THE DOMESTIC SPACE

As well as being a place of work and study, the institute was a home and a social space. Hirschfeld and his boyfriends lived on site, as did many former ‘patients’ who worked at the Institute. Trans people were employed here, since it was extremely difficult to get a job when a person’s gender did not match the one they had been assigned at birth.

Many social events took place at the Institute, including Christmas parties for staff and costume balls. The line between doctors, staff, ‘patients’ and residents was often blurred.

We asked Jenny-Anne, who runs a community house in Rhyl with her partner Elen, to talk to us about her experience of domestic trans communities.

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