Sullivan, Lou

Lou Sullivan (1951–1991) was a founding father of the FTM (female-to-male) community. He connected individuals around the world whom we today describe as being trans men, or on the transmasculine spectrum. He helped define FTM identity through his publications and advocacy work and organized community under the FTM umbrella. Sullivan was both trans and gay and had to overcome the homophobic bias of medical professionals to physically transition. He was the first trans man diagnosed as having AIDS and ensured no one could deny the existence of gay trans men after he died.

Louis Graydon (Lou) Sullivan was born on June 16, 1951, and assigned female at birth. He was the third of six children in a white middle-class family. Sullivan grew up in a suburb ...