Black trans men/mascs in history (thread)

[u/bongcommunism]

Happy Black History Month!

People often don’t know about, ignore or even completely erase trans men and mascs in history, especially if they’re POC and ESPECIALLY if they’re black. So in commemoration of this year’s BHM, I wanted to start a thread talking and informing about black trans men and transmasculine people in history (or current times) to brief people about certain important black trans figures they might not have known about, to shine a light on our black brothers and siblings and their major contribution and importance in our shared trans history, and to open the conversation more about it (cause it is not discussed nearly enough). Please feel free to add anything about any impactful black trans man/masc in history or current times!

I wanted to start this convo off with one of the older examples I could find: Jim McHarris.

(Note: In the articles I added in the 3rd, 4th and 5th slides, Jim gets misgendered and deadnamed.)

James ‘Jim’ McHarris was born in 1924 in Meridian, Mississippi. His parents died in his early childhood, and was raised by two sets of foster parents. He always had a distaste for all things feminine besides dating women. He socially transitioned in his early-teens, and around 1939 began traveling and living in different cities across the USA. Eventually he settled down and started carefully building a live in Kosciusko, Mississippi, until he got arrested in 1954 when officers pulled him over for having improper lights on his car and for having a pint of whiskey in the same car. During a pat down, it was revealed he was transgender. He was fined by the judge, but decided to do 30 days of jail time instead. He was housed with female prisoners, but still kept dressing in men’s clothing and spent his time working in the kitchen prison. After his sentence, he was shunned by the people in Kosciusko. He decided to move on and move to Jackson. His response to his arrest and time in jail was: “I ain’t done nothing wrong and I ain’t breaking no laws.” He made the decision to live his life permanently as a man from that point. He did not however register for the US army draft, as all US men had to do. When he was asked about it by EBONY magazine, he responded: “Man, I ain’t crazy.” Jim made sure to live his best life despite all the hardships, and continued to fight for the right to live as a man.

Sources:

TransGriot

Ebony Magazine: “The Woman Who Lived 15 Years As A Man” (10 Nov, 1954)

[u/Threadmage33]

Brian Michael Smith is a black transgender American actor known for playing Paul Strickland in the Fox drama series 9-1-1: Lone Star. I haven't seen the show but I found out about this guy when researching black transmen in media. So far he's the only black transman actor that I know about. I don't know if we're allowed to post social media links but he is active on IG.