Kate Bornstein
A gender outlaw and joyful revolutionary who taught a generation that identity is a playground, not a prison.
Born 1948 (age 78)·American author, playwright, performance artist, and gender theorist·Birthday: March 15·Baby Boomers
Biography
Kate Bornstein's life is a map of radical self-invention. Assigned male at birth and once a devoted Scientologist, she underwent gender-affirming surgery in the 1980s and then boldly stepped outside the binary altogether, declaring herself neither man nor woman. Her 1994 book 'Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women, and the Rest of Us' became a foundational text, blending memoir, theory, and play to challenge rigid categories with wit and accessibility. Bornstein is a survivor in the fullest sense, having written candidly about anorexia, PTSD, and a cancer diagnosis, framing her struggles through a lens of relentless curiosity and compassion. As a performer and playwright, she brings her theories to life on stage, creating a persona that is part wise elder, part mischievous trickster, guiding others to find freedom in the spaces between.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Kate was born in 1948, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Kate Was Born
The biggest hits of 1948
#1 Movie
The Red Shoes
Best Picture
Hamlet
#1 TV Show
Texaco Star Theatre
Kate's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1948Born
Israel declares independence; Berlin Blockade begins
Gas: $0.26/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Twelfth Street Rag" — Pee Wee HuntBest Picture: Hamlet
1953Started school
DNA structure discovered by Watson and Crick
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,750Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Song from Moulin Rouge" — Percy FaithBest Picture: From Here to Eternity
1961Became a teenager
Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,500Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Tossin' and Turnin'" — Bobby LewisBest Picture: West Side Story
1964Could drive
Civil Rights Act signed; Beatles arrive in America
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $13,450Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"I Want to Hold Your Hand" — The BeatlesBest Picture: My Fair Lady
1966Could vote
Star Trek premieres on television
Gas: $0.32/galHome: $14,200Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"The Ballad of the Green Berets" — SSgt Barry SadlerBest Picture: A Man for All Seasons
1969Turned 21
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1978Turned 30
First test-tube baby born
Gas: $0.63/galHome: $35,300Min wage: $2.65/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Shadow Dancing" — Andy GibbBest Picture: The Deer Hunter
1988Turned 40
Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $74,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Faith" — George MichaelBest Picture: Rain Man
1998Turned 50
Google founded; Clinton impeachment
Gas: $1.06/galHome: $107,300Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Too Close" — NextBest Picture: Shakespeare in Love
2008Turned 60
Barack Obama elected first Black US president; financial crisis
Gas: $3.27/galHome: $153,100Min wage: $6.55/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Low" — Flo RidaBest Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
2018Turned 70
Royal wedding of Harry and Meghan; Parkland shooting
Gas: $2.72/galHome: $211,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"God's Plan" — DrakeBest Picture: Green Book
2026Age 78 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Authored the influential book 'Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women, and the Rest of Us,' a key text in queer and gender theory.
- Wrote the groundbreaking play 'Hidden: A Gender,' which explores transgender identity and experience.
- Publicly identified as non-binary and helped popularize the concept long before it entered mainstream discourse.
- Received a Lambda Literary Award for their work in transgender literature.
Did You Know?
Bornstein was a member of the Church of Scientology for nearly two decades before leaving in the early 1980s.
They have a tattoo that reads 'sterile' in gothic lettering, a reclamation of a term used on their post-surgery medical documents.
They appeared as themselves in an episode of the HBO series 'Sex and the City.'
Bornstein studied theater at Brown University and the University of California, Santa Cruz.
“"Do whatever it takes to make your life more worth living. Just don't be mean."”
