True Sex

“A fascinating, humanizing look into the lives of trans men at the turn of the 20th century.” —Library Journal

In 1883, Frank Dubois gained national attention for his life in Waupun, Wisconsin. There he was known as a hard-working man, married to a young woman named Gertrude Fuller. What drew national attention to his seemingly unremarkable life was that he was revealed to be anatomically female. Dubois fit so well within the small community that the townspeople only discovered his “true sex” when his former husband and their two children arrived in the town searching in desperation for their departed wife and mother.

In True Sex, Emily Skidmore uncovers the stories of eighteen trans men who lived in the United States between 1876 and 1936. Their stories are surprising and moving, challenging much of what we think we know about queer history. By tracing the narratives surrounding the moments of “discovery” in these communities, this book challenges the assumption that the full story of modern American sexuality is told by cosmopolitan radicals. Rather, True Sex reveals complex narratives concerning rural geography and community, persecution and tolerance, and how these factors intersect with the history of race, identity and sexuality in America.

“Skidmore . . . provides well-drawn and sympathetic profiles of the compelling trans men considered   . . . offers a critical assessment of the press of the day and how it helped foster a new morality . . . and . . . engages in an ongoing critique of . . . LGBT scholarship.”—New York Journal of Books

“This brilliantly written and meticulously researched book should be part of all university gender curriculums.”—The Washington Book Review