Friends in Unlikely Places: A history of Trans Allyship: (Trans Men Edition)

 Friends in Unlikely Places: A history of Trans Allyship: (Trans Men Edition)

It is an unfortunate assumption that throughout most of trans history, that trans people have been utterly alone in the universe, save for the lucky few who were able to find other trans people at the time they were alive. But it’s completely false that absolutely no cis people were supportive towards historical trans people in their time. Historical trans people and their cis contemporaries are a lot more interconnected than is currently thought and the under-discussed aspects of trans allyship are absolutely present in the records that we have. 

The focus here will be on trans people who intended to go stealth, but had one or two people who were aware of their trans status and were supportive of their transness. Other focuses will be on historical trans figures who drew support while people knew of their status. As many names of these allies will be mentioned as possible, though it is not possible to record them all due to historical obscuration.

Mary Howe (abt. 1716-1766) [1] was the devoted cis woman partner of London trans man James Howe (1716-1780), who had started to present as male when he was 16 in about 1732. He had been living as a man for 30 years before he was outed to the public, which happened after the death of Mary in 1766. Mary is said to have not desired sexually, or wanted children and was aware of Jame’s assigned gender at birth, since the couple went to great lengths to ensure that their lives were lived privately and prevented anyone from getting too close by never entertaining guests at their house. Her marriage to James was rather content and the couple lived a happy life together running the highly successful White Horse Tavern in the East End by 1745. Mary Howe’s allyship to James Howe, knowing of his trans status and adjusting her life around it to protect him is no easy task, which marks her out as a cis contemporary trans ally to James Howe [2]. In Female Husbands (2020) Manion writes about the impact Mary’s loss had on James: 

“Howe’s beloved wife Mary of thirty-two years died, leaving Howe alone, despondent, and without another person intimately implicated in the secret of their past” [2]. 

Mary was, by all accounts, very willingly implicated in the secret of James’ assigned gender at birth and for that, she is an incredibly dedicated example of a trans ally from history. 

The White Horse Tavern on Poplar High Street (1930s)- it was later demolished in the 21st century.

Adam Bruce was the cis father of Stockholm trans man Andreas Bruce (1808–1885), who is known for being the first ever Swedish trans memoir writer. From a young age, Adam would let his son play with his cis brothers and the other boys, wear men’s clothes and do things in public that were considered appropriate for a man to do. Adam sent Andreas to a physician when he was 16 after attempting to run away to live as a man. Andreas told the physician that “If I cannot live in trousers, then I cannot live at all”. This prompted Anders Johan Hagströmer, a cis physician, to declare Andreas to have an intersex condition in order to protect Andreas with a medical ‘justification’ for his maleness. Unfortunately, the press outed Andreas and his family only reconciled with him again after he agreed to live a quiet private life in Gotland in 1829, having sworn to a priest to restore the family name. He worked for Jacob Dubbe, a cis ship owner and in his spare time worked with cis men in the local militia, all of whom knew his assigned gender at birth, but it was either not spoken of or inconsequential. Between 1859 and 1881 he wrote letters to his cis daughter Carolina, which formed much of his memoir. Carolina also likely knew of his trans status [3]. Adam Bruce was a major factor in enabling Andreas to transition and live as a man and for that, he has a place in trans ally history. 

Edna Ruddick Hart (-1982) a cis woman married trans man Alan L. Hart (1890-1962)  in 1925. Alan was the first trans man to undergo transition in the United States in 1917, when he was 27 years old. He married Edna, his second wife, after he had been publicly outed (in 1918), the fallout of which caused his first marriage to collapse. Alan’s outing was quite public and so Edna entered into her marriage with him with the full knowledge that he was a trans man. The pair lived in many places across the United States, moving every so often due to harassment and scandal following Alan, living in Illinois, Washington, Pennsylvania and Connecticut [4]. Once Alan graduated from Yale, they settled in Connecticut in 1948, where Edna was able to become a professor at the University of Hartford. After Alan’s passing, his ashes were scattered over a place both he and Edna enjoyed sitting. Edna supported Alan during aspects of his transition, such as after the Second World War, when synthesised testosterone became available and he was able to start a hormonal transition. Edna has a place in trans ally history for her undying love and support for Alan as he transitioned. And all of the allies mentioned in this short essay have helped create trans history, for supporting the trans people in their lives.

Sources:

1. “Stepney,” The Environs of London, Vol 2 Part 2 County of Middlesex, 2nd edition (London, 1811)- Essex, England. Select Church of England Parish Registers, 1518–1960

2. Manion, J. (2020) Female Husbands: A Trans History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781108652834. 

3. Inger Littberger Caisou-Rousseau: Therese Andreas Bruce : en sällsam historia från 1800-talet. Levnadsberättelse (2013)

4. Edna Ruddick Hart Correspondence with Walter Marcus, (1970-1972), Archives West, Lewis & Clark College Special Collections and Archives, Oregon