Transgender Archives

We acknowledge and respect the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples on whose traditional territory the university stands and the Songhees, Esquimalt and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.

The Transgender Archives at the University of Victoria is committed to the preservation of the history of pioneering activists, community leaders, and researchers who have contributed to the betterment of Trans+ and other gender-diverse people.

Since 2007, we have been actively acquiring documents, rare publications, and memorabilia of persons and organizations associated with activism by and for Trans+ people.

We began with the generous donation of the Rikki Swin Institute collection. The Transgender Archives have been enhanced by other significant donations including the personal papers of Reed Erickson, the entire University of Ulster Trans-Gender Archive collection, and the records of Zenith Foundation of Vancouver Canada, among many others.

Our records span over 160 meters or 530 linear feet (1.5 football fields long), go back over 120 years, and are in 15 languages from 23 countries on six continents. Our collections comprise the largest trans archives in the world. We are accessible to everyone, free of charge.

Celebrating 10 Years!

The Transgender Archives is celebrating our first TEN YEARS! We officially launched in late Fall 2011 at a joint gathering of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, the Southern Comfort Conference, and the U.S. Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, all meeting at the Emory Conference Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

Since then, our team at the Chair in Transgender Studies and UVic Libraries have been honoured to be able to assist students, community and academic researchers, and members of the general public to find out more about the history of Trans+ people.

This upcoming year will be a year of celebration! It will be a year of looking back, and a year of looking forward, and we want you to be a part of it. Over the upcoming year, you will see special 10 Year Anniversary content from us!

Word of Mouth

Word of Mouth is a digital exhibit showcasing the Trans Activism Oral History collection. It tells some of the story about how Trans+ communities and networks developed in North America throughout the latter half of the twentieth century.

Trans Activism Oral History

The Trans Activism Oral History collection is a project of the LGBTQ History Digital Collaboratory. The collection consists of video and audio interviews, collected 2019-2020, with Trans+ activist elders and allies from across North America.

FTM Newsletter

The FTM Newsletter was created by Lou Sullivan and first published in 1987. It became the most widely circulated & highly respected publication exploring transmasculine experiences. All 67 issues are now available online.

Transvestia

Transvestia was the first widely distributed magazine focused on the cross-dressing community. All 111 issues (1960-1986) are now digitized and available online!

EEF

Starting in 1964, the Erickson Educational Foundation (EEF), a philanthropic organization funded by Reed Erickson, published newsletters, pamphlets, and books.

Transgender Scrapbooks

From 1971-1982, 13 scrapbooks were compiled from newspaper & magazine clippings published in the UK. The content relates to gender & sexual identity and are organized in thought-provoking, and sometimes humorous, ways.

Tapestry Magazine

Founded by Merissa Sherrill Lynn, Transgender Tapestry is a magazine published from 1979-2008 by the Tiffany Club and then the Intl. Foundation for Gender Education (IFGE). While we hold all physical copies, the Digital Transgender Archive has all issues available online.

TransArchives @ DTA

We at the Transgender Archives thank our partners at the Digital Transgender Archive (DTA) for digitizing nearly 800 of our physical items and for making them available online. View our items on the DTA website.

Digital Transgender Archive

The Digital Transgender Archive provides a centralized hub for trans-related historical materials, including born-digital materials, and materials contributed by independent projects.

More to come!

Additional digital collections will be added in the future. There's more to come! Get alerted by signing-up to our newsletter, and by following us on social media.

Read our free book

Lammy award

In The Transgender Archives: Foundations for the Future you can read about some of the history of trans activism and research, learn about how the Transgender Archives got started, and see a few highlights from our collections.