Since the beginning of time, people of all genders have walked the earth, greeting beings and spirits alike. Born between worlds – male and female – gender diverse people form identities settled in mystery and power. Some communities not only accept, but honor such people as sacred, giving roles such as healers, seers, oracles, and shamans. Other communities and forces try to erase gender diversity and the associated presences, myths, and stories alike.
Many of these traditions, legends, and identities are irretrievably lost, ravaged by colonialism. The natural gender diversity prevalent through most of human history has been forcibly reduced to a perceived binary, reinforced by everyday language and customs. Gender diverse people continue to resist, reclaim, revive, and create anew the pieces which were stolen. Restoration and restoryation is uncovering and retrieving countless stories and histories, reaffirming the presence of wide gender diversity. Given the prevalence of such histories and myths in thousands of cultures around the world, I can only imagine that my ancestors too had stories connecting me and my people to the spirit world and our fellow in-between kin. In the spirit of myths – not false stories, but ever-relevant ones – let these images create not just a body, but a figure of transcendence.
