Building a better world for transpeople: Reed Erickson and the Erickson educational foundation

International Journal of Transgenderism

Volumn 10, Issue 1, 2007, Pages 47-68

  Devor, Aaron H ^a   Matte, Nicholas ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA   (Canada)

^b UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO   (Canada)

Author keywords

Activism; Erickson Educational Foundation; Funding; Harry Benjamin; History; Reed Erickson; Transsexualism; Zelda Suplee

Indexed keywords

EID: 36549036729     PISSN: 15532739     EISSN: 14344599     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1300/J485v10n01_07     Document Type: Review

References (125)

1. Concerning the EEF (pamphlet), Erickson Educational Foundation, n.d., 2.
2. There were sporadic efforts over the years to perhaps solicit donations, but this was never successfully developed. The EEF newsletter welcomed contributions towards printing costs, but very few (if any) seem to have been made. The Spring 1972 EEF newsletter did announce that one transwoman had willed her estate to the foundation to support their work on transsexualism, although she likely didn't die before the EEF dissolved, and this announcement was the only one of its kind and an anomaly rather than the norm.
3. Aaron Devor and Nicholas Matte, "ONE Inc. and Reed Erickson: The Uneasy Collaboration of Gay and Trans Activism, 1964-2003," GLQ 10.2, 2004: 179-209; also see ONE National Gay & Lesbian and Archives at www.oneinstitute.org.
4. Psychology Today, September 1980, "The Gospel According to Helen," 74-90: 77.
5. Several editions of A Course in Miracles has been published and it is now available around the world in 13 languages; for more information, see the Foundation for Inner Peace web site at http://www.acim.org.
6. Each of these authors have made extensive and considerable contributions to their fields; for more information, see their personal web sites at www.jeanhouston.org, www.robertmasters.org, www.stanleykrippner.org and www.johnclilly.org.
7. In many places we refer to trans people in general, but it should be noted that the EEF's focus was (in terms of trans issues) specifically directed at transsexualism. This focus also had an impact on trans people in general, though, and reflected then medical thinking about which types of trans people could most successfully be integrated into society, themselves "helped," and how this could occur.
8. Other works which discuss or mention the EEF include Aaron Devor and Nicholas Matte, "ONE Inc. and Reed Erickson: The Uneasy Collaboration of Gay and Trans Activism, 1964-2003," GLQ 10.2 (2004): 179-209;
9. Holly Devor, "Reed Erickson (1917-1992): How One Transsexed Man Supported ONE," in Before Stonewall: Activists for Gay and Lesbian Rights in Historical Context, ed. Vern Bullough (London and New York: Harrington Park Press, 2002): 383-392;
10. Janice M. Irvine, Disorders of Desire: Sex and Gender in Modern American Sexology (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1990);
11. Members of the Gay and Lesbian Historical Society of Northern California, "MTF Transgender Activism in the Tenderloin and Beyond, 1966-1975: Commentary and Interview with Elliot Blackstone," GLQ 4.2 (1998): 349-372;
12. Joanne Meyerowitz, How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States (Cambridge and London: Harvard University Press, 2002);
13. Susan Stryker, "Portrait of a Transfag Drag Hag as A Young Man: The Activist Career of Louis G. Sullivan," in Reclaiming Genders: Transsexual Grammars at the Fin de Siecle, ed. Stephen Whittle and Kate More (London: Cassell, 1999): 62-82;
14. Deborah Rudacille, The Riddle of Gender: Science, Activism, and transgender Rights (New York: Pantheon, 2005).
15. Interview with Jody Carrigan, 7/12/1997.
16. Interview with James Lorio, 7/23/1997; Erickson underwent chest surgery in Tijuana in 1957 or 1958. He also underwent further surgeries in New York and Baltimore in 1965; his medical records do not indicate that any surgeries took place in Casablanca.
17. Confidential Interview (7/26/1997)
18. Leah Cahan Schaefer and Connie Christine Wheeler, "Harry Benjamin's First Ten Cases (1938-1953): A Clinical Historical Note," Archives of Sexual Behavior 24.1 (1995), 73-93: 74.
19. Serlin, David. Replaceable You: Engineering the Body in Postwar America (University of Chicago Press, 2004): 186.
20. Hamburger, Christian. The Desire for Change of Sex as Shown by Personal Letters From 465 Men and Women, Acta Endocrinologica 14 (1953), 361-375.
21. Serlin, David. Replaceable You: Engineering the Body in Postwar America (University of Chicago Press, 2004)
22. D.B. to Harry Benjamin (1/9/1972), Kinsey Institute Archives, Harry Benjamin Collection: Box 3.
23. Many early medical and activist efforts centered around distinguishing between homosexuality, transvestism and transsexualism. See, for example, C.V. Prince, "Homosexuality, Transvestism and Transsexualism: Reflections on their Etiology and Differentiation," American Journal of Psychotherapy (November 1957): 80-85.
24. Indeed, most of Harry Benjamin's early work focused entirely on this question. For a discussion of the history of the term "transsexual," see Joanne Meyerowitz, How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States (Cambridge and London: Harvard University Press, 2002).
25. Benjamin, Harry. "Introduction," in Transsexualism and Sex Reassignment Surgery, ed. by Richard Green and John Money (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1969): 5.
26. A few individuals had experimented with various types of procedures to modify a person's sex over the course of the twentieth century, most notably at Magnus Hirschfeld's Institute for Sexual Science in Berlin in the early Twentieth Century; see Joanne Meyerowitz, How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States.
27. Confidential email from D.L., 6/4/2004.
28. Confidential email from F.G., 1/19/2004.
29. "In Manhattan," EEF Newsletter 5.4 (Winter 1972), 4.
30. "New L.A. Association," EEF newsletter 6.1 (Spring 1973): 5.
31. "TS-TV Organizations," EEF Newsletter 9.1 (Summer 1976): 3.
32. Concerning the Erickson Educational Foundation Pamphlet, n.d.
33. The Erickson Educational Foundation, Pamphlet, n.d.
34. "Progress," EEF Newsletter 4.3 (Fall 1971): 2.
35. "Gratifying Progress-and Help Wanted," EEF Newsletter 3.2 (Fall 1970): 2.
36. "Medical Network for Transsexuals," EEF Newsletter 2.2 (Fall 1969): 1.
37. "Gratifying Progress-and Help Wanted," EEF Newsletter 3.2 (Fall 1970): 2.
38. "Progress," EEF Newsletter 4.3 (Fall 1971): 2.
39. Interview with Sarah Santana, 12/11/1997.
40. In her memorial for Harry Benjamin, Jorgensen said "I encountered a mountain of mail and I do mean a mountain-thousands and thousands of letters, many of which were from people who had problems that were similar to mine . . . needless to say, I could recommend Harry to all these thousands of people who contacted me. So suddenly the deluge fell onto poor Harry's shoulders."; Christine Jorgensen, "Memorial for Harry Benjamin," Archives of Sexual Behavior 17.6 (December 1988): 24-26.
41. Confidential email from M.M., 3/20/2004.
42. "Identification for Cross-Dressing," EEF Newsletter 3.2 (Fall 1970):3.
43. "On Citizenship," EEF Newsletter 5.4 (Winter 1972):1.
44. "Religious Conferences," EEF Newsletter 4.2 (Summer 1971): 1.
45. "In Little Rock," EEF Newsletter 7.1 (Spring 1974): 2.
46. "On the Agenda," EEF Newsletter 7.1 (Spring 1974): 4.
47. "College Class Presentations," EEF Newsletter 5.2 (Summer 1972); 3.
48. Interview with Wendy McKenna and Suzanne Kessler, 12/28/1997
49. Interview with Wendy McKenna and Suzanne Kessler, 12/28/1997
50. For example, in 1971, the EEF congratulated Wendy Kohler on her recent sex reassignment surgery, and in 1975 it wished Harry Benjamin a Happy 90th birthday.
51. Interview with Leonore Tiefer, 7/24/1997.
52. See, for example, www.the-sisterhood.net/id22.html, www.susans.org/ reference/gfam6.html, www. sexuality.org/l/incoming/eetrans.htm, www.genderweb.org/general/ts-inf.phtml.
53. Zelda Suplee to Reed Erickson, 1/27/71, Erickson Family Collection.
54. "Religious Pamphlets," EEF Newsletter 4.4 (Winter 1971): 2; Religious Aspects of Transsexualism, Erickson Educational Foundation (1972 and 1978), 1.
55. Religious Aspects of Transexualism, 1.
56. Religious Aspects of Transexualism, 1.
57. "On the Legal Front," EEF Newsletter, 3.1 (Spring 1970): 2.
58. Legal Aspects of Transsexualism . . ., Erickson Educational Foundation, p#? to those transexuals who so generously provided information from their personal experiences with legal and administrative procedures" from Legal Aspects and Admin procedures
59. Information on Transexualism for Law Enforcement Officers, Erickson Educational Foundation (1974): 4.
60. Information on Transsexualism for Law Enforcement Officers, 4.
61. Anonymous, "My Daughter Changed Sex," Good Housekeeping, May 1973, n.p.
62. Roland H. Berg, "The Transsexuals: Male or female?" LOOK (January 27, 1970): 29.
63. Interview with James Lorio, 7/23/1997.
64. Interview with Sarah Santana, 12/11/1997.
65. "Mail Response to LOOK Article," EEF Newsletter, 3.1 (Spring 1970): 1.
66. Letter from a Brother, Erickson Educational Foundation, n.d., 1.
67. "In Washington, D.C.", EEF Newsletter, 6.1 (Spring 1973): 4.
68. The program was to air every second Friday at 2pm on KQED-FM; "On-the-Street Radio Series," EEF Newsletter, 3.1 (Spring 1970): 2.
69. "Pioneer Seminar on Transsexualism," EEF Newsletter, 3.1 (Spring 1970): 1.
70. "A Pretty Girl not Always a Melody," EEF Newsletter, 3.1 (Spring 1970): 1.
71. "Thank you MGM-TV," EEF Newsletter, 8.2 (Winter 1975): 1.
72. Also note that throughout the 1960s and 1970s there were two widely-used spellings of the word "transsexual," which could be spelled with either one "s" or two. The EEF newsletter even addressed this situation for confused readers in its Fall 1971 edition in an article called "What's in an S?"; EEF Newsletter, 4.3 (Fall 1971): 2.
73. "I am not this Body," EEF Newsletter, 3.2 (Fall 1970): 2.
74. "New Jersey Next," EEF Newsletter, 4.2 (Summer 1972): 1.
75. "An EEF First at SUNY," EEF Newsletter, 4.4 (Winter 1971): 2.
76. "Connecticut Presentation," EEF Newsletter, 5.1 (Spring 1972): 1.
77. "In Chicago," 5.2 (Summer 1972): 1.
78. "Film Honored," EEF Newsletter, 5.1 (Spring 1972): 2.
79. "Minnesota Film Honored," EEF Newsletter, 5.2 (Summer 1972): 3.
80. "In Sarasota," EEF Newsletter, 5.2 (Summer 1972): 2.
81. "Minnesota Film Honored," EEF Newsletter, 5.2 (Summer 1972): 3.
82. "New Film Available," EEF Newsletter, 6.2 (Fall 1973): 3.
83. "Audio-Visual Aids," EEF Newsletter, 9.1 (Summer 1976), 2.
84. Concerning the EEF (pamphlet), Erickson Educational Foundation, n.d., 2.
85. "In San Francisco," EEF Newsletter 5.2 (Summer 1972): 2.
86. "And Then There's The Voice...," EEF Newsletter, 3.1 (Spring 1970): 4.
87. "Recent Grants," EEF Newsletter, 8.1 (Spring 1975): 6.
88. Interview with Anke Ehrhardt, 7/24/1997.
89. Harry Benjamin to Frances Khan, December 3, 1964: Erickson Family Collection; EEF Minutes, August 27, 1964: Erickson Family Collection.
90. See, for example, Harry Benjamin, "The Transsexual Phenomenon," Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences, Series II, 29.4 (February 1967): 428-30.
91. Richard Green and John Money, "Preface," in Transsexualism and Sex Reassignment Surgery ed. by Richard Green and John Money (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1969): xv.
92. Harry Benjamin, "Introduction" in Transsexualism and Sex Reassignment Surgery, ed. by Richard Green and John Money (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1969), 1-10: 8.
93. Thomas Buckley, "Change of Sex Surgery Begun at Hopkins," New York Times, November 21, 1966: 1.
94. Johns Hopkins University Office of Institutional Public Relations, "Statement on the Establishment of a Clinic for Transsexuals at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions," November 21, 1966 in Transsexualism and Sex Reassignment Surgery, ed. Richard Green and John Money (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1969): 267-269.
95. "Gratifying Progress and Help Wanted," EEF Newsletter 3.2 (Fall 1970): 2.
96. Boston Gender Identity Service: "Boston Also Serves," EEF Newsletter 9.1 (Summer 1976): 5.
97. Interview with Bryant Vehrs, (8/18/99); Robert W. Deisher, M.D. to RE and the Staff of the Erickson Educational Foundation (2/10/77), Erickson Family Collection; "Seattle Counseling Service Expands," EEF Newsletter 3.2 (Fall 1970): 4;
98. "Johns Hopkins Jottings," EEF Newsletter 4.4 (Winter 1971): 3.
99. "Boston Also Serves," EEF Newsletter 9.1 (Summer 1976): 5.
100. For example, in the EEF's 1973 pamphlet An Outline of Medical Management of the Transexual, it wrote that "the most prestigious of these clinics is currently accepting only ten to twelve patients a year, and has a waiting list of some 600. At this rate, it would be fifty years before all those now waiting could be accommodated!" (3).
101. Information for the Family of the Transexual, Erickson Educational Foundation (1971), 7.
102. It wrote in its 1973 pamphlet An Outline of Medical Management of the Transexual that gender identity clinics were in an extremely vulnerable position "if unsuccessful treatment or mistaken diagnosis produces adverse publicity." (3)
103. The Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association was formed for "improved care of the patient, education and increased, perhaps lifetime, contacts among [members of the organization]"; Donald Laub, "From the Association President," Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association Newsletter 1.1 (Spring 1983): 1. HBIGDA today remains the main professional organization for people who work with trans people. It also sets the HBIGDA Standards of Care for Gender Identity Disorders, which guide the treatment of many gender dysphoric patients. See http://www.hbigda.org/soc.cfm.
104. An alliance had been made between the Erickson Educational Foundation and the Albany Trust through Dorr Legg of ONE inc., a homophile group in Los Angeles that was funded by the EEF. The Albany Trust was a British group founded in 1954 "to promote psychological health through research, education and social action," in response to the Wolfenden report; interview with Antony Grey, 08/23/1999.
105. "Transcript of Press Conference following First International Symposium on Gender Identity (Sunday, 27 July 1969)," 1-25.
106. Second International Symposium on Gender Identity (Pamphlet), n.d., 6.
107. Second International Symposium on Gender Identity (Pamphlet), n.d., 6.
108. Second International Symposium on Gender Identity Programme, n.d., 2.
109. Second International Symposium on Gender Identity (Pamphlet), n.d., 3.
110. Edgerton, Milton. "Introduction" in Proceedings of the Second Interdisciplinary Symposium on Gender Dysphoria Syndrome, ed. by Donald Laub and Patrick Gandy (Stanford: Division of Reconstructive and Rehabilitative Surgery), 1974: 3
111. "The Symposium," in Proceedings of the Second Interdisciplinary Symposium on Gender Dysphoria Syndrome, ed. by Donald Laub and Patrick Gandy (Stanford: Division of Reconstructive and Rehabilitative Surgery), 1974: 247.
112. Reed Erickson, "Foreword" in Proceedings of the Second Interdisciplinary Symposium on Gender Dysphoria Syndrome, ed. by Donald Laub and Patrick Gandy (Stanford: Division of Reconstructive and Rehabilitative Surgery), 1974: i.
113. Third International Symposium on Gender Identity Program, Erickson Educational Foundation, n.d.
114. For example, the 7th International Gender Dysphoria Symposium, which took place in Lake Tahoe, March 4-8, 1981, and was sponsored by the University of Nevada-Reno (Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Division of Continuing Education) and HBIGDA offered participants several accreditation options: physicians could use it to count towards "20 hours in Category 1 of the Physician's Recognition Award of the American Medical Association"; nurses from California and Nevada could use it to count towards 20 hours of their relicensing requirements, and other health care professionals would be issued certificates. Participants could also opt to pay $23 for one academic credit in either undergraduate or graduate course work, with the completion of additional work.
115. "Association Newsletter," EEF Newsletter 10.1 (Spring 1983), 2;
116. "Deep Appreciation, HBIGDA Newsletter 1.1 (Spring 1983), 1.
117. Paul Walker (as president of HBIGDA) to Reed Erickson, January 9, 1981; Erickson Family Collection.
118. "Foundation Future," EEF Newsletter 7.1 (Spring 1974): 1.
119. Suplee sent out a mass announcement of the EEF's closing to members of its mailing list, and received many letters of condolence.
120. Paul Walker to Reed Erickson, "Project Proposal," March 28, 1980, and Walker to RE, July 24, 1980; Erickson Family Collection.
121. "Now in San Francisco," EEF Newsletter 10.1 (Spring 1983): 5.
122. Paul Walker to Reed Erickson, April 24, 1980, Erickson Family Collection; Paul Walker to Dorr Legg, February 12, 1981, Erickson Family Collection.
123. In 1983, the EEF gave at least $29,878 to Lilly's Human/Dolphin Foundation at Marine World in San Francisco and $15,000 to the Marine Mammal Center.
124. All financial figures come from the Erickson Educational Foundation Financial Ledger (1983); Erickson Family Collection.
125. Robert Farino, Erickson Educational Foundation Grant Application (approved, October 1983); Erickson Family Collection; Erickson was also involved in helping Dr. Farino's with legal troubles when Farino was arrested for having performed Sex Reassignment Surgeries in Brazil; see HBIGDA Newsletter 1.2 (Summer 1983): 2.