The Hidden Case of Ewan Forbes: And the Unwritten History of the Trans Experience

The life story of an aristocratic Scottish trans man--whose secret 1968 legal case had a profound impact on trans rights for decades. Ewan Forbes was born to a wealthy, landowning family, holders of a baronetcy, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in 1912. Assigned female at birth, his true identity was nevertheless clear even in childhood--and so, with the support of his mother, he was taken to European specialists and eventually treated with early preparations of synthetic testosterone. Raised as a boy at home but socially obliged to present himself as a girl in public until his official coming out to the Queen, Ewan grew up, became a doctor, and got married. (This required him to change the sex on his birth certificate, which was possible at that time without much fuss.) For decades, he lived a quiet life as a husband, doctor, and a pillar of the local community. But in 1965, Ewan's older brother died unexpectedly--meaning that Ewan was set to inherit the baronetcy. His title could only be