Who was Willmer “Little Axe” Broadnax? For three decades he was a popular gospel singer, one whose powerful tenor voice belied his diminutive frame. But he also carried a secret his entire life: Broadnax was a transgender man, something only he and his older brother, Willie (a.k.a. “Big Axe”), knew until the former’s death in 1992.

The Broadnax brothers’ little-known story is explored in Little Axe, one of five short films profiling transgender pioneers as part of the digital docu-series We’ve Been Around.

The series, which debuts today across EW, PEOPLE, Essence, and the Advocate, was created by Rhys Ernst (a co-producer on Transparent) and Focus Features, which released The Danish Girl (out now on Blu-ray, DVD, and VOD) last fall. (The film, about the lives of transgender pioneer Lili Elbe and her wife Gerda Wegener, won star Alicia Vikander an Oscar for playing Wegener on Sunday.)