California Legislature Celebrates 3rd Annual Transgender History Month Amidst Nationwide Attacks on Transgender People

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California marked Transgender History Month this week with a Capitol celebration honoring two trailblazing leaders, even as anti-LGBTQ bills continue to flood legislatures nationwide.

In 2023, after more than 500 anti-LGBTQ measures were introduced across the country—most targeting transgender people—the state Assembly declared every August Transgender History Month. The move counters rhetoric framing transgender people as a “modern invention,” despite centuries of documented history.

The commemoration at the Capitol followed a reception hosted by Assemblymembers Matt Haney and Catherine Stefani, Senator Scott Wiener and the Legislative LGBTQ Caucus. The event recognized historian Susan Stryker, a founder of transgender studies, and Bamby Salcedo, an internationally known activist and president of the TransLatin@ Coalition.

“Trans people have always existed,” Haney said. “In every era and in every culture, they have existed. Ancient Egypt, the Romans, China, Native Americans—the history is there if you look for it.”

California has long been a proving ground for transgender rights. Letters from San Francisco’s Tenderloin in the 1800s reveal the lives of trans women. Earlier pioneers included Charley Parkhurst a trans stage coach driver. Lucy Hicks Anderson of Oxnard, who in the 1940s fought in court to be recognized as a woman entitled to her husband’s military pension. In 2017, the city established the world’s first Transgender Cultural District. The Compton’s Cafeteria riots of August 1966—widely considered the nation’s first LGBTQ civil rights uprising—anchor the month’s significance. San Francisco and Santa Clara County declared August Transgender History Month before the state adopted it.

“Many Californians remain unaware of the real lives and experiences of transgender people,” said Honey Mahogany, director of San Francisco’s Office of Transgender Initiatives. “That lack of familiarity has been exploited by those on the right. We can change that through awareness, education and outreach.”

Haney said the best defense against anti-trans attacks is simple: tell the truth.

“Let’s lift up the history of transgender Californians who left their mark on our state,” he said. “I am proud to celebrate Transgender History Month this year, and every August moving forward, with this community.”