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Inside Spencer: The KSRL Blog

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Welcome to the Kenneth Spencer Research Library blog! As the special collections and archives library at the University of Kansas, Spencer is home to remarkable and diverse collections of rare and unique items. Explore the blog to learn about the work we do and the materials we collect.

Collections to Celebrate International Transgender Day of Visibility 

March 27th, 2026

The International Transgender Day of Visibility was started in 2009 by transgender activist Rachel Crandall Crocker. When she came out as trans in 1997, she was fired. Over ten years later, she realized that the transgender community needed a day of advocacy and celebration beyond Transgender Day of Remembrance that would be “a day to focus on the living.” Every year, it is celebrated on March 31st with events and social media campaigns to highlight the courage of transgender people and provide support for the community. 

Spencer Research Library has acquired a diverse array of material that documents the lives of transgender people – especially in Kansas and the Midwest – and their creative works. For example, Bruce McKinney was an LGBTQ activist in Wichita, and his large collection of personal papers (Call Number: RH MS 1164) in the Kansas Collection documents many organizations, including the Wichita Transgender Alliance. Other collections that include material on local organizations include Les-Bi-Gay-Trans collected material (Call Number: RH MS 900), the papers of Kristi Parker (Call Number: RH MS 1348), and the papers of Arla Jones and Kimberly Kreicker (Call Number: RH MS 1452). 

In the Wilcox Collection, zines from the Solidarity Revolutionary Center and Radical Library make up the majority of material by and about the transgender community. The following sample is illustrative of the art and writing produced by transgender zine-makers, many of them from the Midwest. 

Front cover of the zine, which has a yellow background with text in black surrounded by very thick black lines.

They Will Never Erase Us: Erasure Poems for Trans Joy by @roctothorpe includes blackout poems based on transphobic hate comments. The original comment is included along with a poem that transforms the comment into a defiantly, positive message.

Call Number: Uncataloged

Front cover of the zine, which has the title and the author's name in black text with a large black heart, all against a multicolored background.

Trans Self Love by Connor Engelsman (2023) is a mini-zine that encourages trans people to embrace and love their bodies.

Engelsman has produced many other trans-related zines in the Wilcox Collection including How to Change Your Gender Marker (Call Number: RH WL B3857), Orgs That Serve Trans Ppl in KS (Call Number: RH WL B3864), and Self Care is Resistance (Call Number: RH WL B3862).

Call Number: RH WL B3859

Front cover of the zine, which has a bright pink background and, in black text, the title, the author's name, "Issue #2: Call Outs & Clever Titles," and portions of men's and women's bathroom signs.

The library has two issues of Gendrfailz (2009), a zine edited by activist Alix Kemp that includes many stories from transgender people about their experiences legally changing their names and sex and challenges with the medical system.

Call Number: RH WL C13225

Front cover of the zine, which has a white background with black text, plus a black-and-white headshot of a man.

Issue 4 of Transvestia, Words + Labels, edited by Jackson Stoner (2019) is a compilation of essays and art on the theme of how trans and nonbinary people use words and labels to define themselves and it also addresses the issue of label policing.

Call Number: RH WL D9241

Front cover of the zine, which has black text against a light gray and lightly patterned background

Trans Health Science & You: How Research Affects Our Lives (2018) was produced by the Wisconsin Transgender Health Coalition. Its essays address medical research, data and safety, and how to participation in research on trans people as a form of activism.

Call Number: RH WL C13167

Front cover of the zine, which has text in black and the image of a heart in the background.

The North Carolina-based zine Tranz Mission (200?) states that it is “a group dedicated to the end of socially enforced non-consensual gender tyranny.” It includes artwork, personal stories, tips for allies, comics, and dreams about gender.

Call Number: RH WL C13229

Front of the zine, which has a black background, the title in black text against white banners, and white skeletons.

Whatstheirname: More Adventures w/o Gender (2013) by Julia Eff is a personal look into Eff’s experiences as a nonbinary person. It includes their handwritten, diaristic essays, illustrations, and collages.

Call Number: RH WL A743

Front cover of the zine, which has a white background with a black inset that has the title in white text and a black-and-white sketch of person folding their arms.

Lastly, Don’t Give Up (between 2000 and 2009) is an anonymously-written zine includes useful etiquette guidelines for cisgender people when interacting with transgender people.

Call Number: RH WL C12639

If you’d like to explore more unique collections and items by and about transgender people – or if you have suggestions for acquisitions or items to donate – get in touch with the Curator of the Wilcox Collection of Contemporary Political Movements, Kate Stewart, at kate.stewart@ku.edu. 

Kate Stewart
Curator of the Wilcox Collection of Contemporary Movements

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