Transvestite certificate

A transvestite certificate was a doctor's note issued by the governments of Imperial Germany and the Weimar Republic – under the support of sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld – identifying a person as a transvestite. Transvestite at this time referred to all individuals whose gender identity and preferred clothing was discordant to that associated with their assigned sex, and so included both crossdressing and transgender people.[1]

Herbert W. (left) was a transgender friend of Magnus Hirschfeld, and lived for two years in Berlin under his chosen name. This photo is from Hirschfeld's Sexual Intermediates (1922).

Between 1908 and 1933, "perhaps dozens" of such passes were granted by the German police.[2] Mainly given to middle-class, heterosexual, male-to-female transvestites to avoid associations with gay and lesbian culture in Weimar Germany, the certificate said that the individual in question was allowed to wear clothing which corresponded to their gender identity.[1]

These certificates were null and void when Adolf Hitler became Chancellor in 1933, and harassment of transgender and gender non-conforming individuals increased in the Nazi era.[1]

See also

References
  1. Gershon, Livia (18 November 2018). "Gender Identity in Weimar Germany". JSTOR Daily. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  2. Frost, Natasha (2 November 2017). "The Early 20th-Century ID Cards That Kept Trans People Safe From Harassment". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
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