Dr. Alan Hart (October 4, 1890 – July 1, 1962)

Dr. Alan L. Hart was raised in Oregon. As an adult, he sought out psychiatric counseling and surgery to live his life as a man. Dr. Joshua Gilbert, who assisted Hart with his transition, published Hart’s case in the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disorders in 1920, but kept his patient’s identity a secret.

Hart requested a hysterectomy to eliminate menstruation and the possibility of ever becoming pregnant. This was in 1917 or early 1918, decades before testosterone therapy became available. Dr. Gilbert conceded, marking a major milestone in transsexual history: the first time a psychiatrist recommended the removal of a healthy organ based solely on an individual’s gender identity.

Hart then changed his name and married a woman, and though the relationship ultimately failed, his second marriage lasted 37 years.

Hart published five books, including four novels and a text on his medical specialty, reoentgenology/radiology. He had successful medical practices in Tacoma, Washington and Hartford, Connecticut.

Dr. Hart is perhaps best known as a pioneering epidemiologist. Hart took the Idaho Tuberculosis Hospital’s TB prevention and treatment program from nonexistent during the 1930s to among the best in the country by the time he left Idaho in 1948. Throughout the Great Depression and World War II, Hart traveled extensively through rural Idaho, covering thousands of miles to lecture, conduct mass TB screenings, train new staff and treat patients. He was among the researchers who first recognized the value of X-rays to diagnose TB. Hart’s diagnostic and treatment techniques cut the TB death toll to one-fiftieth of what it was.

After World War II, synthetic testosterone became available, making it possible for Hart to grow a beard and develop a deeper voice.

Read about more of Dr. Hart’s achievements here.

October is LGBT History Month. This post on Dr Alan Hart is taken from Transguys.com by Joshua Riverdale. Read all the stories on A Brief History of FTM Trans Civilisation.

20th Century Transgender Men

These historical profiles of some of the key trans men of the past century highlight their remarkable achievements. Their perseverance in the face of prejudice has earned them a place in the FTM trans history time line.

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