Harry Benjamin's first ten cases (1938-1953): a clinical historical note

• Published in: Archives of sexual behavior Vol. 24; no. 1; pp. 73 - 93
• Main Authors: Schaefer, L C, Wheeler, C C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Kluwer Acacemic/Plenum Publishers 01.02.1995; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Benjamin; Benjamin, Harry; Cross-dressers; Female; Gender Identity; H Benjamin; History; History of medicine; History, 20th Century; Humans; Male; Patients; Psychiatry - history; Social research; Transsexualism - history; Transsexualism - therapy; Transvestism - history; Transvestism - therapy; United States; United States
• ISSN: 0004-0002; 1573-2800
• DOI: 10.1007/BF01541990

The value in studying Dr. Harry Benjamin's first gender dysphoria patients is in learning how they described themselves--without any books to read, without any other source of information, assuming that he or she was alone and unlike anyone else in the world--and before hardly any literature on the subject had been published. Just as today, Benjamin's earliest patients came to him self-diagnosed. Even without the terminology currently available, their early descriptions of this unique phenomenon are identical with cross-gender identity patients who present themselves today: a recognition of the condition very early in their lives; the attempts at cross-dressing; the secrecy; the guilt; the unsuccessful attempts at suppressing desires and feelings; the episodic and continuous purging. These early individuals who suffered from gender conflicts had discovered Benjamin who would try to understand their unusual dilemma and be a barometer and a guide for the changes they would make. Their early individualistic perceptions provided insights that led to the birth of a new discipline. These 10 people must be lauded for their courage in seeking a description and a solution for a phenomenon that had no description and no treatment.