Today, we remember and celebrate the life and legacy of queer trailblazer Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, born this way on this day on May 14, 1868.
Hirschfeld was a visionary whose groundbreaking work reshaped the world’s understanding of sexuality, gender, and human rights.
A gay, German-Jewish physician and sexologist, he spent his life championing justice, dignity, and scientific truth. And remarkably, many of his most historic milestones—bold steps toward equality and enlightenment—took place on or around May 14th.
THE “EINSTEIN OF SEX”
Dr. Hirschfeld has often been called the “Einstein of Sex”—a nickname reflecting both his intellect and his revolutionary contributions to sexual science.
Decades before the term “LGBTQ” existed, Hirschfeld was studying, supporting, and defending those who lived beyond rigid gender and sexual binaries.
In 1897, he co-founded the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, the world’s first organization to advocate for the rights of homosexual and transgender people.
Its motto? Per scientiam ad justitiam—“Through science to justice.”
To Hirschfeld, understanding human sexuality wasn’t just academic—it was a path toward a more compassionate and humane society.
A HOME FOR PROGRESS
On May 14, 1919, Hirschfeld opened the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft (Institute for Sexual Science) in Berlin.
Radical for its time, the institute became a sanctuary for queer people and a hub for groundbreaking research, activism, education, and care. It offered medical services for transgender and intersex individuals, conducted some of the world’s earliest gender-affirming surgeries, and housed one of the most expansive archives on sexual and gender diversity.
It was decades ahead of its time—a true beacon of light (and enlightenment) in a world still shrouded in taboo and fear.
BURNED, BUT NOT ERASED
May also marks the beginning of a brutal backlash to Dr. Hirschfeld’s life’s work.
On May 6, 1933, just months after Hitler rose to power, Nazi youth raided the institute. They looted its archives, beat students in the streets, and set fire to its books and records.
Books. Photographs. Patient files. Rare studies.
Decades and generations of knowledge destroyed.
It became one of the most infamous book burnings of the Nazi era, an act of cultural violence aimed directly at queer life and Jewish intellect.
A LEGACY STOLEN—AND SLOWLY RECOVERED
Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld died in 1935, exiled in France, never able to return to his beloved Berlin or Institute.
If much his life’s work hadn’t been destroyed, I wonder how different our world might be today, how much further along we might be in our acceptance of those of us who “color” outside the lines.
It’s a question that haunts queer history: not just who we remember, but what we never got the chance to know.
HONORING THE PAST + INSPIRING THE FUTURE
Today, we honor not only the birth of Magnus Hirschfeld, but the many milestones made on this day too. We light candles and remember his life’s work and legacy.
Hirschfeld envisioned a future where no one would suffer for being who they are.
That future hasn’t fully arrived—but it’s one I still believe is possible. In my lifetime.
As queer folk, we continue to benefit from his compassionate contributions to our understanding of gender and sexual identity. And in every conversation about pride and rights, his legacy endures.
Happy Birthday, Dr. Hirschfeld!!!
You shined a bright light for us all.
Now it’s our turn to turn the spotlight on you.
❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
We’re queer. We’re here.
We‘ve been making history, dear.
Clint 🌈✌️
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FOR YOUR (SUBSTACK) CONSIDERATION
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ON THIS DAY = MAY 14
BIRTHDAYS
1727 = Thomas Gainsborough = English painter
1868 = Magnus Hirschfeld = German physician and sexologist 🌈
1881 = Julian Eltinge = American actor and female impersonator 🌈
1921 = Richard Deacon = American actor 🌈
1936 = Bobby Darin = American singer-songwriter and actor
1944 = George Lucas = American filmmaker and Lucasfilm founder
1952 = David Byrne = Scottish singer-songwriter
1952 = Robert Zemeckis = American filmmaker
1961 = Tim Roth = English actor and director
1962 = Danny Huston = Italian-American actor and director
1966 = Raphael Saadiq = American singer-songwriter
1968 = Greg Davies = Welsh comedian, actor, presenter, and writer
1969 = Cate Blanchett = Australian actor
1971 = Sofia Coppola = American filmmaker
1979 = Dan Auerbach = American singer-songwriter
1985 = Dustin Lynch = American singer-songwriter
EVENTS
1796 = Edward Jenner administers the first smallpox inoculation.
1804 = Meriwether Lewis and William Clark's expedition sets out from St. Louis for the Pacific Coast, commissioned by Thomas Jefferson.
1897 = Magnus Hirschfeld founds Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, the first-ever gay rights organization, to campaign for social recognition of gay, bisexual and transgender men and women, and to fight for the repeal of the anti-gay law called Paragraph 175 which allowed their legal persecution.
1900 = Opening of 1900 Summer Olympics at the Paris Exposition Universelle.
1910 = Magnus Hirschfeld publishes his ground-breaking study of gender variant people Die Transvestiten, a title which literally translates as “The Transvestites.” The term is used by Hirschfeld to denote a much wider understanding of sexual and gender variation than the cross-dressing which the term often implies today.
1919 = Magnus Hirschfeld co-founds the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, a pioneering private research institute and counseling office.
1925 = Mrs Dalloway, one of Virginia Woolf's best-known novels, is published.
1935 = Magnus Hirschfeld dies in Nice, France, at the age of 67.
HOLIDAYS + OBSERVANCES
PORTRAIT + QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The more we delve into the essence of personality, the more we learn that in this world, certainly rich with natural beauty and things worthy of seeing, nothing is more attractive and worthier of knowing and experiencing than people.”
Magnus Hirschfeld
Thank you, Clint, for the thoughtful account of Dr. Hirschfeld's essential work.
Rainbow icon alert: Richard Deacon was a gay man who was alleged to be the partner of the actor /hunk Tom Tryon.
What a beautiful remembrance of this amazing pioneer. Thank you, Clint.