Curated by Megan M. Rohrer in partnership with the GLBT Historical Society

Facing hostility and discrimination from the medical community and hypersexualization by both gay and straight communities, transgender individuals have relied on mentor relationships, personal stories and photos to educate each other about transition.

In order to mentor and provide education for each other, many transmen have chosen to make public the most intimate details of their private lives. While some may be tempted to objectify the individuals in these photos, letters and publications, now as when they were created there is a desperate need for the education they provide.

Man-i-fest follows the letters of Lou Sullivan to David, highlighting the topics and mentors that shape the FTM community in San Francisco from 1976-2009. The central items in the exhibit will come from Gateway: the newsletter of Golden Gate Girls/Guys; FTM; and Lou Sullivan’s photos of his transition.

Curator Biography

Rev. Megan Rohrer, the first openly transgender pastor ordained in the Lutheran church, received a master of divinity at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, where Megan is currently a candidate for the Doctorate of Ministry degree. As the Executive Director of Welcome in San Francisco, pastor Megan enabled more than 200 chronically homeless individuals to move indoors, educates communities how to creatively respond to poverty and created the Homeless Identification Project and the Urban Share Community Gardening Project. Megan is also an accomplished musician, artist, reiki master, black belt,the author of Queerly Lutheran and co-editor of Letters For My Brothers: Transitional Wisdom in Retrospect (Wilgefortis) with Zander Keig.

Megan's work with the homeless is featured in the Polk Street Exhibit