“Before We Were Trans” with Kit Heyam

Queer Lit

Kit Heyam’s amazing history of gender nonconformity across the globe is a dazzling journey into the intricacies of trans history and if it’s not your favourite book already, it will be after listening to this episode. Learn why Kit particularly enjoyed writing about Edo Japan, what they discovered about intersex history and who their favourite person to write about was. We also have a discussion about how biological sex has always been a difficult thing to define and, drumroll, Kit even tells me what their next book will be about…
Grab your earphones, start listening, and follow @kitheyamwriter and @queerlitpodcast on Instagram to learn more.

References:
Kit Heyam’s Before We Were Trans (2022)
Kit Heyam’s The Reputation of Edward II, 1305-1697 (2020)
Igbo
Edo Japan
Shunga
Wakashū
Sexology
Thomas/Thomasine Hall
Roberta Cowell
Meg-John Barker
Princess Seraphina
Blake Gutt
Iphis and Ianthe
Harlan Weaver’s Bad Dog: Pit Bull Politics and Multispecies Justice (2011)
Mo Moulton
Hijra
Jessica Hinchy
Jules Gill-Peterson
@kitheyamwriter
Sara Taylor’s The Lauras
Ada Palmer’s Terra Ignota
The Iliad

Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:

1. What is Kit’s view of trans history? How do they feel about labels?
2. We speak about how gender expression and sexuality may intersect (although of course they are separate for some people). What does Kit see as a challenge here? Is your gender connected to your sexuality?
3. One of Kit’s favourite chapters is about biological sex. How would you define biological sex? How has it been defined historically in the examples Kit provides?
4. What does trans family mean to you?
5. Kit briefly speaks about the agency of children. Why is that an important topic in queer and trans studies and lives?