Dr. Alan Hart, a trans man from the USA who pioneered the use of X-ray photography in tuberculosis detection (saving countless lives according to researchers), was "reclaimed" by the lesbian community after his death in 1962, which means he was deadnamed and described as "a women loving woman who had to transition because at the time transsexualism was a quick medicine against sexism and homophobia" by numerous gay and lesbian associations and activists (including Jonathan Ned Katz whom I just quoted and who received many awards for his contributions to... I don't know, transphobia against trans men I guess), even though his widow always expressed how offensive it was to both her and her husband to refer to them as lesbians.
Hart was on testosterone, legally changed his name, and had gotten a hysterectomy (that was described as "unfortunate" by the Right to Privacy gay and lesbian political action committee), making him the first documented trans man to transition in the USA, yet he was characterized as a lesbian woman because cis gays and lesbians had the nerve (when do they NOT have the nerve, dare I say) to think they had the right to "honor [his] life as a woman" by having fundraiser dinners with his deadname attached to them, having college lectures where they talked about him as a lesbian hero, and using she pronouns for him until 2000. The USAmerican trans community, including trans activist Lou Sullivan, had to fight to defend Hart's identity and to have his manhood recognized by the wider community by protesting these lectures and dinners and having a conversation with the Portland chapter of the Lesbian Avengers association, which ended up having a favorable response and joining the trans community in the battle.
I want to end this by reporting the words of Candice Hellen Brown, a trans woman from Portland who wrote a letter to Just Out magazine in 1994 defending Hart's transness:
The Right to Privacy Political Action Committee in Oregon has a big fundraiser every year that is called the [deadname] Hart Dinner. When asked if I am going, I indignantly answer, "Not until they stop using the wrong name and gender for one of our heroes!" His name is Alan [. . .] He never wavered from his identity as a man, and upon his death, his widow continued to insist that he was a man. Why would such a straight man be called a lesbian by the gay community when today we would certainly call him a female-to-male transsexual? [. . .] He was transsexual or, at least, a transgenderist - a true pioneer. One who is seen as a hero by today's transsexual community. Please don't let him be taken away from us by allowing his old name to be used as though it were a badge of honor.
Think about this story every time the "trans men never contributed to anything in history" discourse resurfaces again. If this can happen to a famous historical figure from the USA and from a relatively recent time who medically transitioned and was explicitly out as a trans man, imagine how many others from other countries, historical periods, and situations have been erased or "reclaimed".
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