1972 Transgender News

Standard Disclaimer: This page is a listing and links to news items regarding transgender persons from 1972. It is ordered by date of appearance in the news, not the date of the event. Note that the text summaries are not transcripts.

January 23, 1972. Seattle Daily Times, page B4

The University of Washington has conducted 13 sexual reassignment surgeries (SRS), as part of a program to conduct 22 surgeries for study purposes.

March 31, 1972. Washington DC Eventing Star, page C8

A detailed review of a new film on transsexual life, “I Want What I Want,” is published. The film receives a positive review and appears to be a gritty and realistic portrayal, at least from the review.

April 20, 1972. Seattle Daily Times, page C3

Another review of the new film on transsexual life, “I Want What I Want,” is published. This review is much less positive, and says that the star, Anne Heywood, is somewhat unbelievable as a lead.

August 31, 1972. Boston Herald, page 23

Cambridge City Hospital, Massachusetts, has performed a surgery to give “female organs” to an intersex woman. While this is interesting, one wonders why such a violation of her privacy was warranted. The answer lies in a quote from her surgeon, who hoped that the surgery would “help bring the subject of transsexual operations into the open in Massachusetts.”

October 3, 1972. Baton Rouge Advocate, page 5B

Johns Hopkins Hospital has performed 34 SRS procedures, with a backlog of 200 to 300 persons waiting for surgery. In autobiographies of the time (such as that of Lyn Raskin), it’s noted that many transsexual women were highly frustrated by the very slow rate of surgeries at Johns Hopkins.

October 11, 1972. New Orleans Times-Picayune, page 3-3

Two men who were scheduled to talk to the San Francisco police regarding relations with the “homosexual community” were swept up in a raid on the Transsexual Counseling League office on narcotics charges. The arrested men, Dennis Crain and Charles Cooke, were engaged as counselors at the office.

November 20, 1972. Boston Herald, page 6-1; Boston Herald, page 6-2; Cleveland Plain Dealer, page 3A

Three articles related to transgender persons are highlighted from this day. First, the Boston Herald has an interview article with Robert, a transgender man, and talks about his life trying to transition to be male. Next the Boston Herald and the Cleveland Plain Dealer run similar articles praising the success of transition and sexual reassignment surgery for improving the lives of transsexuals. The articles note that an estimated 500 persons in the United States have undergone surgery, and surgical costs can be greater than $10,000.

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