WGS FINALE EXAM 2026/2027 | WOMEN'S & GENDER STUDIES STUDY GUIDE,
PRACTICE QUESTIONS, ANSWERS & EXAM REVIEW
The Hijra's - ANS ✔✔a recognizable third-generation community located in South Asia with records
dating back to the 13th century. This community challenges the Western binary in its understanding of
gender and demonstrates that gender diversity has existed historically in other cultures.
The Muxe's - ANS ✔✔a third-gender community from present-day Mexico, especially within Zapotec
culture in Oaxaca. They are viewed as caretakers and even cultural leaders, with challenging colonial
ideas of gender binaries.
Lucy Hicks Anderson - ANS ✔✔One of the first openly transgender women in the US. Born in 1886, she
socially transitioned at a young age and lived openly as a woman despite discrimination and legal
persecution. She was very important in QT+ historiography because she demonstrated that trans
identities existed before the modern label we know as "transgender."
William Dorsey Swann - ANS ✔✔A former enslaved Black man considered one of the first drag queens in
the US. He organized drag balls in Washington, D.C. for the recently freed black communities and
working-class white allies. Swann represented early queer resistance and community formation
1919 - ANS ✔✔The year Magnus Hirschfeld opened the Institute for Sexual Science in Germany. The
institute became one of the first major centers for research and advocacy for understanding gender and
sexuality
Magnus Hirschfeld - ANS ✔✔Was a German physician and the founder of the Institute for sexual science.
Hirschfeld researched sexuality and gender identity and advocated for LGBTQ+ rights. He was also faced
with persecution for both his works and his Jewish identity.
Dora Richter - ANS ✔✔underwent the first known male-to-female gender reassignment surgery. Ritcher
also represented the earliest documented examples of gender-affirming medical care
May 6, 1933 - ANS ✔✔The date Nazi students raided the Institute for Sexual Science and destroyed
books and data related to gender and sexuality. This event showed how state repression of queer and
trans knowledge.
Christine Jorgensen - ANS ✔✔The first American to publicly undergo gender reassignment surgery.
Jorgensen became famous and challenged public understandings of gender identity. Her story also
reflects the ideas of race, gender, conformity, and respectability politics.
Sylvia Rivera - ANS ✔✔a Puerto Rican and Venezuelan queer/trans activist who was one of the leaders of
the Stonewall Riots. Rivera advocated for the poor, working-class, queer, and trans communities and
criticized mainstream gay movements for excluding people.
1924 - ANS ✔✔The Society for Human Rights was founded in Chicago, becoming the first LGBTQ+ rights
community organization in the US.
PRACTICE QUESTIONS, ANSWERS & EXAM REVIEW
The Hijra's - ANS ✔✔a recognizable third-generation community located in South Asia with records
dating back to the 13th century. This community challenges the Western binary in its understanding of
gender and demonstrates that gender diversity has existed historically in other cultures.
The Muxe's - ANS ✔✔a third-gender community from present-day Mexico, especially within Zapotec
culture in Oaxaca. They are viewed as caretakers and even cultural leaders, with challenging colonial
ideas of gender binaries.
Lucy Hicks Anderson - ANS ✔✔One of the first openly transgender women in the US. Born in 1886, she
socially transitioned at a young age and lived openly as a woman despite discrimination and legal
persecution. She was very important in QT+ historiography because she demonstrated that trans
identities existed before the modern label we know as "transgender."
William Dorsey Swann - ANS ✔✔A former enslaved Black man considered one of the first drag queens in
the US. He organized drag balls in Washington, D.C. for the recently freed black communities and
working-class white allies. Swann represented early queer resistance and community formation
1919 - ANS ✔✔The year Magnus Hirschfeld opened the Institute for Sexual Science in Germany. The
institute became one of the first major centers for research and advocacy for understanding gender and
sexuality
Magnus Hirschfeld - ANS ✔✔Was a German physician and the founder of the Institute for sexual science.
Hirschfeld researched sexuality and gender identity and advocated for LGBTQ+ rights. He was also faced
with persecution for both his works and his Jewish identity.
Dora Richter - ANS ✔✔underwent the first known male-to-female gender reassignment surgery. Ritcher
also represented the earliest documented examples of gender-affirming medical care
May 6, 1933 - ANS ✔✔The date Nazi students raided the Institute for Sexual Science and destroyed
books and data related to gender and sexuality. This event showed how state repression of queer and
trans knowledge.
Christine Jorgensen - ANS ✔✔The first American to publicly undergo gender reassignment surgery.
Jorgensen became famous and challenged public understandings of gender identity. Her story also
reflects the ideas of race, gender, conformity, and respectability politics.
Sylvia Rivera - ANS ✔✔a Puerto Rican and Venezuelan queer/trans activist who was one of the leaders of
the Stonewall Riots. Rivera advocated for the poor, working-class, queer, and trans communities and
criticized mainstream gay movements for excluding people.
1924 - ANS ✔✔The Society for Human Rights was founded in Chicago, becoming the first LGBTQ+ rights
community organization in the US.
