educators, artists, service providers, and allies come together to create a better future.

Read more

Public events

The Chair in Transgender Studies holds a variety of public events, including guest speakers, social and arts events, and honorary degrees!

Read more

Video message

A donation by the Tawani Foundation, founded and led by Lieutenant Colonel Jennifer N. Pritzker, US Army (Retired), supports the inaugural chair in UVic’s Faculty of Social Sciences for five years.

Read more

Introduction Videos

See more videos from the Introduction videos playlist on YouTube.

Moving Trans History Forward 2025

See more videos from the Moving Trans History Forward 2025 playlist on YouTube.

Transgender Archives

"Word of Mouth" Panel
Website: https://www.uvic.ca/research/transchair/what-we-do/events/speakers/index.php Word of Mouth exhibit: https://exhibits.library.uvic.ca/spotlight/trans-activists DONATE https://extrweb.uvic.ca/donate-online/transchair "Word of Mouth" Launch LIVE panel discussing the question: “When did you first discover you were not alone?” Friday, October 7th, 2022 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM Pacific Online on Zoom While some of us are lucky enough to take the existence of today’s Trans+ communities for granted, this is a relatively recent experience. It was not so long ago that sharing any kind of Trans+ related information was difficult, dangerous, and almost universally illegal. Join Aaron Devor, Chair in Transgender Studies, in conversation with six Trans+ activist elders and leaders. This live panel discussion is in recognition of the launch of a digital exhibit about Trans+ oral histories, Word of Mouth. Word of Mouth is an oral history digital exhibit that tells some of the story about how Trans+ communities and networks developed in North America in the latter half of the twentieth century. The interviews are a part of The Trans Activism Oral History Project, an initiative of the LGBTQ Oral History Digital Collaboratory. The full oral histories are housed at the Transgender Archives and are available through the Word of Mouth digital exhibit. The 17 Trans+ activist who were interviewed only represent a small slice of Trans+ history. This online panel conversation will bring together additional stories, so that future generations can learn from a more diverse group of Trans+ activists and experiences. Marsha Botzer has served the LGBTQIA+ and progressive communities for over 45 years. She has served on boards of Pride Foundation, Safe Schools, Lambert House, Seattle Counseling Service, and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. She currently serves on the Martin Luther King County Labor Council Executive Board and is a founding member and current Commissioner of the Washington State LGBTQIA+ Commission. Jules Gill-Peterson is an associate professor of History at Johns Hopkins University. She is the author of Histories of the Transgender Child (2018) and a General Co-Editor of TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly. Her next book, A Short History of Trans Misogyny, will be published by Verso. David Harrison is an actor, playwright and musician. His eclectic career includes being a professional psychic, hypnotherapist and dominatrix. He has primarily created and toured original work - including "FTM" (1994) based on his first year of transition. The show toured internationally over 9 years. His ongoing project at the moment, is stage and web series alter-ego, 60s rock star Reggie Wingnutz. Recent work includes his recurring guest star appearance as Russian spymaster, Ivan Stepanov (opposite James Spader) in Season 8 of NBC's The Blacklist. Andrea Jenkins made history in 2017 as the first African American openly trans woman to be elected to office in the United States. Now serving as Council President, she is also a writer, performance artist, poet and transgender activist. Jenkins moved to Minnesota to attend the University of Minnesota in 1979. She worked as a Vocational Counselor for Hennepin County government for a decade. Jenkins worked as a staff member on the Minneapolis City Council for 12 years before beginning work as curator of the Transgender Oral History Project at the University of Minnesota's Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies. Nicki Ward's decades-long advocacy includes environmental issues and extends substantially into the areas of LGBTQ, Disability Human Rights and Community. In addition to private sector board experience, Nicki has also served on volunteer boards of public sector, charitable and institutional organisations. While raising a family here, she served as a consultant in science and technology sectors before accepting a long term assignment in senior management with a major financial services company. Chase Willier is a nehiyaw (Cree) Two Spirit transman who was adopted out as part of the 60’s Scoop and grew up in Syilx territory. He joined the RCMP as the second indigenous woman in BC in 1979. He was out as lesbian and later identified as Two Spirit/Trans before he retired in 2010 although he didn’t transition until retirement. After over 25 years of service, he finally took some time out to address his PTSD which is something he writes about in The Remedy. He is passionate about health and wellness and as such is involved in numerous projects in the Two Spirit/Trans community. His work in Vancouver also extended into areas of safety, justice and reconciliation specific to indigenous peoples whether urban or local First Nations.
43 Hours in 7 Minutes: Trans Activism Oral History Project
Highlights from the Trans Activism Oral History Project Digital Exhibit: https://exhibits.library.uvic.ca/spotlight/trans-activists Chair in Transgender Studies: https://www.uvic.ca/research/transchair/index.php Transgender Archives: https://www.uvic.ca/transgenderarchives/index.php "Word of Mouth" tells some of the story about how these communities and networks developed in North America in the latter half of the twentieth century. It is a project of the Chair in Transgender Studies. The Trans Activism Oral History Project is a project of the LGBTQ Oral History Digital Collaboratory, founded in 2014 by historian Elspeth Brown and funded by the Social Science & Humanities Research Council of Canada. In order to establish and preserve Trans-specific and Trans-positive primary source historical narratives for future generations, the Trans Activism Oral History Project recorded elders’ oral histories of activism on behalf of Trans+ people and communities. The collection consists of 17 video and audio interviews, collected 2019-2020, with elders who were leading Trans+ activists and allies from across North America. In total, the recordings are 43 hours in length. In 2020, the oral histories were donated to the Transgender Archives at the University of Victoria Libraries and The ArQuives: Canada’s LGBTQ2+ Archives. Aaron Devor, the Chair in Transgender Studies at the University of Victoria, is the project lead for Word of Mouth.

See more videos from the Transgender Archive Videos playlist on YouTube.

Years in Review

See more videos from the Years in Review playlist on YouTube.

Moving Trans History Forward 2023

See more videos from the Moving Trans History Forward 2023 playlist on YouTube.

Martine Rothblatt - Hon. Degree Recipient

Dr. Martine Rothblatt - Convocation Ceremony
CHAIR IN TRANSGENDER STUDIES: https://www.uvic.ca/research/transchair/index.php TRANSGENDER ARCHIVES: https://www.uvic.ca/transgenderarchives/ DONATE: https://extrweb.uvic.ca/donate-online/transchair Martine Rothblatt, Honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) November 13, 2019 | 10:00 a.m. Martine Rothblatt, PhD, MBA, JD, is a technologist, entrepreneur, lawyer and author, and a leader in communications, aerospace, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and bioethics. As an entrepreneur, Rothblatt launched the navigation system GeoStar and the broadcasting company that became SiriusXM. After coming out as transgender she founded the biotech company United Therapeutics (UTHR), to develop a drug for lung disease that ended up saving her own daughter’s life—and those of thousands of others. Projects in development include creating transplantable organs using a 3D-printer and a person’s own cells. She was included in Forbes Magazine’s “100 Greatest Business Minds.” Rothblatt also supports transhumanism and experiments with robotic and artificial intelligence. Her Terasem Movement Foundation helps people upload records of their lives to computers to prepare for “mind clones” in the future. As part of this exciting work, her team created an intelligent, lifelike robot called Bina48.
Dr. Martine Rothblatt - Fireside Chat
CHAIR IN TRANSGENDER STUDIES: https://www.uvic.ca/research/transchair/index.php TRANSGENDER ARCHIVES: https://www.uvic.ca/transgenderarchives/ DONATE: https://extrweb.uvic.ca/donate-online/transchair DR. MARTINE ROTHBLATT UVic Honorary Degree Recipient Nominated by the Chair in Transgender Studies In 2017, Forbes Magazine named Dr. Martine Rothblatt as one of the “100 Greatest Living Business Minds of the past 100 years.” On Wed., Nov. 13th, 2019, Martine Rothblatt will be receiving an Honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) degree from the University of Victoria (watch the live webcast). On the following evening, Thurs., Nov. 14th, 7:30 PM, Martine Rothblatt will join Aaron Devor, Chair in Transgender Studies, for a "Fireside Chat" about her remarkable life and accomplishments. Martine Rothblatt, PhD, MBA, JD, is a technologist, entrepreneur, lawyer and author, and a leader in communications, aerospace, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and bioethics. As an entrepreneur, Rothblatt launched the navigation system GeoStar and the broadcasting company that became SiriusXM. After coming out as transgender she founded the biotech company United Therapeutics (UTHR), to develop a drug for lung disease that ended up saving her own daughter’s life—and those of thousands of others. Projects in development include creating transplantable organs using a 3D-printer and a person’s own cells. She was included in Forbes Magazine’s “100 Greatest Business Minds.” Rothblatt also supports transhumanism and experiments with robotic and artificial intelligence. Her Terasem Movement Foundation helps people upload records of their lives to computers to prepare for “mind clones” in the future. As part of this exciting work, her team created an intelligent, lifelike robot called Bina48.

See more videos from the Martine Rothblatt - Honorary Degree Recipient playlist on YouTube.

Scholars & Fellows

Elio Colavito: "Another Like Me: Female-to-Male Trans Information Activism & Community Formation"
DONATE 🇨🇦 https://extrweb.uvic.ca/donate-online/transchair 🇺🇸 https://extrweb.uvic.ca/donation-forms/united-states Chair in Transgender Studies: https://www.uvic.ca/research/transchair/index.php Transgender Archives: https://www.uvic.ca/transgenderarchives/index.php Moving Trans History Forward: https://www.uvic.ca/mthf ELIO COLAVITO Another Like Me: Female-to-Male Trans Information Activism & Community Formation in Canada & the US, 1970-2000. Monday, September 8, 2025 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM PDT Cornett, A317 & Online In the university gender clinic era of accessibility to affirming trans medicine, professionals believed the ratio of trans women to trans men to be anywhere between 8:1 to 2.5:1. When information and support groups emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s, they were run by and catered to the needs of trans women. In this lecture I explore the development of distinctly female-to-male support networks, born out of the need for more accessible and relevant information for trans men, and their influence on female-to-male identity, community, and subcultural formations. Elio Colavito (he/they) is a white trans interdisciplinary scholar and PhD candidate in the Department of History with a collaborative specialization in Sexual Diversity Studies at the University of Toronto. He is a public historian, oral historian, and digital humanist whose passion is making a usable past accessible to trans communities.

See more videos from the Scholars & Fellows playlist on YouTube.

Speakers

Karina Villaluna: "Enabling Access:Factors Influencing NP-Delivered Gender-Affirming Care in BC"
DONATE 🇨🇦 https://extrweb.uvic.ca/donate-online/transchair 🇺🇸 https://extrweb.uvic.ca/donation-forms/united-states Chair in Transgender Studies: https://www.uvic.ca/research/transchair/index.php Transgender Archives: https://www.uvic.ca/transgenderarchives/index.php Moving Trans History Forward: https://www.uvic.ca/mthf KARINA VILLALUNA Enabling Access: Factors Influencing NP-Delivered Gender-Affirming Care in BC. Wednesday, March 11, 2026 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM PDT on Zoom The aim of this presentation is to share the results of the cross-sectional study titled NP-BRIDGE. The study was conducted to understand the facilitators and barriers to providing gender-affirming care as experienced by nurse practitioners (NPs) in British Columbia (BC). Karina Villaluna (she/her) is a Fraser Health-based Family Nurse Practitioner and University of Victoria alumna. She provides comprehensive longitudinal primary care for patients of all ages with a specialized focus in the provision of gender-affirming healthcare. Karina is passionate about providing compassionate, continuous, and inclusive care that is as scientifically grounded as it is deeply personal.
Kimberley Manning: "Good Parenting: What Parent Advocates of Trans KidsCan Teach the Rest of Us"
DONATE 🇨🇦 https://extrweb.uvic.ca/donate-online/transchair 🇺🇸 https://extrweb.uvic.ca/donation-forms/united-states Chair in Transgender Studies: https://www.uvic.ca/research/transchair/index.php Transgender Archives: https://www.uvic.ca/transgenderarchives/index.php Moving Trans History Forward: https://www.uvic.ca/mthf KIMBERLEY MANNING Good Parenting: What Parent Advocates of Trans KidsCan Teach the Rest of Us. Tuesday, November 25, 2025 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM PDT David Strong, C126, & Online While much of the literature on the relationship between gender-diverse children and their parents focuses on the role caretakers play in their child’s development, fewer studies explore how parents themselves are changed by their experiences. Addressing this gap, we explored how advocacy for gender-diverse children reshapes the lives of affirming parents, fostering deeper kinship bonds and a broader understanding of human diversity and struggle. Drawing on preliminary analysis of interviews with 62 affirming parents across Canada, we contrast the views of the parental rights movement, which seeks to control young people’s gender nonconformity, with that of affirming parents who view parenting as about relationships. We affirm the well-documented finding that parental support improves the mental health of gender-diverse youth, but also shows how affirming parents themselves experience personal growth through their advocacy. We suggest that affirming a transgender child can reflect the complexity and perspective change that characterizes a psychologically rich life, offering an alternative framework for gender-creative parenting shaped by openness, transformation and an ethic of care.. Kimberley Manning’s research focuses on gender and politics in the People’s Republic of China and Canada, with a particular interest in the advocacy of Canadian parents of transgender children and youth. Analyzing the relationship between gender and political institutions through the lens of family ties, Kimberley has previously published in the Canadian Journal of Political Science, Feminist Media Studies, Gender and History, and the China Quarterly, and is most recently the author of The Party Family: Revolutionary Attachments and the Gendered Origins of State Power in China (Cornell University Press, 2023). Professor of Political Science and Women’s Studies at Concordia University, Kimberley’s recent research, writing, and teaching explores how feminist leadership practices can contribute to the creation of more equitable institutions.
Elio Colavito: "Another Like Me: Female-to-Male Trans Information Activism & Community Formation"
DONATE 🇨🇦 https://extrweb.uvic.ca/donate-online/transchair 🇺🇸 https://extrweb.uvic.ca/donation-forms/united-states Chair in Transgender Studies: https://www.uvic.ca/research/transchair/index.php Transgender Archives: https://www.uvic.ca/transgenderarchives/index.php Moving Trans History Forward: https://www.uvic.ca/mthf ELIO COLAVITO Another Like Me: Female-to-Male Trans Information Activism & Community Formation in Canada & the US, 1970-2000. Monday, September 8, 2025 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM PDT Cornett, A317 & Online In the university gender clinic era of accessibility to affirming trans medicine, professionals believed the ratio of trans women to trans men to be anywhere between 8:1 to 2.5:1. When information and support groups emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s, they were run by and catered to the needs of trans women. In this lecture I explore the development of distinctly female-to-male support networks, born out of the need for more accessible and relevant information for trans men, and their influence on female-to-male identity, community, and subcultural formations. Elio Colavito (he/they) is a white trans interdisciplinary scholar and PhD candidate in the Department of History with a collaborative specialization in Sexual Diversity Studies at the University of Toronto. He is a public historian, oral historian, and digital humanist whose passion is making a usable past accessible to trans communities.

See more videos from the Speakers playlist on YouTube.

Chair in Transgender Studies

See more videos from the Chair in Transgender Studies playlist on YouTube.