Surgery: From Top to Bottom
Timeline
- 1912: First sex reassignment surgery takes place in Berlin
- 1923: Magnus Hirschfeld coins the term transexualism and creates the first modern medical gender clinics.
- 1930: Magnus Hirschfeld helps Einer Wegener become Lili Elbe. Lili dies shortly after her fifth operation in 1931.
- 1942: Laurence "Michael" Dillon, called the world's first transsexual man, begins taking hormones and has a double mastectomy.
- 1945: Michael Dillon becomes the first FTM to undergo sexual reassignment surgery.
- May 15, 1951: Robert Cowell becomes Roberta Cowell, the first person in the United Kingdom to undergo full trans surgery.
- December 1, 1952: Christine Jorgensen's sex reassignment surgery first gains media attention.
- 1966 Harry Benjamin publishes The Transsexual Phenomenon
- 1968: Universities begin to operate on non-intersex transsexuals
- 1973: Lou Sullivan starts dressing and passing as a man
- 1978: Lou Sullivan begins taking hormones
- 1980: Lou Sullivan has chest surgery
- 1986: Lou Sullivan has "genitalplasty"
- 2001: The city and county of San Francisco made its health care inclusive of transgender employees to cover sexual reassignment surgeries (SRS) by charging a surcharge.
- 2006: San Francisco's transgender inclusive insurance amasses almost five million dollars in surcharge more than is used for surgeries, and the surcharge is discontinued.
Letter to David 8/9/1990
Transition Photos
Unable to trust the medical community for advice, trans men often document their transition through photography. This not only provides documentation of an individual's transition, but it also allows other trans folk to imagine what their transition could look like. Below you will find photos of Lou Sullivan's transition. Donated to the GLBT Historical Society, which Lou helped to establish, Lou wanted his life and work to be able to mentor to GLBT individuals after his death. While some may use these photos inappropriately, in today's society where so much inaccurate information about transmen can be found on the internet, these photos continue to serve the educational purpose for which they were intended.
Top Surgery
Newsletter Information and Lou Sullivan's Top Surgery Photos: 1980-1982
Lou Sullivan Reflects on His Top Surgery: 1988
Bottom Surgery
Newsletter Information and Lou Sullivan's Bottom Surgery Photos
Lou Sullivan Reflects on "Genitalplasty": 1988
San Francisco's Transgender Inclusive Insurance for Public Employees
The city and county of San Francisco made its health care inclusive of transgender employees to cover sexual reassignment surgeries (SRS)by charging a surcharge. In 2006, San Francisco's transgender inclusive insurance amasses almost five million dollars in surcharge more than is used for surgeries and the surcharge is discontinued.
