Transgender Saints and Transcending Gender

Transgender Saints and Transcending Gender

Author: Al Preston April 18, 2025 Duration: 10:07

The stories of saints in this episode are from research I did a few years ago. I'm super excited to share them! I read the translations of the medieval text, the Aelfric Lives of Saints.

Bibliography

Aelfric. Aelfric’s Lives of Saints: Being A Set of Sermons on Saints’ Days Formerly Observed by the English Church. 2 vols. Edited by Walter W. Skeat. London, England: Oxford University Press, 1966.

Anson, John. “The Female Transvestite in Early Monasticism: The Origin and Development of a Motif.” In Viator, 5 (1974): 1-32.

Aspegren, Kerstin. The Male Woman: A Feminine Ideal in the Early Church. Edited by Rene Kieffer. Stockholm. Sweden: Almqvist & Wiksell International,1990.

Bennett Judith M., Ruth Mazo Karras, ed. The Oxford Handbook of Women and Gender in Medieval Europe. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Burrus, Virginia. The Sex Lives of Saints: An Erotics of Ancient Hagiography. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004.

Coon, Lynda L. Dark Age Bodies: Gender and Monastic Practice in the Early Medieval West. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011.

Davis, Stephen J. “Crossed Texts, Crossed Sex: Intertexuality and Gender in Early Christian Legends of Holy Women Disguised as Men.” Journal of Early Christian Studies 10, no. 1 (Spring 2002): 1-36.

Kitchen, John. Saints’ Lives and the Rhetoric of Gender: Male and Female in Merovingian Hagiography. New York, New York. Oxford University Press, 1998.

Lees, Clare A., ed. The Cambridge History of: Early Medieval English Literature. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013.

McNamara, JoAnn, John E. Halborg, and E. Gordon Whatley, ed. Sainted Women of the Dark Ages. Durham, England: Duke University Press, 1992.

Noble, Thomas F. X. and Thomas Head. Ed. Soldiers of Christ: Satins and Saints’ Lives from Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995.

Sound Bite: https://pixabay.com/users/freesound_community-46691455/


Al Preston hosts The Holiday Pride: A Pittsburgh LGBT+ Community Museum Podcast, a series that explores the rich and often overlooked history of the local queer community. This isn't a broad overview, but a deep, personal look at the stories, people, and places that have shaped Pittsburgh's unique LGBT+ identity. Each episode functions like an audio exhibit, drawing from the museum's archives and featuring conversations with community elders, activists, artists, and historians. You'll hear firsthand accounts of pivotal moments, from the early gathering places and the fight for civil rights to the vibrant cultural expressions that define the community today. The podcast aims to preserve these narratives, ensuring they are passed on with the nuance and dignity they deserve. It’s an educational journey that connects the past's struggles and triumphs directly to the present, offering listeners a profound sense of place and legacy. Tune in for a thoughtfully produced history podcast that honors where this community has been, providing essential context for understanding its ongoing story.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

The Holiday Pride: A Pittsburgh LGBT+ Community Museum Podcast
Podcast Episodes
The Pitt Men's Study [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 9:05
Pittsburgh was one piece of a larger national study that led to great advancements in AIDS research. Listen to how it came to be!
Pittsburgh Queer History [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 7:14
Welcome to season 2! This season is all about Pittsburgh's queer history. Tune in for some exciting stories!
Gender as Construct [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:34
This episode explores gender as a creation of society. This is a very theory heavy episode that may be hard to digest for some. Below are the more specific sources that I utilized throughout this episode.https://www.merr…
The Mattachine Society [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 10:16
Learn about one of the first successful gay organizations in the nation, the Mattachine! SourcesGay American History by Crowell Publicationhttps://guides.loc.gov/lgbtq-studies/before-stonewall/onehttps://www.sl.nsw.gov.a…
The Hijra of India [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 6:54
This episode is about the Hijra of India and the differing gender norms of India versus Western Europe.Also, special guest, my cat BellaBibliographyArondekar, Anjali. For the Record: On Sexuality and the Colonial Archive…
DC History Center Talk [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:00
This is a recording of the talk Al Preston gave at the DC History Center.If you want to see the presentation that goes with this talk, check out our youtube page here.
Oral History: Thomas Rainbolt [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:53
Listen in to my conversation with Thomas Rainbolt, Chatham University Alumnus. This episode is a little more conversational than the other oral histories we have presented thus far.You can also check out Thomas's thesis…
Supporting Local Organizations [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 7:28
This episode covers some LGBT+ organizations that are in Pittsburgh. Check out our resource page on The Holiday Pride directly to know more!
Why Oral History? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 5:50
This is just a brief talk about why we focus so much on oral history within the queer community.
Colonialism and the Queer Identity [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 7:24
Colonization, in all of its forms, has changed the world since it began. It's a complicated historical presence and here is a quick understanding of how it has effected the Queer community.