STEMFrom continues to celebrate Pride all month long with special blog posts about the LGBTQ+ community! Today’s post will delve into the history of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), with a focus on its usage and history as gender affirming care for trans folx!
Late 1910s-1933:
Magnus Hirschfield opened the world's first gender clinic in 1919. He and other professionals strived to aid the transgender community and to conduct gender and sexuality research. This clinic was where the first forms of HRT were distributed to trans folx as gender affirming care.
Following years of hard work and dedication, the Institute met a tragic end at the hand of the Nazi Party in 1933. The clinic was ransacked, and all documents were destroyed--effectively silencing and disrupting trans growth. Hirschfield's work would lay the grounds for movements and medicinal advances in the years to come, regardless of the loss of the clinic.
1940s:
The earliest instances of HRT post-Hirschfield era have traces in “treating” intersex individuals, although this has been clearly deemed as unethical medical practices by current clinicians. (CW for medical malpractice if researched further.)
Michael Dillon makes trans history by being one of the first transgender men to undergo gender affirming surgeries and hormone therapy in Europe.
1950s-1970s:
Chistine Jorgensen heavily influences the creation and development of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) via accessing gender affirming care that included estrogen hormone delivery.
1966:
The John Hopkins Gender Clinic opens, making waves in transgender healthcare. Their services included hormone therapy, counseling, and gender affirming surgeries.
1979:
Janice Raymond releases "The Transsexual Empire," a deeply transphobic tome condemning transgender people and their existence. As a result, Dr. Paul McHugh (director of psychiatry at John Hopkins at the time) opted to close the gender clinic entirely. Coverage of these incidents led many critics to claim that patients would come to "regret" their decisions to transition. (Since then, statistics have proven less than 1% of trans individuals regret medical transition.)
Early 1980s:
Ronald Reagen's Department of Health and Human Services declares gender affirming care as "experimental" and bans coverage of it by federal insurance such as Medicare and Medicaid.
2000s:
The informed consent model for gender affirming care is developed by several clinics. Numerous trans people partook in studies to further research to aid the creation of this model as well.
The informed consent model assures that anyone interested in HRT knows all effects and features of testosterone and estrogen respectively before beginning treatment.
2022- Present:
Setbacks from harmful legislation (specifically in the U.S and UK, other colonized countries) begin to pose threats to HRT access. There have been many major wins, but the fight is ongoing.
STEM From once again wishes you a Happy Pride Month! If you enjoyed this post, check out the rest of our posts from this year’s Pride month! Subscribe to our newsletter for more content!
Sources:
Gender-Affirming Care Has a Long History in the U.S.
Comentarios