The Two Revolutions : A History of the Transgender Internet

Winner of the 2023 Ángel David Nieves Book Award, given by the American Studies AssociationThe internet origins of the American transgender movementThe Two Revolutions explores how the rise of the internet shaped transgender identity and activism from the 1980s to the present.Through extensive archival research and media archeology, Avery Dame-Griff reconstructs the manifold digital networks of transgender activists, cross-dressing computer hobbyists, and others interested in gender nonconformity who incited the second revolution of the title: the ascendance of “transgender” as an umbrella identity in the mid-1990s.Dame-Griff argues that digital communications sparked significant momentum within what would become the transgender movement, but also further cemented existing power structures.Covering both a historical period that is largely neglected within the history of computing, and the poorly understood role of technology in queer and trans social movements, The Two Revolutions offe