FTM Newsletter

In 1986, shortly before his AIDS diagnosis, Lou sought out community in the San Francisco area. After meeting with a variety of groups and other trans men, Lou was inspired to call for an FTM Get-Together. There, anyone who self-identified as FTM–whether they were “pre-transition” or “old-timers”–could meet each other and share experiences and resources. The first Get-Together was held in December of 1986. This group later became known as FTM International, and Lou hosted the meetings quarterly. Attendees of this group were diverse, and came from different classes, racial/ethnic backgrounds, sexualities, and so on. In September 1987, Lou published the first issue of FTM. It became the most widely-circulated newsletter of its kind, and reached a multinational audience. Lou continued to work on FTM until his death, and the group persists today.

The articles of FTM varied in their content. The newsletter published news for politics, medicine, events concerning gender-nonconforming people, and so on. Historical articles highlighted individuals from the past who may have been transmasculine, as well. Cartoons, letters and responses, advertisements for products, contact information for similar groups, and practical advice also ended up in the newsletter.

The following image galleries display the front pages of FTM. To view the full scanned newsletters, links for each issue are located in the captions below the gallery.