Digital Transgender Archive

Teaching Tools

Lesson Plans

Exploring Archives and Allen & Litvinoff’s The Queen (1968)

These lesson plans were developed around the documentary, The Queen, produced by Lewis M. Allen and Si Litvinoff and released in 1968. These resources are meant to promote exploration of the film within its historical context through archival research and engagement with primary sources related to LGBTQ+ histories.

The materials related to these lesson plans are part of the Lewis M. Allen Papers, held at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas, Austin. Items from the collection were prioritized for digitization as part of a collaboration for a 2022–2025 Digitizing Hidden Collections grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). The grant program is made possible by funding from the Mellon Foundation. In addition to digitizing these items, our teams worked together to create lesson plans to deepen engagement with the history around this important film.

Primary Source Sets

Our primary source sets group together related items to help you learn more about transgender history and culture. Each set includes a brief overview of the topic, details about relevant items hosted by the DTA, discussion questions, and suggestions for further reading. We encourage students and educators to use, share, and add on to our primary source sets as best fits their needs!

Black and white photo of the members of STAR. The text under the photo reads "S.T.A.R. Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries."

Trans and Gender-nonconforming Youth

Check out psychedelic publications created by 1960s youths, informative pamphlets for parents with trans children, and activist materials advocating for the rights of trans youth.
Drawing of a triangle with a caduceus in the center. Partially cut-off text on either side of the triangle reads "Transsexual Medicine"

Trans People and the Prison-Industrial Complex

Learn about the history of trans people in prisons from the 1970s to the recent past through materials created and distributed by incarcerated people as well as their allies on the outside.
Black and white photo of Sir Lady Java protesting with Red Foxx in front of the Red Foxx Club. Java is holding a sign that reads "Java vs. Right to Work."

Protests and Political Activism

Explore trans activism in the United States from the 1970s to the present, including interviews with veteran activists and contemporary news coverage of historically significant events.
Drawing of a person with horns and a Star of David on their chest using a needle to stitch up cuts from top surgery. Text above the figure reads "TIM TUM" in letters designed to look like the Hebrew alphabet

Trans Life and Religion

Read about the complex relationship between trans identities and religion, as discussed in these spiritual memoirs and zines.
Drawing of three people standing together. The third is holding a fourth person who is laying on the ground by their hair. The text under the drawing reads "Transsexual sisterhood is powerful!!!"

Transgender Feminism

Delve into the thorny history of trans and feminist movements through articles about major protests, feminist theory, and oral histories.