“The Intermediaries is irrefutable proof that trans people have always existed, a story of liberation in the face of oppression—and a case study in how institutionalized hatred can grow alongside queer and trans joy.” - Mya Byrne, Americana singer-songwriter and trans rights advocate
Friends! Join us for an evening exploring the fascinating history behind the daring team of sexologists who built the first trans clinic in the shadow of the Third Reich.
With the ongoing eradication of trans rights in the UK, The Intermediaries is an important reminder that grassroots organisers have always found ways to deliver care and mutual aid to those who need it most – do not despair, organise!
Set in interwar Germany, The Intermediaries tells the forgotten story of the Institute for Sexual Science, the world’s first center for homosexual and transgender rights. Headed by a gay Jewish man, Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, the institute aided in the first gender-affirming surgeries and hormone treatments, acting as a rebellious base of operations in the face of rising prejudice, nationalism, and Nazi propaganda.
An expert in medical history, Brandy Schillace tells the story of the Institute through the eyes of Dora Richter, an Institute patient whom we follow in her quest to transition and live as a woman. While the colorful but ultimately tragic arc of Weimar Berlin is well documented, The Intermediaries is the first book to assert the inseparable, interdependent relationship of sex science to both the queer rights movement and the permissive Weimar culture, tracking how political factions perverted that same science to suit their own ends.
“Riveting, incendiary—I couldn’t pull myself away.” - CN Lester, author of Trans Like Me
This riveting book brings together forgotten scientific and surgical discoveries (including previously untranslated archival material from Berlin) with the politics and social history that galvanized the first stirrings of the trans rights movement. Through its unforgettable characters and immersive, urgent storytelling, The Intermediaries charts the relationships between nascent sexual science, queer civil rights, and the fight against fascism. It tells riveting stories of LGBTQ pioneers—a surprising, long-suppressed history—and offers a cautionary tale in the face of today’s oppressive anti-trans legislation.
“[The Intermediaries] is an indispensable read for historians and enthusiasts seeking to uncover the nuanced and seldom-told stories of transgender people in history.” - Erin Reed, journalist and trans rights activist
About the author: Brandy Schillace is a historian, former professor and museum professional, and editor of Medical Humanities, a social-justice journal. She writes about gender, medical history, and neurodiversity for outlets including Scientific American, Wired, CrimeReads, and Undark. She lives in Ohio.
“Brandy Schillace is a first-rate medical historian with a novelist’s soul. . . . The Intermediaries is a slam dunk.” - Lindsey Fitzharris, author of The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister’s Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine
