Amelio Robles Ávila Collection

Amelio Robles was a trans man and Revolutionary soldier during the 1910 Mexican Revolution. Robles’ contacts amongst revolutionaries in the aftermath of the war allowed him to legally change his name and sex in official paperwork. Making him the first trans man to legally transition in Mexico (and very early on in the history of the country! [I would love to write a paper about the way Robles’ masculinity is part of Mexican history! so much of my research program is informed by the relevance of macho masculinity in Mexican nation-making, how does that question interject with Robles’s story?] . Evidence that differentiates Robles’ history from women who cross-dressed during the war to take part in the conflict or otherwise support their families is the fact that he lived life as a man until his death, alongisde his wife and the rest of his family. Despite this, rememorializations of Amelio have represented him as a woman, misgendering him and disregarding his story. It would be an honor to inaugurate this archive with a growing collection that honors Amelio’s transmasculine life in twentieth century Mexico.