America’s Favorite Nonbinary Preacher

Someone could say that they were…revolutionary.

During the latter days of the American Revolution, a genderless prophet called the “Public Universal Friend” drew audiences of hundreds to tell them that the apocalypse was near. They had lived as a woman named Jemima Wilkinson until they fell ill from a fever and recovered claiming to have been reincarnated by God by a genderless spirit. Although many followers referred to the Friend using he/him pronouns, they simply signed letters as “Public Universal Friend” or “the Friend”.