Queermunity's very own Social Media Manager Katie Foster talks about Lili Elbe as her LGBT+ History Month Top Pick.
Famed by her depiction in the film ‘The Danish Girl’, Lili Elbe - born as Einar Mogens Wegener in Denmark 1882 - became one of the first known recipients of male to female sex reassignment surgery in 1930.
Lili studied art at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen where she met illustrator and painter Gerda Gottlieb. They married in 1904 and both worked as artists.
In 1908, Lili was asked by her wife to model in a dress. At first hesitant, she agreed and later wrote ‘I cannot deny, strange as it may sound, that I enjoyed myself in this disguise. I liked the feel of soft women's clothing. I felt very much at home in them from the first moment.’
Lili proceeded to live partially as a woman for two decades, often accompanying her wife to parties dressed in gowns and makeup disguised as ‘Gerda’s sister’. Elbe credited Gerda with helping her in the journey to discovering her true gender identity.
Elbe was dismissed by many doctors as gay, hysterical, or schizophrenic when she sought help, until she met Magnus Hirschfield, a physician who also founded the world’s first gay rights organisation, the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee. Hirschfield helped her begin the transition process.
"It may be said that 14 months is not much, but they seem to me like a whole and happy human life."
Lili underwent several surgeries, including a uterus transplant which unfortunately became infected and caused her death in 1931. Despite this, Lili was grateful for the opportunity to be able to live life as herself, writing after the first surgery ‘It may be said that 14 months is not much, but they seem to me like a whole and happy human life.’
Lili Elbe’s story, though tragic in its end, has spurred doctors to make great developments to the sex reassignment procedure allowing transgender individuals, if they should want it, a safe and life-affirming option. Today her legacy lives on in the arts, as well as film and literature - the LGBTQ+ film festival MIX Copenhagen gives out ‘Lili’ awards in honour of Elbe.
Article Written By Katie Foster
(She/Her)
Works Cited
Lamb, B. (2020). Biography of Lili Elbe, Pioneering Transgender Woman. Thought Co. [Available at: https://www.thoughtco.com/lili-elbe-biography-4176321]
Djajic-Horváth, A. (2020). 'Magnus Hirschfeld'. Encyclopedia Britannica. [Available at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Magnus-Hirschfeld]
Crockett, M. and Shaffi, S. (2019). 10 queer female icons we should remember this LGBT History Month. Stylist. [Available at: https://www.stylist.co.uk/visible-women/lgbt-women-history-lesbian-trans-transgender-queer-bisexual-icons-audre-lorde-marsha-johnson-vita-sackville-west-anne-lister-alice-dunbar-nelson-lili-elbe/215663]