THE TRANS EVOLUTION
2010s
1950s New Yorker Christine Jorgensen has a series of surgeries in Denmark in 1952, and becomes the first trans person to receive widespread media coverage. “I’m happy to have become a woman and I think many more people who are unhappy as I was before should follow my example,” she says, for the first time giving many trans people the sense they are not alone.
Stories mentioning the word “transsexual” in the Toronto Star in the 1950s: 0
1960s The gender clinic opens at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in 1966 and leads to the first mention of the word “transsexual” in the Star. The Clarke Institute in Toronto opens its gender clinic in 1968-69. Trans and gender non-conforming people are among those resisting arrest in a raid on the Stonewall Inn in New York in 1969, igniting the modern LGBT rights movement.
Stories mentioning “transsexual” in the Star, 1960-69: 19
1970s Dianna Boileau has gender-confirming surgery in 1970 and publishes her memoir in 1972, leading to a Canadian media blitz. In 1975, tennis star Renée Richards has genderconfirming surgery and in 1977 she wins the right to compete in women’s professional tennis, leading to a flurry of international coverage. Trans people start to organize their own advocacy groups.
Stories mentioning “transsexual” in the Star, 1970-79: 83
1980s Talk shows “discover” trans people, although many are sensational and exploitative. Aaron Devor of the University of Victoria says the “brave souls” who appeared on these shows gave comfort to others. Rupert Raj went on the Sally Jessy Raphael show in 1986. “The producers said this and this will happen, and we got on camera and something different happened,” he recalls. “It wasn’t the end of the world, but it was still a little too sensationalizing, too simplifying, which talk shows tend to be.”
Stories mentioning “transsexual” in the Star, 1980-89: 143
1990s Trans people are early Internet adopters. Gwendolyn Smith, a trans woman working in desktop publishing, creates the Transgender Community Forum on AOL around 1993. After the murder of trans woman Rita Hester in Massachusetts in 1998, Smith speaks with others on the forum about similar murders and creates the website Remembering Our Dead to track them. Out of that website comes the first Transgender Day of Remembrance in San Francisco in 1999.
Stories mentioning “transsexual” in the Star, 1990-99: 237
First appearance of “transgender” in the Star: 1993
Total mentions of “transgender” in 1990s: 55
2000s The aughts see small steps toward a paradigm shift in Canada, with more attention paid to the trans population as a defined group, says Rupert Raj. The Sherbourne Health Centre, with a focus on LGBT health, opens in 2002. The centre develops a reputation beyond Toronto, with doctors across Ontario seeking advice on serving LGBT clients. To formalize that relationship, in 2008, the centre creates Rainbow Health Ontario, a program to improve health-care access for LGBT communities. Gender-confirming surgery, delisted from OHIP in 1998, is relisted in 2008.
Stories mentioning “transsexual” in the Star, 2000-09: 338
Stories mentioning “transgender”: 429
More mainstream media representation for gender-diverse people, including Caitlyn Jenner, Jazz Jennings and the TV show Transparent. In 2012, the Ontario Human Rights Code is amended to include gender identity and gender expression. The following year, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) replaces the term “gender identity disorder” with “gender dysphoria,” in a bid to remove stigma, noting that gender non-conformity is not in itself a mental disorder. The critical element of gender dysphoria is the presence of “clinically significant distress” associated with the condition. Debate continues as to whether the condition should be removed from the DSM and no longer seen as a psychiatric diagnosis. But for OHIP coverage, the diagnosis is needed before medical interventions such as surgery can take place.
Stories mentioning “transsexual” in the Star, 2010-16: 125
Stories mentioning “transgender” as of Feb. 29: 608