In OtherWise Christian: A Guidebook for Transgender Liberation, I mention Jewish traditions around gender, highlighting 6 different genders. The topic of gender in Jewish tradition deserves a book of its own and is beyond my personal expertise.

However, Rabbi Elliot Kukla is widely credited for bringing these traditions to light and related resources can be found on the TransTorah website:

• Terms for Gender Diversity in Classical Jewish Texts, by Rabbi Elliot Kukla, 2006
• Gender Diversity in Halacha (The Way We Walk): Mishna and Tosefta, by Rabbi Elliot Kukla, 2006

Melvin Marsh did a series in 2015 for Sojourn, going into more detail on the following four genders:

• Androgynos
• TumTum
• Aylonit
• Saris

Rabbit Kukla also revisited the topic in 2018 in the Forward, “For Centuries, Jewish Tradition Has Recognized Trans People.”

The Eight Genders in the Talmud: Judaism has recognized nonbinary persons for millennia by Rachel Scheinerman (at My Jewish Learning) argues for eight instead of six genders.

That said, Micah Bazant’s TimTum: A Trans Jew Zine dates to 1999 and is digitally archived at QZap.

Compiled by Mx. Chris Paige in October 2018.

Note: This blog is intended to be an on-going work in progress. Please contact us if you have corrections or are able to contribute further context or reflections.