The 1920s and early 1930s Germany enjoyed a kind of intellectual and social renaissance, as unbridled culture reached out toward all that fascinated it. Richard von Krafft-Ebing and then Havelock Ellis had unlocked the door to serious study of non-heteronormative behaviour, even if they and their studies weren’t always taken seriously or dignified in some medical circles. Ellis’ book, Sexual Inversion was the first serious English medical exploration of homosexuality, and many of his other studies delved into autoeroticism, narcissism, and things that are now classified as fetishes and paraphilias (Ellis himself became fond of “Undinism,” a fetish involving the sight of a woman urinating). Magnus Hirschfeld followed in these steps.
The fields of Psychiatry, Psychology and other social sciences were in their infancy. Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung were defining the field. In the midst of this, homosexuality was “coming out,” Hirschfeld’s “Institute for Sexual Science” in Berlin initiated forays both clinical and surgical into studies of transgender, homosexual and other behaviour, and there was some amount of libertarianism circulating among the upper- and educated classes.
But the rise of the National Socialist (Nazi) Party to power would drive much of this underground until the final third of the century. One of the first priorities of Hitler’s regime was to attack Hirschfeld’s work, which was at a conjunction between what was considered “sexual perversion and permissiveness” and what Hitler at first thought to be a “Jewish science,” namely psychoanalysis.
1933 - A few months after Hitler assumes power in Germany, Hirschfeld’s Institute for Sexual Science is vandalized and looted by a mob of Nazi “students.” On May 6th, its archives of books, photographs, research documents and more are seized - 4 days later, they would be burned publically in Opera Square. The physicians and researchers involved with the clinic flee Germany, or in some cases commit suicide, unable to otherwise escape. Magnus Hirschfeld had moved to Paris by this time, and dies in exile in Nice, of a heart attack on his 67th birthday.
1937 - The Pink Triangle is first used as a symbol to denote homosexuals (the symbol applied to all GLBT persons, with no differentiation made or recognized; in the 1970s, the Pink Triangle would metamorphosize into a symbol of defiance and solidarity in the GLBT community). Prisoners in Nazi concentration camps are made to wear triangular patches identifying their status: green for criminals, yellow for Jews, red for Communists, blue for illegal émigrés, purple for Jehovah’s Witnesses, black for “antisocials” (GLBT people were also sometimes interned with the black triangle if homosexuality was only suspected), brown for gypsies, and pink for “homosexuals.” In the hierarchy that developed, pink was near the bottom, and GLBT persons suffered extremely high death rates - they were also commonly used in medical experiments.
1938 - Di-Ethyl Stilbestrol (DES) is introduced into chicken feed as a means of increasing meat production. Later, it is marketed to pregnant women as a “vitamin” to help prevent miscarriages (an unsubstantiated claim). Prescriptions for this purpose ceased in 1973, because by the 1970s, this drug became linked to endometriosis, uterine cancer, ovarian cancer and infertility in female children. It has more recently been linked to intersex conditions and transsexuality, but not conclusively, and scientific researchers have shown only limited interest in delving further into such Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs).
1941 - PremarinÆ (conjugated estrogens from pregnant mares) is first marketed in Canada (the U.S. follows in two years).
The phrase “drag queen” first appears in print, although it had been used as theater and gay culture slang as early as the 1870s, and “drag” appeared alone in print in 1914. It is thought to be a shortening of “dressed as girl,” versus the alternately used “drab,” from “dressed as boy.”
1942 - Dr. Harry Klinefelter first diagnoses Klinefelter’s Syndrome, a condition caused by a chromosome nondisjunction in males; affected individuals have XXY chromosomes instead of XY, and are at additional risk for some medical conditions. Patients with Klinefelter’s Syndrome can be (but are not always) characterized by effeminate appearance, sterility, some gynecomastia (breast tissue growth) and occasional transgenderism.
1946 - The Garden of Allah opens in the basement of the Arlington Hotel, in Seattle’s Pioneer Square. It is not the first gay cabaret club, but becomes fairly well-known and is chronicled in the book, An Evening at the Garden of Allah: A Gay Cabaret in Seattle.
1948 - Harry Benjamin is introduced by Alfred Kinsey to a boy who wants to become a girl, and whose mother seeks a treatment to assist, rather than thwart the child. The following year, he begins treating transsexuals in San Francisco and New York with hormones. The Institute for Sexual Science had not previously done this; the treatment was entirely new.
1949 - Michael Dillon becomes the first female-to-male transsexual to complete sex-change operation procedures after a series of 13 pre-phalloplasty operations performed in London over a four-year period. Phalloplasty for FTM transsexuals would not be coherently developed for a single surgery until 1958.
1951 - Roberta Cowell has the first known vaginaplasty performed in the U.K. A few other European physicians also resurrect the procedure, developed from earlier German research.
1952 - Christine Jorgensen (May 30, 1926 - May 3, 1989) is “outed” to the American press, and becomes the subject of great controversy. Her surgery had been performed earlier by Dr. Christian Hamburger in Copenhagen, Denmark. She hadn’t wanted to become a public spectacle, but spent her remaining years educating people about transsexuals. She was assigned the now-classic headline: “Ex-GI Becomes Blonde Bombshell”.
1953 - Ed Wood Jr.’s film “Glen or Glenda” appears, providing a surprisingly sincere attempt to understand transgenderism, despite its bizarre and schlocky B-movie trappings. The movie was purportedly inspired by Christine Jorgensen. Wood would later become rather famous in Hollywood circles for being a transvestite.
1955 - Dr. John Money, a psychologist, writes the first of many papers in the Bulletin of the Johns Hopkins Hospital which will establish for him a reputation as a pioneer in the field of sexual development, and proposes the theory that gender identity develops primarily as a result of social learning from early childhood.
Dame Edna Everidge first appears in a Melbourne comedy revue in 1955. At this time she is known as “Mrs. Norm Everage”. She goes on to become an Australian figure of note in the 1990s.
1958 - The first complete phalloplasty for gender reassignment purposes is performed by Dr. Judy T. Wu in Bratsk, Russia. Previously, the procedure had only been devised for men who had experienced amputations, particularly during WWI, with some early attempts to develop FTM procedures in the decade preceding. Phalloplasty would still not become very refined until the 1970s, when additional aspects such as a pump for creating erections would be devised for injured Vietnam veterans. Phalloplasty for female-to-male transsexuals is more complicated for someone not having the original infrastructure, as the organ and its function are not easy to replicate mechanically.
1960 - Virginia (Charles) Prince begins publishing Transvestia Magazine. She also founds Los Angeles’ Hose and Heels Club, which counts 12 crossdressers as members, and another organization that develops into Tri-Ess (“The Society for the Second Self”). These organizations are thought to be the first modern transgender support groups, and the magazine is the first publication for and by transgender people. She proceeds with a strong belief, however, in “heterosexual crossdressing” (i.e. crossdressers who are only attracted to women) and excludes “gay” or “bisexual” crossdressers from her groups, as well as transitioning transsexuals. Prince eventually goes on to live full-time as female, but Tri-Ess still does not allow full membership for androphiles (people who are attracted to men) or MTF transsexuals to this day.
1961 - José Sarria becomes the first gender transgressive person to run for public office (he does not identify as being trans). A legendary drag queen, Sarria received 5,600 votes when running for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Sarria proclaimed himself “Her Royal Majesty, Empress of San Francisco, Jose I, The Widow Norton,” the latter being a reference to the 19th Century Joshua Norton, who had colorfully proclaimed himself Emperor of the United States. This led to the 1965 founding of the Imperial Court System, a non-profit charitable organization of mostly drag queens that continues to this day to raise funds and awareness for other charities and people in need. Based on Sarria’s model, another Court materialized in Vancouver, Canada in 1971, followed by many more in many major cities across North America. Sarria also later appears with other drag queens in the opening portion of the motion picture, “To Wong Foo: Thanks For Everything - Julie Newmar.”
1965 - David Reimer is born (named Bruce, by his parents). The following year, his penis is burned up to the base during a circumcision accident. He is taken to the Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore to see John Money, who recommends that Reimer be raised and socialized as a girl. An orchiectomy is performed, and Reimer is raised with the name “Brenda.” Reimer’s case would later have a major impact on the practice of medically assigning gender for those with genital ambiguities or related incidents.
1966 - Harry Benjamin publishes The Transsexual Phenomenon, a medical text that pioneers the medical treatment of transsexuality. Although he hadn’t coined the word “transsexual,” it became the term of choice following this publication, with relation to transgender people who need to live full-time as their identified gender, and alter their bodies.
Johns Hopkins Medical Center opens the first Gender Clinic, under John Money’s guidance. Although Money’s beliefs and writings cause severe damage with regards to intersex children and gender reassignment at birth, he also champions gender reassignment surgery (SRS) in adults, and the clinic becomes the mecca for gender transition. Much of the surgical work from this time would pioneer SRS techniques. Money’s legacy would be a mixed blessing / curse to the transgender cause, and seed some division between intersex and transgender people as a consequence.
One hot August night in San Francisco, the management at Gene Compton’s Cafeteria call police to deal with an unruly table of transpeople, hustlers, and down-and-outers (a typical segment of their clientele). When they attempt to arrest one of the drag queens, she throws coffee in his face, and a riot ensues, spilling out into the street. Although transgender (and gay pride) activism wouldn’t be galvanized until the Stonewall riot of 1969, the Compton’s riot would help set the stage for the movement, as well as be a spark to draw the San Francisco GLBT communities together earlier than elsewhere, making the city a cultural mecca for alternate sexualities. The story of Compton’s Cafeteria is not well known, but told in the documentary Screaming Queens. After the riot, (now-Sgt.) Elliot Blackstone, who had been appointed the first liaison to the GLBT community in 1962, educates many on the Police force, helping the city to become one of the most trans-friendly environments in the world. Blackstone also helps to organize San Francisco’s first transgender support group.
Mid 1960s through the ‘70s - Reed Erickson (1917 - 1992) founds the Erickson Educational Foundation, which supports many research projects that don’t fit into the usual categories of grants... parapsychology, dolphin / human communication, human potential movement, and transsexuality. Erickson’s financial support makes much of the work of Harry Benjamin and John Money’s Gender Clinic at Johns Hopkins possible. Although rumours abound for years, it isn’t until after his death that friends and family admit that he was a female-to-male transsexual.
1968 - The International Olympic Committee (IOC) begins chromosome testing of female athletes, effectively banning transsexuals and some intersexed individuals (some of whom were fertile as female, with children) from competition, until 2002.
As Western culture neared the 1970s, a flashpoint was building up, as evidenced by the Compton’s Cafeteria riot. While there had been some improvement in the lot of transsexuals (universities begin opening clinics for treating them, and surgeries were extended to non-intersexed transsexuals), a larger community was growing impatient with a system that relentlessly tried to shut them all in a suffocating closet. 1969 would change that.
Next: Stonewall and It’s Fissures.
Partial Bibliography:
Much of this had been compiled over time, and not all the sources have been recorded. Some online sources have been involved as well, although I search for more corroboration in these cases.
• Bullough, Vern: Homosexuality: A History From Ancient Greece to Gay Liberation
• Califia, Patrick: Sex Changes: The Politics of Transgenderism
• Colapinto, John: As Nature Made Him: The Story of a Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl
• Currah, Paisley; Richard M. Juang and Shannon Price Minter: Transgender Rights
• Feinberg, Leslie: TransGender Warriors
• Fletcher, Lynne Yamaguchi: The First Gay Pope (and other records)
• Kessler, Suzanne; and McKenna, Wendy: Gender: An Ethnomethodological Approach
• Rudacille, Deborah: The Riddle of Gender
• Walker, Barbara: various works
• Williams, Walter: The Spirit and the Flesh


Mercedes Allen is a writer who blogs at http://dentedbluemercedes.wordpress.com/, has been featured on bilerico.com, PageOneQ and others, and has also developed the website at AlbertaTrans.org as a resource for transgender information and support.