Trans & Gender-Affirming Music
Artists who are transgender, non-binary, or whose music speaks directly to the trans experience — from underground pioneers to Grammy winners.
Trans Women
Kim Petras, Ethel Cain, SOPHIE, Arca, Laura Jane Grace, Anohni, Shea Diamond, Mykki Blanco, Peppermint, Ezra Furman.
Trans Men & Transmasc
Cavetown and Beverly Glenn-Copeland — bedroom pop and ambient folk, separated by four decades and united by trans joy.
Non-Binary & Genderqueer
Sam Smith, Dorian Electra, Yves Tumor, Janelle Monáe — artists exploding the gender binary from pop to avant-rock.
Queer & Cis Allies
Lady Gaga, Chappell Roan, Lil Nas X, Troye Sivan, Reneé Rapp, Girl in Red, Todrick Hall, Kacey Musgraves.
Historical Pioneers
Sylvester, Wendy Carlos, Jayne County, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Prince — the foundations everything else is built on.
Extended Universe
Perfume Genius, Christine & the Queens, Big Freedia, Honey Dijon, Robyn, Cher.
Trans Women
Ten trans women artists spanning pop, punk, avant-garde electronic, art pop, soul, hip-hop, musical theatre, and indie rock. Each has contributed something irreplaceable — to music and to visibility.
Trans Men & Transmasc
Two artists across bedroom pop and ambient folk whose work has been foundational for transmasc visibility — one beloved by a generation of queer youth, one rediscovered by the world after four decades.
Non-Binary & Genderqueer
Sam Smith, Dorian Electra, Yves Tumor, and Janelle Monáe — four artists whose music, imagery, and public identity explode the gender binary and open space for everyone inside it.
Queer & Cis Allies
Lady Gaga, Chappell Roan, Lil Nas X, Troye Sivan, Reneé Rapp, Girl in Red, Todrick Hall, and Kacey Musgraves — queer and cis artists whose music has been central to the LGBTQ+ experience and who actively speak to and for the trans community.
Historical Pioneers
Sylvester, Wendy Carlos, Jayne County, David Bowie, Lou Reed, and Prince — artists who built the foundation before the language to describe it even existed. Without them, none of the rest of this archive exists.
Extended Universe
Perfume Genius, Christine and the Queens, Big Freedia, Honey Dijon, Robyn, and Cher — six artists from the broader world of queer and gender-expansive music whose influence on the trans community runs deep.