Among the ‘ordinary people’ in the past, who constitute the focus of this issue of Teaching History, will be many who have not conformed to the gender norms of their own time. For trans historian Onni Gust, encountering one such individual – Paul Downing – in the London Archives was a deeply moving experience that she went on to share with sixth-form students in a powerful interdisciplinary collaboration with history teacher Lucy Capes, and Black trans artist Remi Graves. This article presents the results of their collaboration, a lesson exploring Paul’s life in its own right and within the broader context of colonial and trans history. The authors’ hope is that the example of this lesson will provide a useful starting point for teachers considering teaching trans histories and help them to do so in ways that fully humanise characters from the past, helping all young people to reflect on their own identities and how they are constructed...