This TED Talk features actor and LGBTQ plus advocate Sammy Noor Eunice, recorded live at TED Residency 2018.

Why are transgender people suddenly everywhere?

As a trans activist, I get this question a lot.

Keep in mind, less than 1% of American adults openly identify as trans. According to a recent Glad survey, about 16% of non-trans Americans claim to know a trans person in real life. So for the other 84%, this may seem like a new topic, but trans people are not new.

Gender variance is older than you think, and trans people are part of that legacy.

From Central Africa to South America to the Pacific Islands and beyond,

there have been populations who recognize multiple genders, and they go way back.

The Hizra of India and Pakistan, for example,

have been cited as far back as 2,000 years ago in the Kama Sutra.

Indigenous American nations each have their own terms,

but most share the umbrella term two-spirit.

They saw gender-variant people as shamans and healers in their communities,

and it wasn't until the spread of colonialism that they were taught to think otherwise. Now, in researching trans history, we look for both trans people

and trans practices. Take, for example, the women who presented as men so they could fight in the

U.S. Civil War. After the war, most resumed their lives as women,

but some, like Albert Cashier,

continued to live as men.

Albert was eventually confined to an asylum

and forced to wear a dress for the rest of his life.

Around 1895, a group of self-described androgines formed the Circle Hermaphroditis.

Their mission was to unite for defense against the world's bitter persecution,

and in doing that, they became one of the earliest trans-support groups.

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