Harry Benjamin was an endocrinologist and gerontologist who emigrated to the United States during the First World War. He is best known for his clinical work with transsexuals and as the author of 1966 text The Transsexual Phenomenon, which defined the clinical syndrome and argued for compassionate medical hormonal and surgical treatment in select cases.

Just as it is impossible to imagine the study of Black history without the contributions of Black scholars, or the study of homosexuality devoid of the writings of gay men and lesbians, it has become impossible for there to be meaningful study of transsexualism or crossdressing without input from those who have been directly affected.

Photo by Jean Lewis. A missing transgender archive containing a considerable portion of the community’s historical documents has surfaced after having vanished for seven years.
At the recent meeting of The World Professional Association for Transgender Health held in Atlanta in September, sociologist Aaron Devor gave a presentation in which he announced the acquisition of the collection of the Rikki Swin Institute’s extensive holdings by the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada.
Dr. Devor said an official announcement of the new holdings will be made after the first of the year.
In 2000 the newly-formed U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit Rikki Swin Institute purchased personal papers of Virginia Prince, Betty Ann Lind, Ariadne Kane, and Merissa Sherrill Lynn. Virginia Prince (1913-2009) was an activist who started a number of organizations for crossdressers and published the landmark magazine Transvestia, which launched in 196o. Betty Ann Lind 1931-1998) was publisher of the magazine Our Sorority and director of Fantasia. Fair. Ariadne Kane (1944-) founded and was executive director of The Outreach Society and was director of Fantasia Fair for many years. Merissa Sherrill Lynn (ca 1936-) was a founder of Boston’s Tiffany Club, Founding Director of the International Foundation for Gender Education, and the first editor of Transgender Tapestry Journal. The Swin Institute also purchased the historical and archival material of IFGE.

HBIGDA’s initial membership included no transsexual or transgendered members. They were simply not allowed. However, the organization, now called The World Professional Association for Transgender Health, has moved from a medical model of transsexualism to a transgender wellness model and transgendered and transsexual people are now fully integrated into membership and leadership positions.

Featured video by Joni Christian: It Gets Better… Really! When Joni Christian was a little boy, she prayed every day that God would change her into a girl.
The Ursuline High School graduate got her wish with the help of hormone therapy and surgery at age 26. This November marked a milestone for Christian: 36 years as a woman, 10 years longer than she was a male.
The process of gender reassignment, although a seemingly radical transformation, was Christian’s salvation, despite the ridicule, sarcasm and shunning she experienced when she returned to the life she once lived as a man. Women she worked with at General Motors Lordstown assembly plant circulated a petition to keep her out of the restroom; men stared and hurled cruel remarks.