Digital Transgender Archive

Trans-national Networks in the early 1990’s

Boys Will Be Boys (BWBB) was a newletter that operated out of Sydney, Australia, and it explored the FtM experience in the early 1990s. BWBB included reflections from regular contributors, which were supplemented by various letters to the editor from subscribers. As we explored these various letters to the editor, we were heartened and surprised by the vast geographic distances that each carefully written note traveled among such an intimate and small network of members.  This smaller-scale publication managed to connect people and build community all over the world: from the sunny West Coast of California, to other regions of the United States, to the United Kingdom, and of course, all throughout Australia (New South Wales, Melbourne, Sydney, Queensland).

A publication like Boys Will Be Boys (BWBB) attests to the openness and willingness of the trans community to overcome geographic boundaries and unite under their shared identity despite differences in cultural backgrounds. We cannot even be sure if all of these members ever met face to face, yet their support and mutual appreciation comes through in their words to each other that helped make BWBB a radically inclusive space.  BWBB also demonstrates the international dimension of trans community in the 1990s, likely facilitated by the digital age. We hope that the growing geographic diversity in the Digital Transgender Archive helps illustrate the complex geographic networks of the trans community throughout history.