A fascinating historical view of US military veterans who served in some state of cross-gendered presentation, beginning with America’s earliest wars.

Monica uses the term “Transgender-like” because the word “transgender” is a 20th Century term, and we cannot say for sure that all of these individuals would identify using that term if they lived today. Most of these earliest transgendered (in varying senses of the word) veterans were born identified as female, and certainly some must have used male presentation simply because the military (and life in general) did not offer its best opportunities to women at the time. Some may have been lesbian women who were cross dressing. But according to Monica’s research, some continued presenting as male even after military service and many presented with lifelong histories of “tom boy” or masculine behavior. A good history lesson for anyone interested in military and gender presentation history.

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