Long before today's debates over trans rights, Americans were legally changing their sex. As far back as the 1800s, courts and local governments occasionally recognized gender transitions—issuing new documents and revising the legal record.

From 19th-century courtrooms to modern ID laws, Brianne Felsher (they/them), a PhD Candidate in Jurisprudence and Social Policy at Berkeley Law, explains the surprisingly long history of legal sex changes, and what it reveals about the fight for gender freedom today.

Douglass Collective is a community of lawyers and activists working to promote a more inclusive vision of the Constitution. We believe that the abolition of slavery and the Reconstruction Amendments provide a powerful blueprint for a world where we are all more free. By raising awareness of the Constitution’s abolitionist roots, and building community and power around that vision, we will chart a more free and equal future.

Intro Music: "Fantastic Negro Type Beat 'Nigga Song Remix'" by BarzMakesBangers: https://youtu.be/egdj0jlsQHA?si=ddBCdOMxCvMIP4hT

Karla McKanders is an expert in critical race theory and immigration law, who directs the Thurgood Marshall Institute at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

Douglass Collective is a community of lawyers and activists working to promote a more inclusive vision of the Constitution. We believe that the abolition of slavery and the Reconstruction Amendments provide a powerful blueprint for a world where we are all more free. By raising awareness of the Constitution’s abolitionist roots, and building community and power around that vision, we will chart a more free and equal future.

Intro Music: "Fantastic Negro Type Beat 'Nigga Song Remix'" by BarzMakesBangers: https://youtu.be/egdj0jlsQHA?si=ddBCdOMxCvMIP4hT

William M. Carter, Jr. is the Judge J. Quint Salmon and Anne Salmon Chaired Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He specializes in constitutional law, civil rights, race and the law, and civil litigation. An award-winning teacher, he has been selected as Professor of the Year by vote of the student body on four separate occasions. Carter is widely considered to be one of the leading experts on the Thirteenth Amendment and racial discrimination.

Douglass Collective is a community of lawyers and activists working to promote a more inclusive vision of the Constitution. We believe that the abolition of slavery and the Reconstruction Amendments provide a powerful blueprint for a world where we are all more free. By raising awareness of the Constitution’s abolitionist roots, and building community and power around that vision, we will chart a more free and equal future.

Intro Music: "Fantastic Negro Type Beat 'Nigga Song Remix'" by BarzMakesBangers: https://youtu.be/egdj0jlsQHA?si=ddBCdOMxCvMIP4hT