Harry Benjamin, Hormones, and the Early History of Transgender Medicine

Dr. Alison Li will present Harry Benjamin, Hormones, and the Early History of Transgender Medicine
 
Abstract: 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.
 
Alison Li is a historian of science and medicine and the author of  Wondrous Transformations: A Maverick Physician, the Science of Hormones, and the Birth of the Transgender Revolution. She has a BSc in biochemistry from McGill and an MA and PhD in the history and philosophy of science and technology from the IHPST, University of Toronto. Her current project is Molecules of Influence: Hormones and our Lives for Reaktion Press. You can visit her website: https://alisonli.com/