With Harry Benjamin, I interviewed transsexual patients in 1965-1966. I contributed a chapter to his landmark Transsexual Phenomenon. With John Money, I co-edited the first multidisciplinary text in 1969, Transsexualism and Sex Reassignment. With Robert Stoller, I surveyed physicians’ attitudes toward transsexualism in the 1960s. The majority would not endorse sex change even if it meant that the patient would otherwise suicide. I do not know how many transsexuals I have clinically assessed during 40 years. But, I do know there has been an unpredictable evolution engaging transsexualism. Academy Award films portray transsexuals, television serials and talk shows regularly feature them, and transsexuals are prominent physicians, entertainers, religious leaders, writers, and scholars. Transgenderism has become increasingly prominent, as have persons identified as a third sex or with none at all. This presentation charts the metamorphosis of Harry Benjamin’s transsexual phenomenon from my initial perspective in his 1960s New York office to my twelve years at the world’s largest gender identity program—London’s Charing Cross Hospital.
Conflict of Interest: None disclosed
Financial Support/Funding: None disclosed
Recorded: Sydney, Australia, April 2007
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