Baltimore Center Stage launches national Trans History Project

Baltimore Center Stage, Maryland’s State Theater, made headlines in March when it refused to comply with newly issued National Endowment for the Arts guidelines designed to restrict arts organizations from presenting programming that would promote ideas like diversity, equity, inclusion, and “gender ideology.” 

While the NEA would later rescind those guidelines, Baltimore Center Stage had already put their shoulder to the wheel. Within a month, they announced a new national initiative that was already in the works, the Trans History Project. 

The brainchild of Baltimore Center Stage Artist-in-Residence Bo Frazier, the Trans History Project aims to develop 10 new plays about the history of gender nonconformity, drawing from a national pool of artist applicants. In all, 10 transgender and gender non-conforming writers will be placed in two-year development residencies across the country. 

The first round of applications closed in May, with 165 applications for five spots in the first cohort. Applications for the second cohort are expected to open in late 2025. 

“We were absolutely astounded by the response to the announcement,” Frazier said. “Obviously there are only a few open slots, but I cannot wait to get to know all these talented artists across the country.”

Playwrights will develop original plays exploring the stories of TGNC historical or folkloric figures, with the goal of telling stories that have largely been lost to history. While people like Stormé DeLarverie, Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Jackie Shane, and Pauli Murray lead many rosters of significant TGNC figures, applicants were encouraged to draw on stories that delve deeper. 

“The purpose of this project is not only to pay TGNC artists and boost representation, but also to prove, hopefully once and for all, that we have always existed, the binary isn’t real and that anti-trans hatred is the thing that has not always existed,” Frazier said. 

The first cohort of playwrights will be announced in July. Each selected recipient receives a $10,000 commission fee and development support from a coalition of regional theaters across the U.S. In the first year of their cohort, each playwright is guaranteed a reading of their play; in the second, each will workshop their play and explore staging with one of the project’s partner theaters, which include Baltimore Center Stage as well as Diversionary Theatre in San Diego, Rattlestick Theater in New York City, and Round House Theatre in Bethesda.

“Each one of the projects will also be paired with a dramaturg or research assistant to help with the project,” Frazier said. “There will also be a cohort check-in to share our work and create a true cohort experience, and both cohorts will come together for an annual convening in Baltimore starting summer 2026.”

The Trans History Project is something of a dream come true for Frazier, who began developing the idea in 2018. 

“My original vision was to create one play with many playwrights creating a vignette play similar to [Stephen] Sondheim’s ‘Assassins,’ each one of them writing one vignette about a gender nonconforming person from their culture,” they said. “I mentioned it to a dear friend of mine and they told me to ‘dream bigger’ — and thus this specific project was born.”

As Frazier began looking for a home for the project, Stevie Walker-Webb was named artistic director at Baltimore Center Stage. 

“I wanted the Trans History Project to bridge the gap between new play development and theatrical production, so I knew it needed a large theatrical institution like Center Stage,” said Frazier. “I think I waited a month into his tenure to pitch the project and [Walker-Webb] was ecstatic at the idea. It really fit his creative vision.”

Walker-Webb, a Tony Award-nominated and Obie Award-winning director, joined Baltimore Center Stage in 2023, building on a career already devoted to merging theater arts and advocacy for marginalized populations. 

“The Trans History Project is part of our broader commitment at Baltimore Center Stage to center marginalized voices in the cultural conversation,” Walker-Webb said. “We’re excited and expectant that the work emerging from this project will be innovative, visionary, and artistically groundbreaking.”

Baltimore Center Stage’s commitment affirms Frazier’s vision, even as other organizations equivocate under continued political pressure. 

“We stand behind our values so boldly and explicitly in ways that other theaters are too afraid of,” Frazier said. “The Trans History Project unfortunately lost one of our regional theater partners two weeks before we announced the project. Their board of directors saw my quote about Trump’s attacks on the trans community and were afraid to lose their funding from corporations and local organizations who may support theatre, but not true inclusion. It was saddening, but made me truly grateful to work for the theater not afraid to stand up for what is right.”

The U.S. trans community has experienced an increasing barrage of cultural and legislative attacks in recent years. Legislation and guideline changes regarding public accommodation, health care, competitive sports, and arts programming have been introduced more frequently. According to the Trans Legislation Tracker, 910 anti-trans bills have been introduced in the U.S. so far in 2025, with 103 passing into law; up from 701 bills introduced and 51 passing into law in all of 2024. 

“In my lifetime, it has sadly always been scary to be outwardly trans & gender non-confirming,” said Frazier. “At this moment, to see the current administration win on an anti-trans ticket focusing on fake issues and attacking the most vulnerable population is pretty horrifying.”

But Frazier sees this political moment as an opportunity to focus on their work as a way to build community and elevate trans voices in spite of it all. 

“That is why I fought tooth and nail to make this project happen,” they said. “I am determined to keep fighting and make a difference.”