Join us for Circa’s Opening Plenary, an evening of celebrating queer histories as we kick off the fourth annual Circa: Queer Histories Festival! Don’t miss opening remarks from One Institute and distinguished guest lecturer Jules Gill-Peterson as a part of The Paul D. Lerner and Stephen Reis Lectures on LGBTQ+ History.
Gill-Peterson’s lecture is titled: “Who Invented Transgender Identity? A California History”
Who created transgender identity—and why? This lecture winds the clock back to the 1930s, when people who crossdressed as women forged a group identity out of shared secrets. Their core proposition—that you could achieve the feeling of being a woman through clothing while remaining male—became a keystone of what they later called transgender identity. It also put crossdressers on a collision course with the first American transsexuals, who risked everything for surgery to become female and suffered dearly for it. By the 1950s, Los Angeles was the site of a pivotal class conflict between transgender and transsexual responses to dysphoria, one that simmers even today.
Please arrive at 6:30pm to enjoy light refreshments out on the patio.
We believe that ticket price shouldn’t be a barrier to entry; if you need a free ticket, you’re welcome to use the code CIRCA2026.
Participant Bios
Jules Gill-Peterson is Professor of History and Research Chair in Transgender Studies at the University of Victoria. She is the author of two books: Histories of the Transgender Child (2018) and A Short History of Trans Misogyny (2024). Dr. Gill-Peterson’s research has been recognized with the Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award from the University of Pittsburgh (2020) and the Distinguished Alumni Award from Rutgers University-Newark (2026). She has intervened widely on transgender history and politics, from the New York Times, to Wired, and she co-authored two amicus briefs to the Supreme Court in transgender rights cases. Her next book, Transgender Liberalism: How an Elite Class Shaped an Identity, will be published by Harvard University Press in Spring 2027.
Circa Opening Plenary is organized by One Institute as a part of the 2026 Circa: Queer Histories Festival.
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