1970s
“The 1970s and 1980s saw a large increase in the number of private doctors who performed sexual reassignment” (Reicherzer 2008, p. 337). However, in early 1970 Justice Ormrod annulled a transsexual marriage and declared April Corbett to be “legally still a man despite sex reassignment”(Transgender History, 1970).
Sex therapy as a psychiatric specialty evolves from the work of William Masters and Virginia Johnson, who revised Freud’s work on theories of orgasm (Transgender History,1970). The 1970s also ‘saw a rise in criticism from within the profession by other medical and mental health professionals who decried the lack of follow- up for transsexual clients who utilized university-based gender identity clinics. This led to the closing of the GIC at Johns Hopkins in 1979 and to the eventual demise of many university-based gender clinics. Privatized service became the more accessible sexual reassignment surgery route” (Reicherzer 2008, p. 337).
In 1974, Jan Morris, a British Journalist, published Conundrum, a personal account of her transition. A famous transsexual tennis player, Renee Richards, was outed in 1976 and barred from the sport. “Her subsequent legal battle establishe[d] that transsexuals are legally accepted in their new identity after reassignment in the US.” [Transgender History, 1976)
In 1979, Harry Benjamin established a team of surgeons, psychiatrists, and psychologists known today as the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (Reicherzer 2008, p. 334). A television series aired on the BBC in 1979 called “A Change of Sex,” which illuminated the transition process and highlighted the ignorance of psychologists on the subject (Transgender History, 1979).
By the end of the 1970s more than 1,000 transsexuals had undergone sexual reassignment surgery in the USA (Reicherzer 2008, p. 334).
Sex therapy as a psychiatric specialty evolves from the work of William Masters and Virginia Johnson, who revised Freud’s work on theories of orgasm (Transgender History,1970). The 1970s also ‘saw a rise in criticism from within the profession by other medical and mental health professionals who decried the lack of follow- up for transsexual clients who utilized university-based gender identity clinics. This led to the closing of the GIC at Johns Hopkins in 1979 and to the eventual demise of many university-based gender clinics. Privatized service became the more accessible sexual reassignment surgery route” (Reicherzer 2008, p. 337).
In 1974, Jan Morris, a British Journalist, published Conundrum, a personal account of her transition. A famous transsexual tennis player, Renee Richards, was outed in 1976 and barred from the sport. “Her subsequent legal battle establishe[d] that transsexuals are legally accepted in their new identity after reassignment in the US.” [Transgender History, 1976)
In 1979, Harry Benjamin established a team of surgeons, psychiatrists, and psychologists known today as the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (Reicherzer 2008, p. 334). A television series aired on the BBC in 1979 called “A Change of Sex,” which illuminated the transition process and highlighted the ignorance of psychologists on the subject (Transgender History, 1979).
By the end of the 1970s more than 1,000 transsexuals had undergone sexual reassignment surgery in the USA (Reicherzer 2008, p. 334).
References
“Transgender History.” transgenderzone.com. 2011. Transgender Zone.
Reicherzer, Stacee. "Evolving Language And Understanding In The Historical Development Of The Gender Identity Disorder Diagnosis." Journal Of LGBT Issues In Counseling 2.4 (2008): 326-347.
Reicherzer, Stacee. "Evolving Language And Understanding In The Historical Development Of The Gender Identity Disorder Diagnosis." Journal Of LGBT Issues In Counseling 2.4 (2008): 326-347.
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