A number of noted individuals are or were transgendered.

Transgender, for the purposes of this article, is an umbrella term that can include transsexuals, transvestic fetishists, cross-dressers, intersexuals, drag queens, drag kings and others.

Please note that these people have been selected for this list because their fame or notoriety was in some way due or connected to their being transgender.

Table of contents
1 Living Individuals
2 20th and 21st Century Individuals
3 Earlier Historical or Mythological Individuals
4 Books:

Living Individuals

  • Terre Thaemlitz, musician
  • Kamikawa Aya, Tokyo municipal official (first transgendered person to seek elected office in Japan)
  • Georgina Beyer, New Zealand's (and the world's) first transsexual mayor (1995) and member of parliament (2002)
  • Kate Bornstein, transsexual author, playwright, performance artist and gender theorist
  • Sara Davis Buechner, née David Buechner, concert pianist
  • Lady Bunny, drag performer
  • Wendy Carlos, American transsexual composer and electronic musician
  • The Lady Chablis, drag queen
  • Caroline Cossey, AKA Tula, British transsexual model, author, and Bond girl
  • Candy Darling, part of Andy Warhol's Factory and subject of the Velvet Underground song "Candy Says"
  • Michelle Dumaresq, transsexual professional mountain bicyclist
  • Jackie Enx, transsexual drummer for the heavy metal band Rhino Bucket
  • Leslie Feinberg, transgender activist and author
  • Dana International, transsexual Israeli pop singer
  • Eddie Izzard, a comedian who cross-dresses and calls himself an "executive transvestite"
  • Jennifer Jane Leitham, transsexual jazz bassist
  • Hedda Lettuce, drag performer
  • Shirley Q Liquor, drag queen
  • Jan Morris, transsexual author
  • Grayson Perry, artist whose work sometimes features his female alter ego, Claire. Winner of the 2003 Turner Prize for art.
  • Dr. Renee Richards, transsexual, professional tennis player
  • RuPaul, AKA RuPaul Andre Charles, American drag queen
  • Jason Saffer, AKA Jolene Sugarbaker, drag performer and comedian
  • Melissa Sklarz, the first openly transgender public official in New York State, Democratic county judicial delegate in Manhattan
  • Sandy Stone, transgender activist and author
  • Margaret Stumpp, transsexual co-manager of Quantitative Management department at Prudential Financial Inc
  • Pussy Tourette, drag performer and singer

20th and 21st Century Individuals

Earlier Historical or Mythological Individuals

It is often difficult to construe the gender and sexual identity of pre-modern individuals. In many societies, those whom Western society might consider homosexual or bisexual are or were considered transgendered. Therefore, see also List of famous gay, lesbian, or bisexual people.

  • Alfhild, beautiful maiden in Norse mythology who dressed as a man to avoid marrying King Alf
  • Chevalier d'Eon
  • Christina of Sweden
  • Hatshepsut, female Pharaoh of Egypt who wore male clothing and even a false beard
  • Pope Joan, who according to legend was a cross-dressing woman elected Catholic pope (named Pope John VIII) whose tenure was placed between Leo IV (847-855) and Benedict III (855-858), and who died or was murdered in childbirth during a papal procession. There is no evidence for her existence.
  • Joan of Arc, tried and executed also for cross-dressing
  • James Barry, surgeon who masqueraded as a man throughout her life in order to be able to practice medicine
  • Pope Paul II, Catholic pope known to have worn women's clothes and was nicknamed "Our Lady of Pity"
  • Hannah Snell, 18th century woman who used a male uniform and fought alongside British marines
  • Tiresias, soothsayer to Oedipus from Greek mythology changed into a woman and back in an unrelated tale

Books:

  • Feinberg, Leslie (1996). Transgender Warriors: Making History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman. Boston: Beacon Press. ISBN 0-8070-7941-3
  • Garber, Marjorie (1992). Vested Interests: Cross-Dressing & Cultural Anxiety. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-90072-7
  • Wheelwright, Julie (1989). Amazons and Military Maids: Women Who Dressed As Men in Pursuit of Life, Liberty and Happiness. London: Pandora Books. ISBN 0-04-440494-8

See also:
List of famous gay, lesbian or bisexual people

External Links

Remembering Our Dead