#Louis Graydon Sullivan

[critterdotgo]

Speaking of Sullivan, here’s a interview that he was apart of:

And here’s another interview video where Lou is mentioned:

There’s also a book that contains a collection of diary entries that he made throughout his life. Its called We Both Laughed in Pleasure: The Selected Diaries of Lou Sullivan by Lou Sullivan with Susan Stryker, Zach Ozma, Ellis Martin.

Also here’s some websites:

Created by two of the editors who worked on We Both Laughed In Pleasure (also has a lot of sources on Lou):

GLBT Historical Society (Contains a lot of sources):

Internet Archives of FTM Newsletter:

reminder that trans men also fought for your rights and refusal to acknowledge this is tantamount to denying historical fact

[transmascpetewentz]

hi sheila

it is an honor to be compared to the greatness of Louis Graydon Sullivan

[pelagiczones]

“Published in 1985 and authored by L. Sullivan, “Information for the Female-to-Male Crossdresser and Transsexual” is a handbook that provides general advice for those who identify along the female-to-male spectrum. Sullivan explains how one’s body might react to hormone therapy and also provides tips for “passing” as a man, such as how to dress more masculine. Additionally, Sullivan includes an extensive list of historical and fictional female-to-male crossdressers and transsexuals.” from the Digital Transgender Archive.

Here’s some interesting insight into transmasculine history. I’m really glad to have found this, as it was written by Louis Graydon Sullivan. Sullivan, if you are not aware, is often regarded as the first out transgender man who identified as gay. The Digital Transgender Archive has extensive papers about Sullivan, documenting his life, transition, and work, which you can find here.

[sirenium]

ID: a transcript about the life and activism of Louis Graydon Sullivan. The text recounts Sullivan's early career as a secretary, his involvement in the early gay rights movement, and his pioneering work in the transsexual community. It highlights his role as a peer counselor, organizer, and advocate for transsexual rights and understanding. the text mentions his significant contributions to support organizations for female-to-male transsexuals, his campaign to educate medical professionals, and his personal struggles with discrimination. there are also mentions of the publication of his biography and his involvement in historical societies focused on LGBTQ+ rights. A small image of Sullivan, wearing a white tank top and dark pants, is present near the top of the page. End ID

'this isn't relatable to cis people' who cares? trans people shouldn't be forced to water down our conversations and our work to be more relatable to cis people... they sure as hell don't do that for us.

From Transgender Warriors by Leslie Feinberg, 1996

[aestheticsilentboy]

During the 20th century, the progress of medicine helps transgender people to live their life in good condition thanks to hormonal treatment or surgeries. But many restrictions are still standing.

Before Louis “Lou” Graydon Sullivan, a person’s sexual orientation could prevent them from getting hormonal treatment or surgery. During his childhood, Lou Sullivan fantasies about being a gay man and began to play with gender role. In 1975, Lou is 24 years old and identified as a “female-to-man transsexual”. He then decides to move to San Fransisco to get begin his medical transition. In San Fransisco, he lives as a gay man and seeks to get sex reassignment surgery. However, it is always denied because of his sexual orientation. At that time, transgender people have to adopt stereotypical heterosexual gender-role. In 1975, Lou Sullivan starts a campaign to distinct sexual orientation and gender identity and to remove sexual orientation from the list of contraindications for sexual reassignment surgery. In 1979, a therapist allows Lou Sullivan to start testosterone and in 1980, he undergoes top surgery. He then starts to live fully as a gay man and continues to advocate for trans gay men rights and for the distinction between sexual orientation and gender identity. In 1986, he undergoes sex reassignment surgery, becoming the first trans gay man to get this surgery. He writes many books about transgender people and writes even a guidebook for female-to-male transgender people.

In 1986, he is diagnosed with AIDS, he dies of AIDS-related complications five years later. He writes “I took a certain pleasure in informing the gender clinic that even though their program told me I could not live as a gay man, it looks like I'm going to die like one". Thanks to Lou Sullivan’s fight, many transgender gay men can now access medical transition and live their life at its fullest.

[hernandopride]

Louis Graydon Sullivan (June 16, 1951 – March 2, 1991) was an American author and activist known for his work on behalf of trans men. He was perhaps the first transgender man to publicly identify as gay, and is largely responsible for the modern understanding of sexual orientation and gender identity as distinct, unrelated concepts.

Sullivan was a pioneer of the grassroots female-to-male (FTM) movement and was instrumental in helping individuals obtain peer-support, counselling, endocrinological services and reconstructive surgery outside of gender dysphoria clinics. He founded FTM International, one of the first organizations specifically for FTM individuals, and his activism and community work was a significant contributor to the rapid growth of the FTM community during the late 1980s. - Wikipedia (artwork by @helloworld-itseli )

[stevviefox]

It takes guts, hearts and sheer bravery to be yourself.  

Jack Bee Garland (9 December 1869[1] – 19 September 1936)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Sullivan

Works "A Transvestite Answers a Feminist" in Gay People's Union News (1973) "Looking Towards Transvestite Liberation" in Gay People's Union News (1974) Female to Male Cross Dresser and Transsexual (1980) Information for the Female to Male Cross Dresser and Transsexual (1990) From Female To Male: The Life of Jack Bee Garland (1990)

Photos of gay trans male activist Lou Sullivan throughout his life, as presented in Lou Sullivan: Daring to be a Man Among Men by Brice D. Smith

[man-squared]

Image: A picture of Lou Sullivan is to the left of paragraphs about him and his life. In the picture, Sullivan stands in a living area beside a bird cage. A bird is on his right shoulder (left in the picture). The picture is slightly rotated.

Caption:

"Louis Graydon Sullivan was born Sheila Jean Sullivan in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1951. While working as a secretary in the Slavic Language Department at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee in the early 1970s, Sullivan became active in the campus Gay People's Union and contributed many historical biographical sketches of female-to-male crossdressers to the GPU News. For several years, Sullivan identified himself as a 'heterosexual female transvestite who was sexually attracted to gay men.'

"After moving to San Francisco in 1975, however, and starting the process of sex reassignment a few years later, Sullivan began to think of himself as a transsexual gay man. Sullivan was the first FTM peer counselor at the Janus Information Facility, an international clearinghouse of information on transsexuality. As such, he was in contact with FTM and gender-questioning individuals from around the world and helped lay foundations for the FTM community that has since emerged. Sullivan organized the first FTM support organization on the West Coast (and only the third in the world) in 1986. He spent his final years involved in a campaign to persuade medical service providers that people like himself who desired a transsexual form of embodiment in order to act on a homosexual desire existed in significant numbers, and often experienced discrimination when seeking health care services.

"Shortly before his death from an AIDs-related illness in 1991, Sullivan published his biography of Jack B. Garland, a person with a female body who lived as a man for forty years in early twentieth-century San Francisco. Besides his activism in the transgender community, Sullivan also helped organize the Gay and Lesbian Historical Society of North Carolina, where his extensive personal papers are now located.

"(This piece on Louis Sullivan was prepared by transsexual researcher Susan Stryker.)"

From Transgender Warriors by Leslie Feinberg, 1996