The Transexual Menace, or The Menace, is a

transgender rights The legal status of transgender people varies greatly around the world. Some countries have enacted laws protecting the rights of transgender individuals, but others have criminalized their gender identity or expression. In many cases, transg ...

activist organization founded in New York City in 1993. It was the first

direct action Direct action is a term for economic and political behavior in which participants use agency—for example economic or physical power—to achieve their goals. The aim of direct action is to either obstruct a certain practice (such as a governm ...

group of its kind, and grew to be a national organisation with 24 chapters. After a period of dormancy, The Menace returned in 2025 as a response to transphobic policies made by President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

and other politicians.

History and activities

The group was founded in 1993 by transgender activists including

Riki Wilchins Riki Anne Wilchins (born 1952) is an American activist whose work has primarily focused on the impact of gender norms. Background Wilchins founded the first national transgender advocacy group ( GenderPAC). Their analysis and work broadened ...

and Denise Norris, in response to the exclusion of transgender people from lesbian, gay, and bisexual

Pride march A pride parade (also known as pride event, pride festival, pride march, or pride protest) is an event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, legal rights, and pride. The eve ...

es.

Media attention

The Transexual Menace organized groups of demonstrators outside courthouses during trials involving anti-transgender crimes, for instance in the rape and murder of

Brandon Teena Brandon Teena (December 12, 1972 – December 31, 1993) was an American transgender man who was raped and later, along with Phillip DeVine and Lisa Lambert, murdered in Humboldt, Nebraska, by John Lotter and Tom Nissen. His life and death are ...

. The movement became the subject of iconic

gay liberation The gay liberation movement was a social and political movement of the late 1960s through the mid-1980s in the Western world, that urged lesbians and gay men to engage in radical direct action, and to counter societal shame with gay pride.Hoff ...

filmmaker

Rosa von Praunheim Holger Bernhard Bruno Mischwitzky (born Holger Radtke; 25 November 1942), known professionally as Rosa von Praunheim, is a German film director, author, producer, professor of directing and one of the most influential and famous LGBT social move ...

's documentary "''Transexual Menace"''.

T-shirts

The trademark image for the Transexual Menace was a Goth-styled black T-shirt with the group's name in blood-dripping red letters. The Menace T-shirts were designed by Norris, with a design emulating the ''

Rocky Horror Picture Show ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' is a 1975 independent film, independent Musical film, musical comedy horror film produced by Lou Adler and Michael White (producer), Michael White, directed by Jim Sharman, and distributed by 20th Century Stu ...

'' logo. The T-shirts were significant in that they allowed transgender visibility at a time when passing as cis was highly encouraged and desired. As described by Wilchins in the book ''TRANS/gressive'', "If you passed s cis you were safe. But pulling on the T-shirt screwed all of that forever". Pictures are available of the Pittsburgh chapter's T-shirts and the Texas chapter's T-shirts.

Esquire interview and response

''Esquire'' approached the group to do a piece about transgender activism. It was published under the title "The Third Sex - Now the men who have decided they are actually women are on the march. Welcome to the transgender revolution" on April 1, 1995. The Menace members were angry and the group immediately picketed ''Esquires offices; eventually the writer of the story came down to apologise. In her book ''TRANS/gressive'', Riki Wilchins describes the incident as reflective of the climate at the time, with "

friendly fire In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy or hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while ...

" coming from people or institutions that were not even actively hostile.

The Gay Games

The Menace protested

trans women A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...

's exclusion from the

Gay Games The Gay Games is a worldwide sport and cultural event that promotes acceptance of sexual diversity, featuring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) athletes, artists and other individuals. Founded as the Gay Olympics, it was s ...

. Wilchins describes how trans women, unlike the other participants, had to "jump through a series of demeaning hoops" including providing medical records, a hormone test and a full gender verification regime. Six members of the NYC chapter crashed the board meeting of the Gay Games and instantiated a change of these regulations. The transgender-exclusionary regulations were re-instated four years later.

2025 revival

Denise Norris decided to revive the Transsexual Menace in January 2025, following transphobic executive orders by President Donald Trump. The revival started on the group's official

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account.

References

{{authority control Transgender rights in the United States LGBTQ in New York (state) Direct action Transgender organizations in the United States 1993 establishments in New York (state) LGBTQ political advocacy groups in the United States Transgender history in the United States 1993 in LGBTQ history