Transgender History, Third Edition

Resources for Today's Struggle—and Tomorrow's

Contributors

By Susan Stryker

Formats and Prices

On Sale
Feb 3, 2026
Page Count
368 pages
Publisher
Seal Press
ISBN-13
9781541605886

Price

$21.99

Price

$28.99 CAD

The groundbreaking guide to trans history in America, revised and updated for a new political era

Transgender History is the modern classic on transgender life in America since the nineteenth century, encompassing the major movements, writings, and events that shape today’s gender revolution. Susan Stryker’s sweeping, intersectional account charts more than a century of history, showing how rising acceptance in the 1960s and 2010s was met with waves of bigotry and intolerance that began in the ’70s and continue today.  
 
Through her explanation of central concepts and terms, informative sidebars, and brief biographies of trans pioneers, Stryker reminds readers of one crucial truth: Transgender people have always been here. In good times and bad, they’ve built supportive and expansive communities, battled for freedom, and transformed American culture and society in the process.  
 
Now completely revised and updated, including a longer, global history and a timely chronicle of the latest wave of anti-trans backlash, Transgender History remains both a vital resource and a powerful testament to the enduring legacy of trans lives.

  • "This timely and relevant book should be required reading."
    Portland Book Review
  • "An invaluable text for anyone who wants to better understand evolving concepts of gender. Essential."
    CHOICE
  • "Ground-breaking and all-around excellent"
    Autostraddle
  • "A lively introduction to transgender history and activism in the US. Highly readable and highly recommended."
    Joanne Meyerowitz, author of How Sex Changed
  • "A powerful combination of lucid prose and theoretical sophistication."
    Paisley Currah, founding coeditor of TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly

Susan Stryker

About the Author

Susan Stryker, professor emerita of gender and women’s studies at the University of Arizona, is founding coeditor of TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly. The director of the TEN:TACLES Initiative (Transgender Educational Network: Theory in Action for Creativity, Liberation, Empowerment, and Service), she currently holds a distinguished visiting appointment at Stanford University’s Michelle R. Clayman Institute for Gender Research.

Learn more about this author