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Leah Schaefer and transgender people

Leah Schaefer was an American entertainer and sex educator who helped improve understanding of trans and gender diverse people.

Background

Leah Cahan was born on February 27, 1920 in Milwaukee and grew up in Chicago. Cahan’s parent was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi who emigrated from Lithuania. Cahan attended what is now Roosevelt University in Chicago, and began singing professionally there. Cahan married first husband Hal Schaefer (1925–2012), a jazz pianist and vocal coach. Schaefer kept that surname through two subsequent marriages.

Schaefer performed as Lee Schaefer and was a member of the vocal trio The Barries with Sharon and Linda Barrie from 1941 to 1945. Though they performed as a sibling act, they were not all siblings. The group was formed in Chicago by CBS Radio producer Bill Bunt, chosen from the station’s existing roster.

In the 1950s, Schaefer was a member of folk trio The Wayfarers with Ilka Sylvern and Paul Bain.

Schaefer earned a doctorate from Columbia University in 1964. In 1974, Schaefer published Women and Sex, a survey of women’s sexuality based on Schaefer’s Columbia dissertation.

In 1979, Schaefer was a founding member of the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association (HBIGDA), now the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH). Schaefer served as president and was an author on the first five versions of the Standards of Care.

Schaefer received many awards including the Harry Benjamin Life Achievement Award from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health and the Distinguished Alumni Award from Columbia University Teachers College.

Schaefer was aunt to Randi Ettner, a noted trans-supportive therapist. Schaefer died on January 25, 2013.

References

Zagria (November 11, 2016). Leah Cahan (Schaefer) (1920 – 2013) singer, psychologist. A Gender Variance Who’s Who https://zagria.blogspot.com/2016/11/leah-cahan-schaefer-1920-2013-singer.html

Staff (2013). Leah Cahan Schaefer, 92. National Council on Family Relations https://www.ncfr.org/news/memoriam/leah-cahan-schaefer-92

Staff (Spring/Summer 2013). In Memoriam: Leah Cahan Schaefer. TC Today https://www.tc.columbia.edu/newsroom/publications/tc-today/2013/volume-37-no-2/312_TCToday_Spring13_lowres.pdf

Beyer, Dana (January 30, 2013). Remembering Dr. Leah Schaefer, the Sweet Singer-Turned-Psychiatrist Who Healed a Generation of Trans Women. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/leah-schaefer-trans-women_b_2569123

Staff (2013). Kinsey Institute Mourns Passing of Therapist and Researcher, Dr. Leah Cahan Schafer. http://www.indiana.edu/~kinsey/about/schaefer.html [archive]

Staff (Winter 2013). Dr. Leah Cahan Schaefer (February 27, 1920-January 26, 2013). Kinsey Today https://kinseyinstitute.org/news-events/newsletters/pdf/Winter_2013_newsletter.pdf

Gonzales, Nancy (2008). When October Goes: My Day with Leah Schaefer. National Council on Family Relations https://archive.ncfr.org/members-stories/when-october-goes-my-day-leah-schaefer original url: ncfr.org/members-stories/when-october-goes-my-day-leah-schaefer

Michel, Ellen (November 2007). A Season of Recognition for KI Donor Dr Leah Schaefer. Kinsey Today http://www.indiana.edu/~kinsey/about/images/schaefer-newsletter.jpg [archive]

Ettner, Randi (1996). Confessions of a Gender Defender : A Psychologist’s Reflections on Life Among the Transgendered. Evanston, ISBN 978-1886094512

Miller, Lindsay (July 28, 1973). Woman in the News: Dr. Leah Schaefer: A Lot More Than Just Sex. Washington Post http://www.indiana.edu/~kinsey/about/images/A-lot-more-than-just-sex.Post.7.28.1973.jpg [archive]

Staff (July 10, 1973). WOMEN AND SEX: Sexual Experiences and Reactions of a Group of Thirty Women as Told to a Female Psychotherapist. Kirkus Reviews https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/leah-cahan-schaefer/women-and-sex-sexual-experiences-and-reactions-/

Brecher, Edward M. (1969). Leah Cahan Schaefer. The Sex Researchers, pages 184-202. Little, Brown & Co., ASIN ‏B00005WTEE

Selected writing by Schaefer

Schaefer LC, Wheeler CC (2004). Guilt in Cross Gender Identity Conditions: Presentations and Treatment. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Psychotherapy, 8(1–2), 117–127. https://doi.org/10.1300/J236v08n01_09

Meyer, W., III, Bockting, W. O., Cohen-Kettenis, P., Coleman, E., Diceglie, D., Devor, H., Gooren, L., Hage, J. J., Kirk, S., Kuiper, B., Laub, D., Lawrence, A., Menard, Y., Patton, J., Schaefer, L., Webb, A., & Wheeler, C. C. (2002). The Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association’s Standards of Care for Gender Identity Disorders, Sixth Version. Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality, 13(1), 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1300/j056v13n01_01

Levine, S. B., Brown, G. R., Coleman, E., Cohen-Kettenis, P. T., Hage, J. J., Maasdam, J. V., Petersen, M., PfĂ€fflin, F., & Schaefer, L. C. (1999). The Standards of Care for Gender Identity Disorders. Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality, 11(2), 1–34. https://doi.org/10.1300/j056v11n02_01

Rehman, J., Lazer, S., Benet, A. E., Schaefer, L. C., & Melman, A. (1999). The Reported Sex and Surgery Satisfactions of 28 Postoperative Male-to-Female Transsexual Patients. Archives of Sexual Behavior 28, 71–89 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018745706354

Schaefer, L. C., Wheeler, C. C., and Futterweit, W. (1995). Treatment of gender identity disorders (Transsexualism). In Gabbard, G. O. (Ed.),Treatments of Psychiatric Disorders: The DSM-IV Edition American Psychiatric Press, ISBN 978-0880488921

Schaefer, L.C., Wheeler, C.C. (1995). Harry Benjamin’s first ten cases (1938–1953): A clinical historical note. Arch Sex Behav 24, 73–93 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01541990

Ihlenfeld, C.L. Memorial for Harry Benjamin. Arch Sex Behav 17, 2–31 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01542050 [Schaefer is cited as an author here]

Wheeler, C. C., and Schaefer, L. C. (1987). Historical overview of Harry Benjamin’s first 1500 cases. Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association, Tenth International Symposium on Gender Dysphoria, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Wheeler, C. C., and Schaefer, L. C. (1984). The true transsexual and life-style options. In Hoch, Z. [editor], Sexual Behavior, Plenum Press [cited here]

Wheeler, C. C., and Schaefer, L. C. (1984). The nonsurgery true transsexual (Benjamin’s category IV): A theoretical rationale. In Lief, H. I., and Hoch, Z. (eds.),International Research in Sexology (Sexual Medicine), Vol. 1, Praeger ISBN 978-0030641039

Wheeler, C. C., and Schaefer, L. C. (1981). The non-surgery true transsexual—Part I. Fifth World Congress of Sexology, Jerusalem, Israel. [cited here]

Schaefer, Leah Cahan (1973). Women and Sex; Sexual Experiences and Reactions of a Group of Thirty Women As Told to a Female Psychotherapist. Pantheon Books, ISBN 978-0394479149

Schaefer, Leah C. (1969). Frigidity. In Goldman, George D.; Milman, Donald S. [editors]. Modern Woman: Her Psychology and Sexuality, pages 165-177. Charles C. Thomas Publishers, ASIN‎ B0029MZYFS

Schaefer, Leah Cahan (1965). Sexual Experiences and Reactions of a Group of 30 Women As Told to a Female Psychotherapist. [dissertation] Columbia University

Discography

  • Lee & Hal Schaefer (1959). Finian’s Rainbow and Brigadoon Remembered. United Artists UAL 3035
  • Lee Schaefer & Jim Hall (1958). A Girl and a Guitar. United Artists UAL 4012
  • The Wayfarers [Hal Schaefer; Elka Sylvern; Lee Schaefer; Paul Bain] (1957). Wandering with the Wayfarers. RCA Victor LPM-1504
  • Paul Weston & His Orchestra, The Barries & Johnny Mercer (1944). San Fernando Valley / Someone’s in the Kitchen with Dinah. Capitol 150

Resources

American Board of Sexology (americanboardofsexology.org)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)