The FTM Newsletters
An Introduction
‘FTM’, or ‘Female to Male’, describes the transition process of a person born female later identifying with a male gender identity. The FTM newsletter was created by Lou Sullivan, and published quarterly from 1987 to 2008. FTM promoted the connection and community-building of like-minded transmasculine individuals, as well as included articles, book and film reviews, and the ‘malebox’, where readers could write to the Editors and ask questions or seek advice. Many readers writing to FTM or writing articles for FTM did so using a pseudonym, although some prominent activists’ work can be traced back to the pages of FTM.
Sullivan had started an in-person FTM Support Group in the early 1980s in San Francisco. Likely inspired by Rupert Raj’s Metamorphosis newsletter in Toronto (1982–1985), Sullivan began publishing a newsletter for the transmasculine community in San Francisco (FTM Newsletter Panel, 13:51-14:51). After Sullivan passed away in 1991 due to AIDS related complications, Jamison Green agreed to take over the FTM Newsletter and FTM Support Meetings.
While the FTM newsletter was in print, Jamison Green and additional volunteers reached up to 1,500 members in 17 countries around the world (Green, 2014). FTM is widely understood to be the largest publication exploring and supporting the transmasculine experience (FTM Newsletter [ONLINE], 0:50-0:55).
Today, all 67 issues of FTM can be accessed in person or online via the Trans Archives in Special Collections at the University of Victoria in Victoria, B.C., Canada. Additional documents on the FTM newsletter as well as the Lou Sullivan Fonds can be accessed at the archive of the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco, CA, USA, and online via the Digital Transgender Archives. Communications between Rupert Raj and Lou Sullivan can also be found in the Rupert Raj Fonds in the ArQuives in Toronto, ON, Canada.
The Publication
In 1987, Lou Sullivan created the first 4-page FTM newsletter. Sullivan covertly photocopied these issues using an office copy machine, and mailed them out of his primary residence in San Francisco (FTM Issue 29, p. 1). FTM was mailed in plain brown envelopes for the discreet protection of trans identities (FTM Newsletter Panel, 0:26:15-0:26:35). Kevin Horowitz edited early editions of FTM, and provided humorous hand-drawn cartoons (FTM Newsletter Panel, 0:22:23, 0:23:00-0:23:20). Additionally, Horowitz arranged the very first newsletter using a software called Quark Xpress (FTM Issue 23, p. 10). Sullivan paid every fee associated with FTM out of his own pocket — subscription fees collected did not cover the entirety of photocopying, printing, postage, and voicemail charges associated with the free peer counseling Sullivan took on (FTM Newsletter Panel, 0:16:22-0:16:57). Fiercely, Sullivan refused to turn away individuals who could not pay, ensuring all trans individuals in need were able to access community resources (FTM Issue 29, p. 1). Green notes that “[FTM] want[s] to make it possible for brothers in pain and need to get information … [no one] should be excluded from knowledge just because they have no money” (FTM Issue 25, p. 1).
After Sullivan’s passing in 1991 due to AIDS related complications, Jamison Green took over the project, basing it out of Green’s primary residence (FTM Issue 34, p. 1). In 1991, annual newsletter costs rose to $2,000 USD which included production, holding meetings, mailbox fees, postage, and long-distance phone calls (FTM Issue 15, p. 3). Green was unable to financially support FTM the way Sullivan had; in 1995 annual FTM costs rose to “a few thousand dollars”, and required several men to produce it (FTM Issue 29, p.1).
Self-publishing all issues until Autumn 1996, Green applied for 501(c)(3) non-profit status. Post-1996, all FTM issues were published by “Female-To-Male International Incorporated” — or FTM International, or FTMI. (FTM Issue 35, p. 10, 12). This new status allowed FTM to apply for grants, and provide tax deductible donation receipts to donors (FTM Issue 35, p. 12). Additionally, FTM started renting an office space on Missions Street in San Francisco to facilitate smaller support groups (FTM Issue 35, p. 12). Most importantly, non profit status meant that the transmasculine community was no longer “underground”, but ultimately allowed “[the FTM community] to accomplish a lot more” (FTM Issue 29, p. 1). In an interview, Green expanded on this sentiment: “we cannot be so closeted, we will never get our needs met. We will never make the world safe for us to be different if nobody knows who we are.” (Interview with Jamison Green Part 1, 0:45:16-0:45:27). Beginning with Issue 45 in 1999, newsletters were sold in stores (FTM Issue 44, p. 2). FTM was sold for $6.95 USD at Boedacia’s Books in Kensington, CA and Good Vibrations in San Francisco and Berkeley (FTM Issue 44, p. 2). The first issue to mention political protests and encourage readers to get involved is Issue 35 in 1996, just three years before FTMI became a nonprofit. Reader responses were mixed, but it is clear that Green and additional volunteers felt the need to provide resources for advocacy and involvement.
In 1995, the FTM community entered the digital world. Beginning with a private chat room on America Online (AOL) titled “BROTHERS F2M”, FTM quickly expanded with a corporate email address and a website (FTM Issue 29, p. 11; Issue 30, p. 14). FTM-intl.org is no longer accessible in 2024, yet some webpages are archived and may be viewed via the Wayback Machine. The expensive modem facilitating this digital shift is attributed to private donors and the organization “Digital Queers” (FTM Issue 29, p. 11). Green wanted to use the Internet “as [a] forum [to] discuss collective needs and goals”, and to “keep the discussion going and … open” (FTM Issue 39, p. 11)
Volunteers played a large role in producing the FTM newsletters. FTM would require “3 to 12 or more people to sort mail, transcribe articles, do layout and design, get [newsletters] to the printer, pick up the 700+ copies, which are then folded and inserted into mailing envelopes. Each envelope then has to be return-addressed, labeled, and stamped by hand” (FTM Issue 34, p.1). In the FTM Newsletter Panel, Green lists many volunteers heavily involved with this movement, which are not listed directly to protect their privacy (0:36:45-0:37:21).
Final Thoughts
This publication was lifechanging for many transmasculine men feeling alienated or isolated, both from the transgender community and from cisgender friends or family members. During the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, gender affirming surgeries and hormones were not discussed as casually as they are today. Thus, having a forum to ask questions, review surgery outcomes and preperation, and address healthcare professionals with approaches informed by gender dysphoria was an invaluable resource.
Notably, each FTM issue included a glimpse behind the scenes of the newsletter: always listing FTM International Board Members, sometimes including financial records and receipts, and often including full page spreads elaborating on the current printing and publishing set-up. As volunteers stepped in and out so frequently, this information was constantly changing. Thus, writing a publication history seemed like an impossible task! However, the team behind the FTM newsletter kept their comings and goings well documented for the future academic reading these documents. They did so because these activists knew just how special and influential these movements were as FTM was in print.
FTM's influence was concretely felt far beyond the printed publication. “[FTM was] building community … helping people find their pathways … giving them advice and making connections” (FTM Newsletter Panel, 0:16:57-0:17:11). Kit Racklin noted that FTM “was an essential source of information when doing trans-positive research in the late 80’s and early 90’s” and that “[Green’s] writing on medical issues was the best material available on the subject” (FTM Newsletter Panel, 1:07:48-1:08:12). Multiple FTM conferences were born from the FTM community, and the first FTM conference of the Americas in 1995 was attended by more than 400 people and described as “groundbreaking” by Max Wolf Valerio, an FTM volunteer and cover model (FTM Issue 40, p. 9; FTM Newsletter Panel, 1:09:11-1:09:44). Through serving on medical committees and his writing, Green was able to “change the world” through the “corporate equality index”, amending laws and policies to empower trans people around the globe (Interview with Jamison Green Part 2, 0:29:18-0:29:19, 0:54:59-0:55:06, 1:37:58-1:38:12).