Meet Theodore Hoffman of San Francisco. He was only 22 years old when he was outed as trans in 1902. The young bellboy’s interviews and op-eds represent a rare case of early transgender self-narrative. He was so clearly trans I wish I could reach across time and give him a vial of testosterone.
“I always wanted to be a boy; I always wanted to do things like one,“ he explained, “I can remember my mother telling me that when I was 1 ½ years old [in 1882] I always wanted to wear my little brother’s clothes. The wish has never left me.”
He was orphaned at age 10 in 1890. The young man lived with relatives in Oregon over the following years before traveling to his first bellboy job in Los Angeles. At 21, his move gave him the opportunity to transition. As one reporter put it, “the impulse to be a boy was too strong.”
Even though it was 1902, Theo did not think of his gender as a transgression. He wrote, “This is supposed to be a free country, and yet they arrest a person who is quietly minding his own business. And I say ‘his’ business because I never think of myself as a woman at all.”
“When I was 21, I decided to become a man - I was of age, so why not?” Theo found employment at the swanky Nadeau Hotel in Los Angeles. The hotel had the first electric elevator in the city and he served important leaders, politicians, and celebrities from around the world.
Another bellboy, “Little Liz,” soon became jealous of Theo’s popularity. They fought in the lot outside the hotel after Theo picked up the nickname “Big Liz.” He realized he had to find another hotel and soon left for San Francisco by stowing away on a freight train.
Theodore was finally caught at a SF restaurant by an onlooker who recognized him from before his transition. She alerted the police who swiftly arrested him for breaking crossdressing laws. He later lamented, “It is too bad to spoil a good bell boy by trying to make a woman of him.”
In jail, Theodore announced he would continue to wear trousers when he got out. This is quite important as it discredits the idea that he simply wanted to reap the benefits of manhood. He had nothing to gain by declaring himself male but continued to anyway. He was trans.
He wished to continue as a bellboy even after he was released from jail. He explained: “To be a bell boy is like getting behind the scenes at the theatre.”
The final mentions of Theodore note that he was not charged for his transgression. Despite this amazing story, there’s next to no writing on him over the past 120 years! I hope this thread will draw more attention to his narrative.
Theo paved the way for other trans people of his era. He wasn’t able to end the unfair crossdressing laws but he helped acclimate California to a new wave of gender trouble. I hope he was able to live the rest of his life in pants. As he put it, “With trousers I get freedom.”
Theodore wrote a short autobiography for the unsympathetic SF Examiner in 1902. They blamed his gender upon “trashy novel reading” (not unlike the “social contagion” moral panic today). The full article is fascinating and a great read: www.transreads.org/adventures-in-trousers/
titsay
romaincrisis
yousharknotpass
