In 1958, a trans woman who went by “Agnes Torres” outsmarted the system to attain gender-affirming healthcare. Thanks to her resourcefulness, she received hormones and corrective surgery from a UCLA gender study led by sociologist Harold Garfinkel. The remarkable case of a nineteen-year-old trans woman who made a life for herself has since served as a template for generations of trans folks to follow. Torres’ courageous maneuver is celebrated by many for exposing the performative nature of gender, a fragile social construct that can be dismantled.
A poetic fusion of fact and fiction, “Framing Agnes” borrows Torres’ case to revisit other trans individuals who have faded into obscurity, but have
