42.

Sex Cenship in MEDICINE

Preface by Harry Benjamin M.D.

New York and San Francisco

The following article "The Unfree", was written by one of my Fatients, William J. O'Connell. He is a man in his late twenties, of slight and somewhat feminine build, rather good-looking and in all probability even better looking when dressed in female attire. To be a woman is this man's greatest desire. He is well aware that sex, being determined at the moment of conception, cannot be changed. However, he wants to avail himself of everything medical science has to offer, to be made as much a female as possible, so that he can dress and live the life of a woman, freely and without fear of any laws.

His tale is one of deep frustration. From my own observation I can vouch for the truth of his statements and for the correctness of all essential details. His distressing if not tragic experience has been sufficiently embarrassing to me (and undoubtedly to those of my colleagues who tried to help him), as to justify these intro- ductory remarks.

These remarks are born of my indignation over bigotry and its resulting injustice. As the distressful events unfolded, I became painfully aware of the betrayal not only of democratic principles, but also of medical ethics. What has become of the physician's duty to help a patient, even if he could not cure him? What has happened to our right of self-determination? Where is individual freedom and our guaranteed right to the pursuit of happiness? The se are the questions now in my mind, as I write down some of my thou- ghts.

Censorship in matters of sex is traditionally severe, often excessive in countries of Anglo-Saxon culture and a Judeo-Christian philosophy. In the United States the added heritage of puritanism has produced examples of sex censorship that run the gamut from the tragically absurd to the outright comical. Such censorship could hardly exist, were it not for our antiquated, unscientific sex laws that were conceived in ignorance and religious superstition and are only too often enforced with a fanaticism that allows neither wis- dom nor tolerance nor common sense.