Loren Rex Cameron, a trans man whose seminal book of portraits and self-portraits of trans male bodies resonated deeply with many, died November 18, 2022 in Berkeley.
LGBTQ communities have a long, diverse history that's often erased in mainstream education. Social media is an easy entry point for filling in some of those information gaps.
Since launching in 2016, the Digital Transgender Archive has functioned as an international collaboration among more than sixty colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations, public libraries, and private collections. Gathering a wide range of trans-related materials, including photos, magazines, newspaper clippings, and newsletters, the website opens up new possibilities for those who research trans history and those who seek to educate on the topic. The wealth of archival materials it contains shows the root of evolving identities, language, and perceptions tied to current concepts of being transgender. The DTA shows trans history and culture as it was, the small but vibrant pockets of brave people who defied social norms. Often these narratives have been intentionally hidden from mainstream society or ignored by the public at large, but access to this archive opens a door to seeing how communities and individuals reacted to the world around them.
A film that centers on a transgender person or storyline enters the culture like any other movie. The difference lies in the discourse around it. A pervasive disregard for the realities of trans experience beyond the screen is evident in how criticism of such films is written, in how moviegoers view them, and even in how they’re made. Trans bodies have long been depicted in cinema in the most salacious and deviant contexts, and this has been met without much protest from the mainstream society that absorbs those images. Trans people in movies are written and talked about as if they were abstract concepts, anomalies. For years, it’s been clear that very little attention is being paid (by filmmakers, critics, or marketers) to the ways in which a trans audience might see and react to these attempts at putting their lives in front of the camera, and the cisgender majority continues to control the conversation. But a robust dialogue about these films has existed for decades within the