I reflect on my experience as a genderqueer lecturer teaching queer and trans studies in higher education, including an encounter with the humorous depiction of a trans woman in Sam Selvon’s novel The Lonely Londoners. These reflections arise in a broader context of transphobia in Britain, which I illustrate through a 2025 consultation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission following a UK Supreme Court ruling that negates trans existence by limiting the definition of “man” and “woman” to “biological sex.” Thinking through my initial response to Selvon’s text in today’s context leads me to a search for further resources to inform my understanding of Black LGBT history and my subsequent teaching in this field.