LoK Project Manager Shaan Knan visits University of Victoria Transgender Archives
Shaan Knan (he/him) reports back from a 2-week community fellowship, awarded by the University of Victoria Transgender Archives, Canada:
‘My research at the Transgender Archives focused on exploring trans community organisations’
collections in North America; one of the aims was to feed into my current oral history and archive
project, documenting the history of GIRES – one of the longest standing UK trans+ charities. Further, being mindful of my Eurocentric lens, I wanted to learn about the history of North American trans+ organisations, their set-up, governance, founders and stakeholders.
I spent much of my time at the Archives examining the records of the International Foundation for
Gender Education (IFGE), as part of the Rikki Swin collection. This non-for profit was founded in
November 1986 by Merissa Sherrill Lynn (1942-2017) and closed down in the late 2000s. I was
fascinated by its ‘interconnectedness’ story, publications, and historical significance. For instance, as of 1996, IFGE was one of three national transgender organisations in the United States to have an actual office, and apparently the only transgender organisation in the country to have paid staff.
As an oral historian, I was very excited to come across verbatim transcripts from audio tapes
recorded at the 1st IFGE Convention in 1987, Chicago. In particular, the ‘How to form an
organisation’ panel sparked my interest as it featured so many voices and experiences of trans+
community organisers in their time. This really gave me a much better understanding of the North
American trans+ community networks in the late 20th Century, and will hopefully help me to reflect
deeper on similarities and differences with the UK, and to make comparisons with the set up and
dynamics of organisations nowadays.‘
Shaan also deposited some of the wonderful GIRES a Legacy of Kindness project resources at the Archives:
“I had a fantastic week at the UVic Transgender Archives. Everyone was really welcoming, and
special collections staff were very helpful to get me what I needed swiftly and diligently. It was such a privilege to be able to have physical access to the archives’ collections – I find having the materials
right in front of you is actually quite an emotional experience. One of the highlights of my trip was
meeting up with Dr. Aaron Devor and having the opportunity to talk to him about my research – and getting some first-hand insights!”
