C. A. Koch, V. Tangpricha
Reviews in Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders, 2018
It is with great pleasure to introduce guest editor Prof. Vin Tangpricha, whom I have known for more than 10 years now, after he presented a lecture in Jackson, Mississippi, on the topic of osteoporosis. He is not only an outstanding speaker and clinical researcher in bone metabolism, but is also an expert in transgender medicine [1–3]. Growing up in Germany in the 1980s, one of the evening family shows I and others regularly watched was Dynasty (called “The Denver Clan” in Germany), an American television soap opera revolving around the Carringtons, a wealthy family residing in Denver, Colorado. It explored issues such as rape, homosexuality, and racial integration, topics that are still contemporary nowadays. Although Bavaria, the German state in which I grew up, has been considered conservative during those days, I had amore progressive mind, often asking questions that were not well perceived. I remember one night when my brother and his girlfriend’s group took me out for a “show night” surprise, duringwhich we attended a transvestite show and encountered transvestites. This should not be confused with “transgender” or “transsexual” people, as transvestites are considered cross-dressers—meaning dressing and acting in a style or manner traditionally associated with the opposite sex. Interestingly, in some cultures, transvestism is practiced for religious reasons. This behavior has already been referred to in the Hebrew Bible. In 1910, Magnus Hirschfeld used the term “transvestite” to describe people who habitually wore clothes of the opposite sex. The sexual orientation of these individuals could be heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or asexual (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transvestism). At first, my brother and I were shocked by this show because we did not know what and how to think about these individuals. To explore the unknown can be challenging and, for many people, it is angst/anxiety provoking. Of course, how perceptions of individual people are formed depends on their respective communities and how they grew up. Needless to say, this early encounter with transvestites as well as watching Dynasty and other soap operas in the 1980s have helped me to become more open-minded and educated about many things, and I now do not perceive it as a shame or a bad thing to walk on the Reeperbahn in Hamburg. In fact, this spring in April, I and many other runners even ran there in the context of the annual Haspa Marathon Hamburg. Well, in case you now wonder about my orientation, I can tell you that I am not gender dysphoric but do care for such patients. In Germany, there are highly specialized centers and so-called Fellows of the European Committee of Sexual Medicine in various major cities, including Hamburg, Bremen, Muenster, and others [4–6]. In the USA, there are also a few recognized centers with an emphasis on caring for gender dysphoric patients. Guest editor Prof. Tangpricha and the authors of this wonderful guest issue are part of such specialized care centers and have written outstanding, very contemporary, and helpful articles on emerging topics in this field of medicine [7–14]. Compared to my previous location in Jackson, Mississippi, with only a few such patients referred to and seen by local endocrinologists and many gender dysphoric patients, therefore, traveling to neighboring states like Louisiana and Georgia, the plethora of such patients now seen by me here in Germany has helped me to learn more about sex hormone therapy. For instance, I have seen many female-to-male individuals who, on only transdermal testosterone therapy (Tostran), had stopped menstrual cycles without the need for additional medroxyprogesterone acetate tablets (5–10 mg) or injections (150–300 mg every 3 months intramuscularly). On the other hand, male-to-female individuals often do not like to * Christian A. Koch Christian.koch65@gmail.com
Cited by 1 publication.
Field of study: Medicine