(November 29th, 1752 – July 1st, 1819): Too often people are told that Trans history is somehow a 20th-century phenomenon, when in fact there have been Trans people throughout the ages. Born Jemima Wilkinson, #PublicUniversalFriend was an American preacher born to Quaker parents in the Rhode Island colony. Suffering a severe illness (likely typhus) in 1776, Friend claimed to have died, received messages from archangels, and been reborn as a genderless evangelist, refusing to use their birth name or gendered pronouns. Their followers eventually became known as the #SocietyOfUniversalFriends, preaching free will, opposition to slavery, and sexual abstinence, as well as championing women’s rights in what was the early United States. Accounts from the time claim they dressed in black clerical robes and the style of dress typically seen by Quaker men of the day. Their group of Quakers was accepted by #FreeQuakers, who also supposed the cause of independence in the #AmericanRevolution, after being disowned by larger groups of the Society of Friends.
Public Universal Friend preached that anyone, regardless of gender, could gain access to God and that God spoke directly to individuals. They called for the abolition of slavery, called for congregants who held people in bondage to free them and allowed for integrated worship services. In short, all were welcome.
They died on July 1st, 1819, and their home is on the National Register of Historic Places. Their religious community saw a decline after their death and disappeared by the start of the Civil War.
Legends of Pride 