The following article was written by your Editor and through the assistance of Dr. HarryBenjamin whose help is gratefully acknowledged, was published in the January 1957 issue of the American Jour. of Psychiatry XI, 80 (57) It is reproduced here in the hope that it may stim- ulate thinking and discussion by other readers.

HOMOSEXUALITY, TRANSVESTISM AND

TRANSSEXUALISM

Reflections on their Etiology and Differentiation C.V. Prince, Ph.D.

Preamble

The author of this article has a Ph.D. degree in a biological science. He is also a lay student of psychology. Yet, his competence to write on a sexological subject may be questioned were it not for the fact that Dr. Prince is a transvestite himself, and has been since about his 12th year. His sexual orientation is strictly heterosexual. He has a child by a previous marriage and is presently very happily married to a woman who knows and understands his problem. Dr. Prince is known to me personally. I have met him in his male as well as his female role. I have had lengthy and stimulating discussions with him. He is highly educated with a fine cultural background.

Having studied his own case and many others of the same type, and having read extensively on the subject, Dr. Prince feels that he has something of value to offer. His article neither proves nor disproves the exis- tence of a predisposing constitutional factor in the deviations he discusses. Since his theories seem to me to be plausible enough as an attempt to elaborate on psychological conditioning, they are herewith presented to a forum of psychoanalysts and psychologists. Harry Benjamin M.D.

New York, N.Y.

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