Throughout history, there have always been people who defied gender norms. In the nineteen-fifties, Americans met Christine Jorgensen, a soldier who was born a man but was determined to live her life as a woman. In the decades that followed, a transformation in understanding and defining transgender people has taken place. Last year, psychiatry’s diagnostic manual replaced gender identity disorder with gender dysphoria. Medicare now covers sex-change surgery. And a new California law requires schools to allow students to use facilities and join sports teams that match their gender identity. Understanding transgender people and their struggle for civil rights and acceptance in American society.