Upstate IHS

LGBT History Highlight Day 30: Max Wolf Valerio

Max Wolf Valerio is an American poet, memoir writer, essayist and actor.

Valerio was born in February of 1967 in Heidelberg, West Germany. Valerio identifies his mother as being of Blackfoot descent & his father is Hispano from Taos, New Mexico. Valerio is a “Treaty Indian” enrolled in the Kainai Band (Blood Band), Treaty 7, in Alberta Canada. His mother is from the Kainai Reserve, AKA the Blood Reserve. Valerio's father was in the United States Army for 20 years, which caused them to move frequently in the United States and Europe.

Growing up Max had a hard time relating to girls. He felt that he did not fit in because of his masculine nature and at times would offer to play male roles, which went unapproved by the girls that he was attempting to play with. Valerio imagined himself as a boy when growing up and could not imagine himself growing into a woman. In 1988, after discussions with a transmale friend and roommate, Valerio realized that he may be trans as well. Max found the FTM Organization in San Francisco run by Lou Sullivan and started attending meetings. Valerio was amazed by the other transmasculine people he encountered and started exploring his identity.

In 1989, Max began his personal transition journey. Valerio describes his initial exposure to information on trans identities to be exceptionally transphobic. The first book Valerio picked up was Female-to-Male Transs*xualism by Leslie Lothstein. The second book being, Janice Raymond's book The Transs*xual Empire. He states that these books paint transmen out to be mentally ill, broken, or victims of the patriarchy. From these experiences, Max decided to write his own memoir, The Testosterone Files describing the psychological, physiological, and social transformation that occurred in the first five years of his journey.

One of the main themes of the book is the role of testosterone in his transition. The book is organized into three parts: "Beginning," "Before Testosterone," and "After Testosterone." In the prologue, Valerio uses an in-depth narration for the reader to give a sense of what it is like to be trans. Valerio discusses the physical changes occurring that have allowed him to understand what it feels like to experience ‘masculinity.’ The second section, "Before Testosterone", shows what led Valerio to decide to transition. Valerio describes the cultural and ethnic backgrounds of his mother and father. The third section, "After Testosterone", is one written so that the readers can feel Valerio's emotional, social, and perceptual transition from female to male.

Valerio has written several other books and numerous works of poetry as well as participated in multiple documentaries about his experiences. Allowing individuals to have a positive understanding of what it means to be a transman and to ‘transition.’

LGBT History Day 25: Emma D'Arcy

Emma D'Arcy is an English actor known for their roles in Wanderlust, Truth Seekers & House of the Dragon.

D'Arcy was born on 27 June 1992 in the North London Borough of Enfield. In year six, they played Titania in a school production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, which they credit for introducing them to acting. They studied Fine Art at the Ruskin School of Art and graduated in 2011. While at university, they took up theatre where they started as a set designer and moved into acting and directing.

D'Arcy has appeared in several theatre productions; their earliest appearances were in Martin McDonagh's The Pillowman at the Oxford Playhouse & Romeo and Juliet at London's Southwark Playhouse. In 2016, D'Arcy played Tammy Frazier in Callisto: A Q***r Epic, directed by Thomas Bailey, at the Arcola Theatre. They went on to star in several other productions in London before returning to the Arcola theatre as Lucrezia in an adaptation of Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway. D'Arcy was lauded for their "striking" performance.

D'Arcy made their television debut as Naomi Richards in the Netflix series, Wanderlust. Following this they took on roles in two more Amazon Prime releases; Hanna and Truth Seekers. In December 2020, it was announced that D'Arcy had been cast as Rhaenyra Targaryen in the HBO fantasy series House of the Dragon, a Game of Thrones prequel and adaptation of George R. R. Martin's companion book Fire & Blood. D'Arcy admitted that while they had been aware of Game of Thrones, they had not actually seen the House of the Dragon predecessor until after being cast in the role of Rhaenyra. They had however read Fire & Blood.

House of the Dragon’s ten-episode first season debuted in August 2022. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, executive producer Ryan Condal revealed D'Arcy's Rhaenyra to be, House of the Dragon's most important character, with director Miguel Sapochnik labeling D'Arcy "the face of the show." D'Arcy's take on the character was an instant hit garnering them widespread critical acclaim with critics including it among some of the best performances of the year.

In November 2022, D'Arcy was honored by GQ as one of the breakout stars of the year. That same year, they were ranked as the number one breakout star of the year on IMDb's list of top breakout stars. For their performance of Rhaenyra Targaryen, they received a nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama, but lost out to Zendaya for her role in Euphoria. In 2023, The Huffington Post included D'Arcy on its list of rising stars and in April of that year, they were ranked fifth on the Radio Times list of the top 100 most influential people in television.