Saturday Magazine

15 Sep 2024

Saturday 14th, September 2024: Birgit Lang and Katie Sutton, TransTrans, Transnational Networks of Trans people, Exhibition

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Janet and Macca talk to Birgit Lang (Prof. University of Melbourne) and Katie Sutton, (Associate Professoer, Australian National University) TransTrans explores transnational networks of trans people who shaped early gender-diverse histories between the 1900s and the 1960s, showing in the Pride Gallery from September 19 – November 3 2024.

Trans will be launched at the Victorian Pride Centre on Thursday 19th September at 6:30pm. It takes a look at the transatlantic collaboration that was part of the evolution of trans affirming health care today and encompasses the period from 1900-1960 and covers major activity in Berlin in the 20s and San Francisco in the 1950s. Hence the name trans trans.

The rise of Nazism in the 1930s in Germany killed off the early evolution of trans health care including hormone treatment and surgery as described in the book and film “The Danish Girl. The exhibition was conceived in Canada and has been exhibited there and in Europe. The version to be shown here has local content added.

The exhibition delves into the interactions among German and European, North American, and Australian trans communities, as well as their collaboration with scientific researchers on gender diversity. These researchers include those associated with institutions such as Magnus Hirschfeld’s Institute for Sexual Science in Berlin, and communities like the queer subcultures of Weimar Germany.

Additionally, it examines photographs from the collection of Carla Erskine, a US-based trans* activist who established an intimate trans support network in 1950s USA.

This exhibition has been previously shown in Calgary, Berlin and Munich. It was originally conceived by Alex Bakker, Rainer Herrn, Michael Thomas Taylor, and Annette F. Timm and has been adapted for Australian audiences by Birgit Lang and Katie Sutton and AQuQ and in consultation and conversation with trans community groups.

Curated by Birgit Lang and Katie Sutton, TransTrans explores transnational networks of trans people who shaped early gender-diverse histories between the 1900s and the 1960s, showing in the Pride Gallery from September 19 – November 3 2024.

This exhibition has been previously shown in Calgary, Berlin and Munich. It was originally conceived by Alex Bakker, Rainer Herrn, Michael Thomas Taylor, and Annette F. Timm and has been adapted for Australian audiences by Birgit Lang and Katie Sutton and AQuQ and in consultation and conversation with trans community groups.