Transgender person

Among humans at least, a transgender person was someone whose gender did not align with that which they were assigned at birth. The term was used as an adjective, often shortened to simply "trans".

Mickey Smith had a trans friend called Sally Salter, who was part of his Bad Wolf band. (PROSE: Rose) Jack Harkness once had a transgender co-worker, Vanessa, who previously went by the name Vincent, something that perplexed Jack. (TV: Greeks Bearing Gifts)

Eleanor Blake, an accomplished mathematician who met the Seventh Doctor and entered a brief romantic relationship with Chris Cwej, was a trans woman who lived through the 1940s. She went on to travel with Alpha Wheeler throughout space to escape the discrimination she faced in Earth.(AUDIO: The Jabari Countdown)

Because gender was commonly assigned at birth, (TV: Day of the Moon, Father's Day) trans people like Sally Salter (PROSE: Rose) and Eleanor Blake came to realise that they had always been a different gender to that which they had been told. Despite others' non-acceptance, Eleanor was fully aware that she had "always been Eleanor". (AUDIO: The Jabari Countdown) In the mid-2000s, Sally had to cut ties with her family in order to begin living life as herself. She found affirmation with her friends and bandmates, together known as Bad Wolf, and a safe space in which to sleep at Mickey's one-bedroom flat. (PROSE: Rose)

Earth takes its time on too many things, and [trans rights] is one of them. Not in this century, I'm afraid. Though the next one is.. a little better.Seventh Doctor

Though, according to the Seventh Doctor, circumstances would improve "a little" by the 21st century for trans people, Eleanor had to hide her identity in order to survive in the 1940s. In fact, Eleanor faced violence and discrimination on account of her gender. She was surprised to find Chris Cwej so accepting, noting how he "didn't even blink", but held little hope for changes to come within her lifetime.

Coming as he did from the 30th century, Chris did not understand the fuss about assigned genders. As he explained to Eleanor, on first finding out she was a trans woman, "it seems a bit stupid to care about little stuff like that", considering the breadth of the universe, and all the dangers and variety to be found therein. (AUDIO: The Jabari Countdown)

Cassandra O'Brien.Δ17 also once claimed to Rose Tyler that she had once been "a little boy" on Earth, although she was notoriously prone to misusing words and knowledge from her early Earthly life. (TV: The End of the World)

Conall Lethbridge-Stewart knew some people who were trans and had told his younger sister, Lucy Wilson. (PROSE: Sweet Revenge)

Tania Bell was transgender, and had a relationship with fellow Eighth Doctor companion Liv Chenka. (AUDIO: Must-See TV, Wild Animals)

Some non-binary people were also considered transgender, such as Calypso Jonze. (AUDIO: The Lovecraft Invasion)

Behind the scenes

Writers

In 2011, trans woman Lilah Sturges wrote the IDW comic story A Fairytale Life. Sturges, who had not yet come out as transgender at the time, was credited by her birth name for the story.

In 2018, Juno Dawson, another trans woman, wrote the novel BBC New Series Adventures novel, The Good Doctor. Also during this time, Niki Haringsma wrote A Scene and What Keeps Their Lines Alive.

Actors/Actresses

In 2015, Bethany Black became the first openly trans actress to be cast in an episode of Doctor Who, series 9's Sleep No More. She played the role of 474.

Rebecca Root would play companion Tania Bell, the first trans companion in the Doctor Who universe, as well as several other roles of cisgender characters.