Have you ever heard of James Barry? If not, you’re among the majority, despite his towering impact on the medical establishment as we know it and there is a likely reason for it: James Barry was born Margaret Anne Bulkley in 1789. At 14, he changed his entire identity, began crossdressing, and started medical school. He would never live as a woman, nor be addressed as such until his condition was discovered upon his death (and very much against his wishes) in 1865. He wasn’t questioned during his entire 52 year tenure as a British military surgeon due to his bulldogish personality. Woe to the fool who crossed Dr. Barry in the medical tent.
Before Dr. Barry had been promoted to the rank of Surgeon at his post in Cape Town, he had already performed the first successful cesarean section birth in the western world in which both the mother and child survived. There is quite a bit of evidence that the practice of cesarean section was commonplace by African midwives in Uganda before James Barry was on the scene, but Dr. Barry would have been the first British doctor to accomplish the feat himself. Perhaps this is because he knew the rigors of pregnancy himself, having possibly borne a child as a young teenager prior to entering medical school. Nothing is for certain here, but nevertheless, Dr. Barry brought the practice full force into the western consciousness as something survivable for both mother and child.
In addition to his medical prowess, Dr. Barry is such a character. I can see myself sitting down for tea with him to discuss medical science, one of his dogs (each of which he named Psyche) beneath the table. He had a number of possible lovers, addressed black patients directly about their conditions (infuriating to his coworkers), and advocating patient care reform before such a thing was even an inkling in the minds of those running the asylum system. A man before his time, for sure. Not to mention his status as an accomplished duelist (real fuck around, find out kinda guy), his uptake of handwashing and hygiene long before the rest of the medical establishment, and the goat he took along with him on long voyages for fresh milk. I would be lucky to have even a few minutes in a room with him, a trailblazer for both queer folks and medical science.
DAVIES JN. The development of scientific medicine in the African Kingdom of Bunyoro-Kitara. Med Hist. 1959 Jan;3(1):47-57. doi: 10.1017/s0025727300024248. PMID: 13632207; PMCID: PMC1034446.
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/dr-james-barry/
from the pen of icarus blake 
Leave a comment