Trans History: A Graphic Novel: From Ancient Times to the Present Day - Alex L. Combs & Andrew Eakett - ★★★.¾

AUTHORS: Alex L. Combs & Andrew Eakett

GENRE: Graphic Nonfiction

PUBLICATION DATE: May 13, 2025

RATING: 3.75 stars.

In a Nutshell: A non-fiction graphic novel detailing trans history from ancient times to contemporary times. Very informative and fairly well-researched. Contains many examples of historical as well as current-day trans people. Generalises some facts at times and gets a bit dry in the historical bits. But a good option for those who wish to learn more about the topic.

While there are many labels about gender and sexual identities these days (Sometimes, I feel like I can't even catch up with the existing ones before there's another new label in circulation!), one label that has existed for quite some time now is "transgender". Though we now know that a trans identity isn't just "transgender" people, many of us don't realise what the term actually encompasses. Worse, a few of us dismiss "trans-ness" as a mental disease or an abnormal condition that goes against what God (and/or nature) intended. *eye roll!*

“Trans” is increasingly an umbrella term that encompasses several identities and experiences. This graphic novel, OwnVoices because it's written and illustrated by trans authors, aims to expound upon the entire history of the trans identity. Going from ancient times (taking cues from archaeological finds of early human settlements) to present-day activism and awareness, the book covers every important aspect of trans history and trans people across the eras.

The information is powerful. Presented in a structured way, it takes us through the centuries and helps us understand the evolution of the trans identity. It begins with the obvious question: “What does it mean to be trans?”, then goes to the more common doubt asked these days: “Is it a new "trend" to be trans?” The book successfully refutes this second question, highlighting several historical figures who may or may not have been trans and the difficulties they faced in more conservative/ignorant times. Misinformation about trans people has been rampant in ancient times as well as modern days, so this book helps to dispel several misconceptions.

As you can guess, there's a lot of tragedy and heartbreak in this book. The introductory note makes it clear that the term “trans” is rooted in Western European and US cultures, so we get to see clearly what damage the colonialists did in their conquered lands with their regressive thinking. It was very aggravating to read the historical parts even as a cis-het BIPOC person. I can't imagine how much more infuriating and traumatising it would be for a trans person to read about such atrocities.

While the book means well and even does fairly well, there are a couple of points where it could have worked better for me. The chapters are divided based on era, with the very first chapter coming from the “ancient world”. This is very history-intensive and dry, which might turn off readers who aren’t fond of history as a subject. I should not really complain about this because the title does promise us trans *history*, but I wish the presentation had been a bit more accessible to lay people. Further, there is an underlying assumption in the initial two chapters (both of which cover older time periods) that any woman of the past who dressed up as a man was likely trans. Not necessarily, right? Maybe they just enjoyed better freedom dressed up as men? Of course, there’s nothing conclusive in their life history for us to guess either way, but we cannot necessarily take one side over the other.

The *history* part of the book ends on page 258. The remaining hundred-or-so pages are dedicated to “Community Voices”, containing trans experiences and perspectives of gender nonconforming and trans people in their own words. While this section started off well for me, it got repetitive after a point. A hundred continuous pages of life-stories with many similar experiences of trauma and self-acceptance can easily generate feelings of déjà vu. I appreciate the story of every single contributor to this section. I just wish these personal narratives had been more scattered across the book instead of being clumped together into one huge section at the end. A special shoutout to Bengali-American illustrator Bishakh Som’s writeup about her experience as a trans femme woman, highlighting her visit to India and her interaction with some members of the hijra community. I loved her writeup so much! I wish Indian people would remember that long before the West even made up such inclusive terms, the hijra/kinnar community in India had not only a label but also a rightful place, which has sadly degraded over the years. We need to return to the old levels of acceptance minus the discrimination.

Overall, this was a worthy and insightful read, offering a detailed look at what it means to be trans, both in terms of definition as well as lived experiences. The graphic format helps make the content more accessible to those who don’t like reading textual history tomes.

Definitely recommended. To anyone who assumes that trans history is modern history, this OwnVoices graphic novel is a great way of updating/rectifying your thinking.

This was a library read.