Lou Sullivan
Lou Sullivan | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | March 2, 1991 San Francisco, California, U.S. | (aged 39)
Occupation(s) | Author, activist |
Known for | Transgender activism |
Quotations related to Lou Sullivan at Wikiquote |
Louis Graydon Sullivan (June 16, 1951 – March 2, 1991) was an American
Sullivan was a pioneer of the grassroots
Early life
Sullivan grew up in
Sullivan was attracted to the idea of playing different
Transition and adulthood
In 1973, Sullivan identified himself as a "female
Upon arrival in San Francisco, Sullivan began working at the Wilson Sporting Good Company, where he was employed as a woman but
In 1976, Sullivan suffered a severe crisis of
Dain and Sullivan were able to meet in 1979, Dain encouraging Sullivan to proceed with transitioning. Thus in 1979, Sullivan was finally able to find doctors and therapists who would accept his sexuality, regardless of prior university-based contradictions of prioritizing declared sexual orientation over diagnostic criteria, and began taking testosterone. Sullivan had a double mastectomy surgery following a year later.[1][3] He then left his previous job to work as an engineering technician at the Atlantic-Ritchfield Company so that he could fully embrace his new identity as a man with new co-workers.[3]
In 1986, Sullivan obtained
Sullivan kept a journal throughout his life: selected excerpts were released in 2019 as We Both Laughed in Pleasure (retitled "Youngman" in the UK).
Activism and community contributions
Sullivan wrote the FTM Newsletter, one of the first guidebooks for trans men,[9] and also a biography of the San Francisco FTM Jack Bee Garland.[10] Sullivan was instrumental in demonstrating the existence of trans men who were themselves attracted to men.[11][12][13][14] Lou Sullivan began peer counselling through the Janus Information Facility which was an organization that provided transgender issues.[15] He is also credited for being the first to discuss the eroticism of men's clothing.[15]
Editor of The Gateway
Sullivan was active in the Golden Gate Girls/Guys organization (later called the Gateway Gender Alliance), one of the first social/educational organizations for transgender people that offered support to FTM transsexuals, and in fact successfully petitioned to add "Guys" to its name.[3] From July 1979 to October 1980, Sullivan edited The Gateway, a newsletter with "news and information on transvestism and transsexualism"[16] that was circulated by the Golden Gate Girls/Guys.[17] It was originally primarily focused on the needs of MTF and transvestite readers and read "much like a small town newspaper", but under Sullivan's editing it gained more gender parity between MTF and FTM issues. According to Megan Rohrer, Sullivan "transform[ed] Gateway in a way that [would] forever change FTM mentoring" because trans people could still obtain information on how to pass without having to attend group gatherings in person.[17]
GLBT Historical Society
Sullivan was a founding member and board member of the
Lobbying for recognition of gay trans men
Lou was a writer and capable of standing up for what he saw as truth. He was a gay transsexual man, before this was even allowed or recognized. He is also the person who helped to change that, and now—being gay is no longer an issue if you want to begin transition.
Sullivan lobbied the American Psychiatric Association and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health for them to recognize his existence as a gay trans man.[15] He was determined to change people's attitudes towards trans gay men[22] but also to change the medical process of transition by removing sexual orientation from the criteria of gender identity disorder so that trans men who are gay could also access hormones and surgery, essentially making the process "orientation blind".[22]
Honors
In June 2019, Sullivan was one of the inaugural fifty American "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes" inducted on the
In August 2019, Sullivan was one of the honorees inducted in the
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)
- We Both Laughed in Pleasure: The Selected Diaries of Lou Sullivan 1961-1991. (2019). Edited by Ellis Martin and Zach Ozma
References
- ^ a b c d e Highleyman, Liz. "Who was Lou Sullivan?". Seattle Gay News. February 22, 2008. Archived from the original on November 4, 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-304-33776-7
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Guide to the Louis Graydon Sullivan Papers, 1755-1991 (bulk 1961-1991)". The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society. San Francisco, 1999. Accessed November 4, 2015.
- ^ a b c Stryker, Susan. "The Difficult Decades." In Transgender History. Berkeley, CA: Seal Press, 2008.
- ^ a b Murray, Eldon E. "I Remember Lou Sullivan". "FTM Newsletter", Summer 2007. Archived from the original Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine on November 4, 2015.
- ISBN 9781580056908.
- ^ "AIDS: The FTM Response and the Death of Lou Sullivan." Archived September 14, 2016, at the Wayback Machine - OutHistory.
- ^ Sullivan, Louis. Information for the female to male cross dresser and transsexual. Janus Information Society, 1980
- ISBN 978-1-55583-150-9
- ^ Eli Coleman & Walter O. Bockting. "Heterosexual" prior to Sex Reassignment – "Homosexual" Afterwards: A case Study of a Female-to-Male Transsexual. Journal of Psychology and Human Sexuality. Vol 1(2). 1988 pp69-82
- ^ Susan Stryker (1998). Lou Sullivan. Third International Congress on Sex and Gender.
- ^ The Lou Sullivan Memorial Issue. FTMi Newsletter, Issue 58: Spring 2005.
- ^ Special Issue. Archived May 10, 2008, at the Wayback Machine FTM Newsletter, Summer 2007.
- ^ a b c "Louis Gradon Sullivan (1951-1991)". A Gender Variance Who's Who. July 11, 2008. Accessed on November 4, 2015.
- ^ The Gateway, July 1979, pg. 1. - OutHistory
- ^ a b Rohrer, Megan. "Man-i-fest: FTM Mentorship in San Francisco from 1976–2009". OutHistory.org. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
- ^ Guide to the Louis Graydon Sullivan Papers, 1755-1991 (bulk 1961-1991) Archived June 5, 2014, at the Wayback Machine (Online Archive of California).
- ^ "Exhibit Opening! Man-i-fest: FTM Mentorship in San Francisco from 1976-2009". History Happens! Monthly News From the GLBT Historical Society. March 2010. Retrieved March 20, 2011.
- ^ B[ieschke], Marke (March 8, 2011). "Mighty real: New GLBT History Museum brings "Our Vast Queer Past" to light". San Francisco Bay Guardian. Retrieved March 20, 2011.
- ^ Valerio, Max Wolf. "Remembrances". "FTM Newsletter", Summer 2007. Archived from the original Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine on November 4, 2015.
- ^ a b More, Kate, and Stephen Whittle. "Reclaiming Genders." October 1, 1999. Page 77
- ^ Glasses-Baker, Becca (June 27, 2019). "National LGBTQ Wall of Honor unveiled at Stonewall Inn". www.metro.us. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
- ^ Rawles, Timothy (June 19, 2019). "National LGBTQ Wall of Honor to be unveiled at historic Stonewall Inn". San Diego Gay and Lesbian News. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- ^ Laird, Cynthia. "Groups seek names for Stonewall 50 honor wall". Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ Sachet, Donna (April 3, 2019). "Stonewall 50". San Francisco Bay Times. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ^ Barmann, Jay (September 2, 2014). "Castro's Rainbow Honor Walk Dedicated Today". SFist. Archived from the original on August 10, 2019. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
- ^ Bajko, Matthew S. (June 5, 2019). "Castro to see more LGBT honor plaques". Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
- ^ Yollin, Patricia (August 6, 2019). "Tributes in Bronze: 8 More LGBT Heroes Join S.F.'s Rainbow Honor Walk". KQED: The California Report. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
External links
- Guide to the Louis Graydon Sullivan Papers, 1755–1991, giving an overview of the GLBT Historical Society's collection of Sullivan's papers, photographs, diaries, short stories, poems, essays, and correspondence
- Man-i-fest: FTM Mentorship in San Francisco from 1976–2009, an overview of an exhibit by the GLBT Historical Society on the letters and work of Lou Sullivan
- Biography of Lou Sullivan at A Gender Variance Who's Who
- A special edition of FTM Newsletter celebrating and remembering Lou Sullivan
- "Uncle Lou", an article on Daily Kos written by one of Sullivan's relatives for the 20th anniversary of his death
- The Lou Sullivan Society
- Lou Sullivan Collection on Digital Transgender Archive
- The Life of Lou Project, a digital project dedicated to Lou's writings and achievements
Further reading
- Smith, Brice (2017). Lou Sullivan: Daring to be a Man Among Men. Transgress Press. ISBN 9780998252117
- Martin, Ellis and Ozma, Zach (editors) (2019). ISBN 9781643620176