Sexual intermediacy

At the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, Magnus Hirschfeld championed the doctrine of sexual intermediacy. This proposed form of classification said that every human trait existed on a scale from masculine to feminine. Masculine traits were characterized as dominant and active while feminine traits were passive and perceptive. The classification was further divided into the subgroups of sex organs, physical characteristics, sex drive or sexuality, and psychological characteristics. Hirschfeld’s belief was that all human beings possess both masculine and feminine traits regardless of their sex. In fact, he believed that no one was fully masculine or fully feminine but rather a blend of the two. A man with a female sex drive, for example, would be homosexual, whereas someone with male sex organs and mostly female psychological characteristics would likely be transgender.

• Dose 2014, p. 68–69.

Hirschfeld originally used the term “sexual intermediaries” in the late nineteenth century to refer mostly to homosexual men and lesbians. However, this later expanded to include intersex people, cross-dressers, and transsexuals.

• Beachy 2014, p. 169–170.

His concept of broad sexual intermediacy among humans has been traced to roughly similar ideas held by Charles Darwin and Galen of Pergamon.

• Green, Jamison (2020-01-31). “History, Societal Attitudes, and Contexts”. In Schechter, Loren S. (ed.). Gender Confirmation Surgery: Principles and Techniques for an Emerging Field. Springer Nature. pp. 1–22. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-29093-1. ISBN 978-3-030-29093-1. S2CID 210986290.

Transsexuality and transvestism

Magnus Hirschfeld coined the term transsexual in a 1923 essay, Die Intersexuelle Konstitution. This identified the clinical category which his colleague Harry Benjamin would later develop in the United States; only about thirty years after its coining by Hirschfeld did the term enter wider use, with Benjamin’s work. Hirschfeld also originally coined the term transvestite in 1910, and he sometimes used the term “extreme transvestites” or “total transvestites” to refer to transsexuals.

• Green, Jamison (2020-01-31). “History, Societal Attitudes, and Contexts”. In Schechter, Loren S. (ed.). Gender Confirmation Surgery: Principles and Techniques for an Emerging Field. Springer Nature. pp. 1–22. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-29093-1. ISBN 978-3-030-29093-1. S2CID 210986290.
• Ekins, Richard; King, Dave (April 2001). “Pioneers of Transgendering: The Popular Sexology of David O. Cauldwell”. The International Journal of Transgenderism. 5 (2). Archived from the original on 28 April 2006.
• Crocq, Marc-Antoine (2021-01-01). “How gender dysphoria and incongruence became medical diagnoses – a historical review”. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience. 23 (1): 44–51. doi:10.1080/19585969.2022.2042166. ISSN 1958-5969. PMC 9286744. PMID 35860172.
• Holmes, Morgan (2016-04-22). Critical Intersex. Routledge. pp. 132, 176. ISBN 978-1-317-15730-4.
• Mak, Geertje (2022-08-27). “The Sex of the Self and Its Ambiguities, 1899–1964”. In McCallum, David (ed.). The Palgrave Handbook of the History of Human Sciences. Springer Nature. pp. 423–433. doi:10.1007/978-981-15-4106-3. ISBN 978-981-16-7255-2. S2CID 242987098.
• Beachy 2014, p. 177–178.

Transgender people were on the staff of the institute as receptionists and maids, as well as being among the clients there. Various endocrinologic and surgical services were offered, including an early modern sex reassignment surgery in 1931. In fact, “a majority” of transvestites expressed “the wish to be castrated“, according to one PhD student that studied there. Hirschfeld originally advised against sexual reassignment surgeries, but came to support them as a means of preventing suicide among transsexual patients.

• Stryker, Susan (2017-11-07). “A Hundred-Plus Years of Transgender History”. Transgender History: The Roots of Today’s Revolution (2nd ed.). Basic Books. ISBN 978-1-58005-690-8. Archived from the original on 23 December 2021.
• Beachy 2014, p. 175–178.
• Green, Jamison (2020-01-31). “History, Societal Attitudes, and Contexts”. In Schechter, Loren S. (ed.). Gender Confirmation Surgery: Principles and Techniques for an Emerging Field. Springer Nature. pp. 1–22. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-29093-1. ISBN 978-3-030-29093-1. S2CID 210986290.
• Crocq, Marc-Antoine (2021-01-01). “How gender dysphoria and incongruence became medical diagnoses – a historical review”. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience. 23 (1): 44–51. doi:10.1080/19585969.2022.2042166. ISSN 1958-5969. PMC 9286744. PMID 35860172.
• Mak, Geertje (2022-08-27). “The Sex of the Self and Its Ambiguities, 1899–1964”. In McCallum, David (ed.). The Palgrave Handbook of the History of Human Sciences. Springer Nature. pp. 423–433. doi:10.1007/978-981-15-4106-3. ISBN 978-981-16-7255-2. S2CID 242987098.

Ludwig Levy-Lenz, the institute’s primary surgeon for transsexual patients, also implemented an early form of facial feminization surgery and facial masculinization surgery. Additionally hair removal treatments using the institute’s X-ray facility were developed, though this caused some side effects such as skin burns.

•  Beachy 2014, p. 176–178.

Professor of history Robert M. Beachy stated that, “Although experimental and, ultimately, dangerous, these sex-reassignment procedures were developed largely in response to the ardent requests of patients.” Levy-Lenz commented, “[N]ever have I operated upon more grateful patients.”

• Beachy 2014, p. 178.

Hirschfeld worked with Berlin’s police department to curtail the arrest of cross-dressers and transgender people, through the creation of transvestite passes. These were issued on behalf of the institute to those who had a personal desire to wear clothing associated with a gender other than the one assigned to them at birth.

• Beachy, Robert; Gross, Terry (17 December 2014). “Between World Wars, Gay Culture Flourished In Berlin”. NPR. Retrieved 2017-09-13.
• Beachy 2014, p. 106.
• Matte, Nicholas (2005-10-01). “International Sexual Reform and Sexology in Europe, 1897–1933”. Canadian Bulletin of Medical History. 22 (2): 253–270. doi:10.3138/cbmh.22.2.253. ISSN 2816-6469. PMID 16482697.

Homosexuality

A compilation of works about homosexuality could be found at the institute. The institute’s collections included the first comprehensive such compilation of works about sexuality. Different from the Others, a film co-written by Hirschfeld that advocated greater tolerance for homosexuals, was screened at the institute in 1920 to audiences of statesmen. It also received a screening at the institute before a Soviet delegation in 1923, who responded with “amazement” that the film had been considered scandalous enough to censor.

• Ridinger, Rob B. (2000). “Archives, Institutes, Libraries, and History Projects”. In Murphy, Timothy F. (ed.). Reader’s Guide to Lesbian and Gay Studies. Taylor & Francis. pp. 51–52. doi:10.4324/9781315062518. ISBN 9781135942410. Archived from the original on 2000.
• Beachy 2014, p. 164–167.
• Tamagne, Florence (2007). “Liberation on the Move: The Golden Age of Homosexual Movements”. A History of Homosexuality in Europe, Vol. I & II: Berlin, London, Paris 1919-1939. Algora Publishing. pp. 59–104. ISBN 978-0-87586-357-3.
• Healey, Dan (2012-04-26). Homosexual Desire in Revolutionary Russia: The Regulation of Sexual and Gender Dissent. University of Chicago Press. pp. 132–138. ISBN 978-0-226-92254-6.

Working off of the research of Eugen Steinach, who had recently succeeded in reversing the sexual behavior of animal test subjects, the institute once tested whether or not transplanting the testicles from a heterosexual man to a homosexual man would cure homosexuality. This method of “curing” homosexuality more often than not grew necrotized and resulted in the testicles having to be castrated (‘more often than not’ sure sounds like more than once…or twice). The practice was abandoned by the institute by 1924. Hirschfeld — who was homosexual himself — viewed homosexuality as natural and inborn, rather than an illness. The experiments were in fact intended to demonstrate the biological basis of homosexuality in the influence of sex hormones.

• Dose 2014, p. 73–74.
• Bullough, Vern L.; Bullough, Bonnie (2014-01-14). Human Sexuality: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 274. ISBN 978-1-135-82502-7.
• Beachy 2014, p. 150–151.
• Beachy 2014, p. 175.

The institute put adaption therapy into practice as a far more humane and effective method than conversion therapy, as a means of helping patients cope with their sexuality. Rather than attempting to cure a patient’s homosexuality, the focus was instead placed on helping the patient learn to navigate a homophobic society with the least discomfort possible. While the doctors at the institute could not outright recommend illegal practices (and, at this time, most all homosexual acts were illegal in Germany), they also did not promote abstinence. They made an effort to help their gay patients find a sense of community, either with other patients, through the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, or through a network of venues known to the institute that were aimed at gay men, lesbians, and cross-dressers. Additionally, the institute offered them general psychological and medical assistance.

• Tamagne, Florence (2007). “Liberation on the Move: The Golden Age of Homosexual Movements”. A History of Homosexuality in Europe, Vol. I & II: Berlin, London, Paris 1919-1939. Algora Publishing. pp. 59–104. ISBN 978-0-87586-357-3.
• Dose 2014, p. 75.
• Beachy 2014, p. 180.

Intersexuality

The institute presented expert reports about cases of intersex conditions. Hirschfeld is considered to have been a pioneer in this area of study.

• “Magnus Hirschfeld and HKW”. Haus der Kulturen der Welt. Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
• Holmes, Morgan (2016-04-22). Critical Intersex. Routledge. pp. 132, 176. ISBN 978-1-317-15730-4.
• Mak, Geertje (2022-08-27). “The Sex of the Self and Its Ambiguities, 1899–1964”. In McCallum, David (ed.). The Palgrave Handbook of the History of Human Sciences. Springer Nature. pp. 423–433. doi:10.1007/978-981-15-4106-3. ISBN 978-981-16-7255-2. S2CID 242987098.

He advocated for the right of intersex individuals born with ambiguous genitalia to choose their own sex upon reaching the age of eighteen, and indeed assisted intersex people in attaining sex reassignment surgeries. However, he sometimes also advocated strategic sex assignment at birth, on a scientific basis.

• Davies, B.; Funke, J. (2011-03-01). Sex, Gender and Time in Fiction and Culture. Springer. p. 136. ISBN 978-0-230-30708-7.
• Wallach, Kerry (2017-08-22). Passing Illusions: Jewish Visibility in Weimar Germany. University of Michigan Press. p. 171. ISBN 978-0-472-12300-1. Archived from the original on 8 August 2022.

Photographs of intersex cases were among the collections at the institute — these were used as part of an effort to demonstrate sexual intermediacy to the average layperson.

• Bauer, Heike (2014). “Burning Sexual Subjects: Books, Homophobia and the Nazi Destruction of the Institute of Sexual Science in Berlin”. In Partington, Gill; Smyth, Adam (eds.). Book Destruction from the Medieval to the Contemporary. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 17–33. doi:10.1057/9781137367662_2. ISBN 978-1-137-36766-2. Retrieved 2022-10-07.

Bibliography

• Dose, Ralf (2014). Magnus Hirschfeld: The Origins of the Gay Liberation Movement. New York University Press. ISBN 978-1-58367-439-0. JSTOR j.ctt9qg6t2. OCLC 870272914.
• Beachy, Robert (2014). Gay Berlin: Birthplace of a Modern Identity. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-307-47313-4.
• Wolff, Charlotte (1986). Magnus Hirschfeld: A Portrait of a Pioneer in Sexology. Quartet Books. ISBN 978-0-7043-2569-2. OCLC 16923065. USHMM: bib31255.

Further reading

• Isherwood, Christopher. (1976) Christopher and His Kind, 1929-1939, 1st edition. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Full text on OpenLibrary.
• Blasius, Mark and Phelan, Shane ed. (1997) We Are Everywhere: A Historical Source Book of Gay and Lesbian Politics (See the chapter: “The Emergence of a Gay and Lesbian Political Culture in Germany” by James D. Steakley).
• Grau, Günter ed. (1995) Hidden Holocaust? Gay and Lesbian Persecution in Germany 1933-45.
• Lauritsen, John and Thorstad, David (1995) The Early Homosexual Rights Movement (1864-1935). (Second Edition revised)
• Steakley, James D. (9 June 1983) “Anniversary of a Book Burning”. pp.18–19, 57. The Advocate (Los Angeles)
• Marhoefer, Laurie. (2015) Sex and the Weimar Republic: German Homosexual Emancipation and the Rise of the Nazis. University of Toronto Press.
• Taylor, Michael Thomas; Timm, Annette F.; Herrn, Rainer eds. (2017) Not Straight From Germany: Sexual Publics and Sexual Citizenship Since Magnus Hirschfeld. JSTOR: 10.3998/mpub.9238370.

Film

• Rosa von Praunheim, director (Germany, 2001) The Einstein of Sex (A biographical drama about Magnus Hirschfeld – English subtitled version available).

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Institut für Sexualwissenschaft.

• “Institute for Sexual Science (1919-1933)” Online exhibition of the Magnus Hirschfeld Society – warning, complex JavaScript and pop-up windows.