A history of Gender diversity

It's really not a "new thing."

Rich Gender Expression in Indiginous Cultures

A history of Gender diversity

Percentage of People that Identify as Trans/Nonbinary in Canada by Generation

A New Age of Gender Diversity

Gender Diversity found in ancient graves

Evidence of Gender Diverse Burials go back as for as 2500 BCE. Ancient burials are strictly gender coded by position and accompanying goods, Several graves have been found that blend or bend genderd expectations.

Gen Z and Millenials are most likely to identify as Gender Diverse, but we've had Gender Queer folx forever!

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Sistergirl and Brotherboy (Australia)

Sistergirls and Brotherboys (also referred to as Sister-girls and Brother-boys) are​ ​terms used to describe trans and gender diverse people in some Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander communities. ‘Sistergirl’ and ‘Brotherboy’ are sovereign terms coined by the First Nations people of this continent They can have binary or non-binary genders. We have masculine or feminine spirits and we do the cultural roles that align with those spirits (after seeking permission from our Elders which is an important cultural practice).

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North American Two Spirit

The concept of Two-Spirit folks existed well before the arrival of European settlers on Turtle Island. Indigenous individuals who identified as Two-Spirit folks were seen as gifted and honoured in their community because they carried two spirits with them, both male and female.

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Burrnesha (Albania)

First documented in the 1800s but traced back to the 1400s in Northern Albania, burrnesha or “sworn virgins” were women who took a vow of chastity and wore male clothing to be viewed as men in the patriarchal society. The tradition exists to a smaller extent in Kosovo, Serbia, and Montenegro. As of last year, there were a dozen documented sworn virgins left in the Balkans.

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Hijra (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh)

The Hijra are a historic group of peoples originating from India. These people identify not as male or female, but classify themselves as being a part of a third gender. There are other groups in India who are composed of third gender individuals, but the Hijra constitute the most historically important and well-known group.

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Babaylan (Philippines)

The babaylan was a spiritual leader and healer who could be man, woman or both. They held significant societal roles, often serving as intermediaries between the physical and spiritual realms. Additionally, the pre-colonial Tagalog language had gender-neutral pronouns, suggesting a fluidity in understanding gender that extended beyond a strict binary.

Quariwarmi (Peru)

“These quariwarmi (men-women) shamans mediated between the symmetrically dualistic spheres of Andean cosmology and daily life by performing rituals that at times required same-sex erotic practices. Their transvested attire served as a visible sign of a third space that negotiated between the masculine and the feminine, the present and the past, the living and the dead. Their shamanic presence invoked the androgynous creative force often represented in Andean mythology.” (Horswell, 2006)

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Mamluk (Egypt)

During the Mamluk Sultanate in what is now known as Egypt from the 1200s to the 1700s, young girls who we perceived to have masculine traits were celebrated and raised as boys and afforded all of the legal and societal advantages. In the early Mamluk period, the transformation of girls into boys was cause for public celebrations.

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Māhū (Hawaii)

Long before the reign of King Kakuhihewa in the 1500s, four Tahitian healers traveled to Hawaii from their home Moaulanuiakea on the island of Raiatea.The healers were mahu – extraordinary individuals of dual male and female mind, heart and spirit. They were beloved by the people for their gentle ways, and their fame spread as they traveled throughout the islands administering their miraculous cures.

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