Here we would like to highlight two pioneers within the medical community who were also LGBTQ+.

Dr Alan Hart (1890-1962)

A radiologist who transformed how we diagnose tuberculosis, Dr Hart has saved countless lives through his research - alongside being both a novelist and one of the first men to undergo gender affirming surgery in the USA (1917).

Before Dr Hart’s pioneering use of chest X-Rays to detect tuberculosis in Connecticut, patients were primarily diagnosed through sputum tests which often give a false negative. Through his use of X-Ray screenings and public education programs, the tuberculosis death rate in Connecticut dropped by 80%.

During his time as a physician Dr Hart was outed as a trans man on multiple occasions, forcing him and his wife to flee and start a new life again and again. His novels explored some of his experiences of discrimination in the workplace, for example ‘The Undaunted’ (1936) which centres on the life of a gay radiologist.

The research that Dr Hart carried out as a radiologist continues to save lives today.

Further reading:
Hart, A. (1921) ‘Letter from Alan Hart to Mary Roberts Rinehart’ Available at: https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/vt150j54x
Lewis & Clark (2020) ‘From the Archives: Dr. Alan Hart’ Available at: https://college.lclark.edu/_ingredients/templates/details/news.php?id=43320
Wiley, E. (2023) ‘Alan L. Hart: Pioneer in Medicine and Transgender History’ Available at: https://connecticuthistory.org/alan-l-hart-pioneer-in-medicine-and-transgender-history/

Sophia Jex Blake (1840-1912)

One of the first women who pursued medical studies in Britain, Sophia Jes Blake applied along with six other women, forming the Edinburgh Seven.
 
During this era, women were prohibited from pursuing medical degrees, resulting in significant disparities in the healthcare provided to women and men. Female students received harsher grades and organised their own lectures.  On one occasion, named the ‘Surgeon’s Hall Riots’, male students subjected the female students to verbal abuse and threw mud at them as they attempted to enter their anatomy exam. They then released sheep into the exam hall during the examination. The women were later escorted home by a group of supportive male students.
 
Describing the riots, Sophia wrote:
 
“On the afternoon of Friday 18th November 1870, we walked to the Surgeons’ Hall, where the anatomy examination was to be held. As soon as we reached the Surgeons’ Hall we saw a dense mob filling up the road… The crowd was sufficient to stop all the traffic for an hour. We walked up to the gates, which remained open until we came within a yard of them when they were slammed in our faces by several young men.”
 
Sophia relocated to Switzerland to pursue her medical degree and later became a certified doctor in Dublin. Upon returning to Edinburgh, she founded a medical school for women and became the city's only practising doctor.
 
She was believed to be in a romantic relationship with Margaret Todd, who later went on to write Sophia's biography.


Further reading:
Mason, V. (2024) ‘LGBT+ History Month: Sophia Jex – Blake: a pioneer for medical reform’ Available at: https://blogs.canterbury.ac.uk/library/lgbt-history-month-sophia-jex-blake-a-pioneer-for-medical-reform/
The University of Edinburgh (2021) ‘The hidden LGBT+ history of the Edinburgh Medical School’ Available at:  https://www.ed.ac.uk/usher/biomedicine-self-society/blog/the-hidden-lgbt-history-of-the-edinburgh-medical-s


If you want to learn more about the history of imaging, take a look at the rest of our resources here