Harry Benjamin, Hormones, and the Early History of Transgender Medicine - IHPST Colloquium

German-American endocrinologist Harry Benjamin (1885–1986) is a pivotal figure in the development of transgender medicine. He wrote the influential 1966 book, The Transsexual Phenomenon, one of the first texts to provide a detailed clinical discussion of transgender identity and argue for compassionate care. In this presentation, Alison Li situates the emergence of transgender healthcare in the context of the development of endocrinology. The science of hormones not only provided tools for medical gender transition but a striking vision of the body as malleable.