Trans+ History Week: The Trailblazing Figures They Didn’t Teach You About In History Class

From 5th - 11th May 2025, we’re celebrating the second annual  Trans+ History Week . Following a successful launch last year, this incredible Trans+ led community project aims to stop the dangerous idea that trans+ folk are something new, by sharing the rich history of the transgender community from 3,000 - 5,000 BCE to the modern day.

Each year, Trans+ History Week also publishes an  educational workbook containing important (but always forgotten) trans+ history lessons. To mark this year’s event, we’re delving into some of these stories to educate, inspire and empower our readers in the present… So hopefully one day, these trailblazing trans+ figures will get their deserved spot in the curriculum. 

At the beginning of the millennium, celebrated computer scientist and trans woman Lynn Conway created the modern microchip – a feat so successful in itself! To share her story with the world, Conway built a website called ‘Transsexual Women’s Successes,’ an archive detailing all the incredible things trans+ women had done. And very soon, the site also caught the attention of trans men.

Volunteering to ally with them, Conway soon added a new site page titled ‘Successful

Trans Men.’ This page quickly became an insight into trans masc stories from the 00s, delving into some of the important early work of many FTM rights and activism. Not only does Conway’s site disprove the myth that the trans+ community (particularly trans masc folk) are a “modern trend,” but it shows what can be achieved if we join forces to uplift each other.

In 1967, Conway became one of the first people to be treated for gender dysphoria by doctor

Harry Benjamin M.D. (known as the “godfather of the Transgender Movement”). However, Conway was fired by her employer the following year after announcing her transition – it wasn’t until 2020 that the company publicly apologised. Throughout her career, Conway remained a staunch advocate for trans awareness and DEI in STEM, and was a top educator in her field. 

The Māhū are a deeply respected third-gender community from the Mā’ohi and Kānaka Maoli cultures, originating from pre-colonial and native Tahiti and Hawai’i. Loosely translating as “in the middle” or “in between,” māhū played important roles within their communities and passed down stories to share the cultural traditions of Mā’ohi and Kānaka Maoli through generations.

Fierce colonialism in both Tahiti and Hawai’i suppressed these native cultures, including the non-cisheteronormative identities like the māhū. So much so that the term became used as a transphobic and homophobic slur against LGBTQ+ individuals.

Despite the lasting effects of colonialism, māhū people have always existed . In the early 2000s, new terms like māhūkāne and māhūwahine (“trans men” and “trans women”) were introduced into the Hawaiian language to reflect an understanding of identity that’s always evolving. In more recent years, activists and advocacy groups have also started reclaiming māhū history in Tahiti and Hawai’i, fighting back against the oppression and stigmatisation of māhū people in society. 

Before she became the first known person in Britain (and among the first in the world) to have pioneering gender-reassignment surgery, Roberta “Betty” Cowell was a successful British racing driver and WWII fighter jet pilot. Despite struggling with motion sickness and being captured in a Nazi prison camp, Cowell was known for her resilient nature.

After the war, Cowell went back to the race track and married fellow racing driver Diana

Carpenter. However, they separated following a troubled marriage and Cowell’s hidden struggle with her gender identity. Following psychoanalysis examinations and an intersex diagnosis, Cowell pursued what is now considered some of the first gender affirmation surgery in the world – inadvertently cementing a milestone in British LGBTQIA+ history .

Unsurprisingly, her story gained significant global attention. But rather than getting her story told for her, Cowell used platforms like the Picture Post magazine and worked with the press to share her own words. She also published an autobiography describing the details of her transition and her journey to becoming a woman. 

Another British racing driver who is breaking records and increasing trans+ visibility in motorsport is Charlie Christina Martin. From a young age, the world of racing was where Charlie felt the most comfortable and the year she left university, she bought her first car second-hand and started her racing career.

After a difficult period of struggling with her gender identity, Charlie decided to transition – which she calls the scariest thing she’s ever done but the thing she wanted most in her life. Despite at one point considering to leave racing behind, she returned to the paddock and was welcomed by fellow drivers .

With a newfound confidence, Charlie quickly beat long-held records in hill climbing. She then switched to circuit racing and began racking up podiums in tons of different races. On top of working towards her goal of winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans race (the world’s oldest and greatest endurance race) as the first trans driver, she is a proud Driver Ambassador for Racing Pride, a campaign dedicated to making motorsport a more inclusive environment.