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 early 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 Chancelor’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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