FTM Contributions to Education and Spirituality

Many trans men born with female anatomy lived as men throughout the medieval period.

Pope John VIII Angelicus, Pope

One story, not historically supported but widely circulated in the Middle Ages, is of Pope John VIII Angelicus in the 850s. John was born as Joan in England then taken by his father to Mainz, where he learned to read and write. He dressed as a man, John, and went to live in a monastery in Mainz, traveled to Athens where he studied, then lectured in Rome where he eventually became pope. Although the story of John is not substantiated, the twelfth-century Saint Joseph (Hildegund) is based in fact.

St. Joseph of Neuss, Saint

Joseph, born as Hildegund, was the child of a German knight who made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem with him dressed as a boy, Joseph. After his father died Joseph had many narrow escapes but successfully traveled home to Germany where he lived the rest of his life in a monastery. After his death, Joseph was discovered to have female anatomy.

Canonized Catholic Saints

All of the following saints from ancient and medieval times were born with female anatomy and dressed and lived as men, most as monks:
Saint Anastasia the Patrician
Saint Anna/Euphemianos
Saint Apollinaria/Dortheos
Saint Athanasia of Antioch
Saint Eugenia/Eugnios
Saint Hilaria/Hilarion
Saint Marina/Marinos
Saint Marina (2)
Saint Matrona/Babylas
Saint Pelagia/Pelagios
Saint Theodora/Theodorus
Saint Euphrosyne/Smaragdus
Saint Papula of Gaul
Saint Thekla
Saint Hildegonde (Hildegund) of Neuss near Cologne

Saint Uncumber was an IS saint who was born with female anatomy who had a beard.

Saint Jeanne d'Arc

Saint Jeanne d'Arc was a brilliant young military genius and heroic general born in 1412. He was loved by La Rousse and Catharine de La Rochelle. He led seven successful military campaigns. When this deeply religious Christian patriot was captured by his enemies, he was offered the opportunity to live if he wore women's clothes, but he remained loyal to his beliefs. He was convicted of dressing as a man and burned at the stake in 1431. He was nineteen years old. He was canonized a Catholic saint after his death.

A film about Jeanne d'Arc

The Reverend Petric J. Smith, Methodist Minister

Petric J. Smith, born Elizabeth H. Cobbs in 1941, was a Methodist minister who testified in 1977 at the trial of a KKK murderer, an uncle, becoming a target for the klan. He transitioned in 1981. He published a book naming dozens of people he suggested might have been involved, at great personal risk. He died in 1998.

Petric J. Smith (born Elizabeth Cobbs)

Petric's book

The Reverend Dr. Justin Edward Tanis, Minister

Justin is the Director of Clergy Development for the Metropolitan Community Church. His book Trans-Gendered: Theology, Ministry and Communities of Faith, shares the stories of faith and the theology of gender of many trans Christians and clergy.

The Reverend Dr. Justin Edward Tanis speaking out against gender violence at Day of Remembrance Los Angeles 2003.

Justin's book

Rabbi Levi Alter

Levi is President of FTM International and rabbi of Congregation Ateres Zekanim. He is a former univeristy department chairman of Judaica and professor.

Rabbi Levi Alter with his son Alex

Mr. Jeff Shevlowitz, Jewish Author

Jeff Shevlowitz, Award-Winning FTM Pioneer, Los Angeles

Jeff's book about a survivor of the Holocaust

Mr. Reuben Zellman, Rabbinic Student

Reuben Zellman, Rabbinic Student

The Reverend Lobzang Jivaka, Buddhist Monk

Dr. Michael Laurence Dillon 1915-1962 transitioned in 1949 three years before the famous Christine Jorgensen case in 1952. Michael was born as Laura Maud Dillon in 1915 to an aristocratic English family. Michael preferred masculine clothing and activities and when he reached adolescence he bound his chest with a belt. During college at Oxford he started to dress socially as a man and go to men-only events. After graduating from Oxford he began taking testosterone. He had chest surgery in 1942. In 1944, at age 29, he officially had his birth certificate changed to read Michael Laurence Dillon, male. He also contacted Sir Harold Gillies and had phalloplasty surgery. He became a medical doctor and enjoyed 15 years living as a man. In 1958 a reporter noticed a discrepancy between the family's listing in Burke's Peerage, which listed him as Laura Maude, and in Debrett's peerage, which listed him as Michael Laurence. Soon the story was in newspapers across the English-speaking world. Michael went to India and became a Buddhist monk, writing books under his ordained name, Lobzang Jivaka. He died at age 47 in 1962.

The Reverend Lobsang Jivaka Buddhist Monk

The Reverend Malcolm Himschoot, MDiv

The Rev. Skye Anderson, MCC Pastor

Rev. Skye Anderson was the Pastor of Metropolitan Community Church San Jose.

The Rev. Chad Pifer, MCC Pastor

The Rev. Chad Pifer was the Associate Pastor of Metropolitan Community Church San Jose. Before transition he was the Pastor of Metropolitan Community Church Modesto.

Dr. C. Jacob Hale, Professor of Philosophy

Dr. C. Jacob Hale (born Carol Hale), Professor California State University, Northridge with Alexander Yoo, graduate student Antioch University

Dr. Jason Cromwell, Professor of Sociology

Dr. Jason Cromwell, Professor

Jason's book Trans Men and FTMs with David, Billy and Mike

Dr. Aaron H. Devor, Professor of Sociology

Dr. Aaron H. Devor (born Holly Devor), Professor and Dean, Victoria British Columbia

Aaron's book FTM with James Green

Judith "Jack" Halberstam, Professor of English

Judith "Jack" Halberstam is an English professor at USC.

Jack Halberstam, Professor, USC, Los Angeles

Jack's The Drag King Book

Dr. Ben Barres, Professor of Neurology

Ben Barres, MD, PhD, Noted brain researcher Stanford University

FTM Family, Friends and Allies

There are many clergy and educators who are allies of the FTM community.

Karen F. Kroll, M.Div.

Karen F. Kroll, M.Div. wrote “Transsexuality and Religion: A Personal Journey” in Transgender Tapestry Fall 1995.

Rev. Laurie Jean Auffant

Rev. Laurie Jean Auffant wrote “Reflections of a TG Chaplain” in Transgender Tapestry Spring 1996.

Rev. Elder Wilhelmina Hein

Rev. Elder Wilhelmina Hein is an MTF pastor in Ohio.

Rev. Victoria S. Kolakowski

Rev. Victoria S. Kolakowski is an MTF pastor at MCC Walnut Creek.

Rev. Christina Loughton

Rev. Christina Loughton, 66, runs transgender support group Agender New Zealand's Christchurch branch. She was a Presbyterian parish minister and a husband.

Bishop Rikki Chunn

Rikki Chunn has been the pastor of the New American Christian Church for five years. Prior to that she was the pastor and associate pastor of several straight congregations. She says it was hard to reconcile the teachings of her denominational background, Anglican/Old Catholic, with her transgenderedness. After she was fired by her last church for expressing a desire to work with trans people, she gathered a group of her friends, trans and trans-friendly, for an informal service at her house the next week. That was the beginning of the New American Christian Church. Rikki has lived full time as an openly transgendered woman for the past five years.

Rev. Carol Stone

Saturday, December 2, 2000 Priest Resumes Job After Change
Religion News Service
For the past four years the parishioners of St. Philip's Church in Upper Stratton, a suburb of Swindon, a railway town 80 miles west of London, have been ministered to by the Rev. Philip Stone. On Sunday, their services will be conducted by the Rev. Carol Stone.
At the age of 46, their vicar has had gender re-assignment, as described in the church's news release--and is at last the woman she always wanted to be.
"I only have two vocations in my whole life," Stone told a news conference in Swindon earlier this week. "They are to be a priest and to be a woman. My last prayer at night was that I'd wake up a girl."
Stone has the support of her family, her congregation and her bishop, the Rt. Rev. Barry Rogerson of Bristol, who said last June he could see no reason in church law why Stone should not continue as a priest in the Church of England after the operation. "I don't believe there's a moral issue here," he said. "This is a medical condition and can be dealt with medically, now."
Stone acknowledged some people might find her change unacceptable. "As a priest you always have to be prepared for people to come and go," she said. "There will obviously be those people who won't come with me, and they will be sorely missed, but there will always be a place for them at St. Philip's." Los Angeles Times

Sister Mary Elizabeth, Episcopal Nun

Sister Mary Elizabeth, also known as Joanna M. Clark, an Episcopal nun, was in the Navy for 17 years. In 1974-75 she began transition and was removed from the Navy. After transition she served a brief tour as a Sargent First Class in the WACs, she received an honorable discharge She lobbied successfully in 1977 for a law that allowed replacement birth certificates in the state of California. She later wrote Legal Aspects of Trans, an important early document on the subject, still referenced twenty years later. She founded the ACLU Trans Rights Committee, serving as chair for several years. She served with Jude Patton as an advisor with a Gender Identity Clinic during the early '80s. After Paul Walker became ill she and Jude Patton took over the work of Janus. J2CP continued the work of the Erickson Education Foundation and Janus. She was on personal terms with many of the well known trans of the late 20th Century, Christine Jorgensen and Reed Erickson amoung many others. In 1990 she founded the largest AIDS and HIV online information BBS and website, AEGIS (AIDS Education Global Information System).