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Amelia Smith is an emerging transgender museum professional.
A graduate of the Masters of Museum Studies program at the University of Toronto, her work seeks to bridge the gap between trans studies and museum studies. This resulted in her first exhibition, Transition Related Surgery: The Fight For Access, on the history of gender affirming surgeries in Ontario.
She has previously worked as an exhibit designer for the Transgender Archives at the University of Victoria, and in January of 2021, she began her website notyouraveragecistory.com where she publishes a monthly blog post covering transgender museum studies, queer and transgender history, as well as other subjects that influences her practice.
Not Your Average Cistory
In 2014, Time Magazine declared that we were past the Transgender Tipping Point. Since then, museums have been slow to catch up. Transgender inclusion is often still left on the fringes, considered only during Pride month and as an off shoot of larger Queer programming.
This results in inclusion that does not discuss our lives on our terms. By looking to transgender studies, we can find examples and discussions that can inform what a future transgender museum studies can look like.