The Trans Man Mapping Project was started in February 2009 and was one of the original motivations for creating TransGuys.com. The first version of the map was built using the Platial.com mapping service. It garnered a lot of publicity and a year later had almost 2000 markers from trans men all over the world. Sadly, Platial closed doors in March 2010 and provided little advance notice. As a result, the original map data was lost. Version 2.0 of the Trans Man Mapping Project was a custom application launched in March 2010 and built using the Google Maps API v2. It was also very popular and amassed a total of 1601 markers. In 2014, Google started migrating map applications to API v3, which requires significant upgrades of the Mapping Project code. Rather than commit to the upgrade, the decision was made to archive the Trans Man Mapping Project.
Five years after its conception, the Mapping Project no longer seemed relevant. When it was launched, finding ways to connect with other trans men online was much more difficult and the map served as an important reminder in lonely times that “we are everywhere.” Today however, trans men with an Internet connection can find community all over YouTube and Facebook, as well as scores of forums and mailing lists. In that light, the archiving of the Trans Man Mapping Project is something to celebrate.
Now We Rise
And We Are Everywhere
– Nick Drake
