David Reimer: Difference between revisions
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==Infancy==
The parents, concerned about their son's prospects for future happiness and sexual function without a penis, took him to [[Johns Hopkins Hospital]] in [[Baltimore]] in early 1967 to see [[John Money]],{{sfn|Colapinto|2001a|p=49}} a [[psychology|psychologist]] who was developing a reputation as a pioneer in the field of sexual development and [[gender identity]], based on his work with [[intersexuality|intersex]] patients. Money was a prominent proponent of the "theory of Gender Neutrality"—that gender identity developed primarily as a result of [[observational learning|social learning]] from early childhood and that it could be changed with the appropriate behavioural interventions.{{sfn|Colapinto|2001a|pp=33–34}} The Reimers had seen Money being interviewed in February 1967{{sfn|Colapinto|2001a|p=39}} on the Canadian news program ''[[This Hour Has Seven Days]]'', during which he discussed his theories about gender.{{sfn|Colapinto|2001a|pp=18–22}}
His case came to international attention in 1997 when he told his story to [[Milton Diamond]], an academic [[sexology|sexologist]] who persuaded Reimer to allow him to report the outcome in order to dissuade physicians from treating other infants similarly.{{sfn|Diamond|Sigmundson|1997}} Soon after, Reimer went public with his story and [[John Colapinto]] published a {{citation needed span |date=May 2018 |text=widely disseminated and influential}} account in ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine in December 1997.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Colapinto |first=John |author-link=John Colapinto |year=1997 |title=The True Story of John/Joan |magazine=Rolling Stone |issue=775 |location=New York |publisher=Straight Arrow Publishers |pages=54–97 |issn=0035-791X}}</ref> The article won the [[National Magazine Awards|National Magazine Award]] for Reporting.{{sfn|Bockting|2010|p=378}}
This was later expanded into a full-length book ''[[As Nature Made Him|As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl]]'',{{sfn|Colapinto|2001b}} in which Colapinto described how—contrary to Money's reports—when living as Brenda, Reimer did not [[gender identity|identify]] as a girl. He was ostracized and bullied by peers (who dubbed him "cavewoman"),<ref name=BBCHealthCheck/>{{sfn|Karkazis|2008|p=74}} and neither frilly dresses (which he was forced to wear during frigid Winnipeg winters),{{sfnm |1a1=Colapinto |1y=2001 |1p=115 |2a1=Warnke |2y=2008 |2p=21}} nor female hormones made him feel female. By the age of 13 years, Reimer was experiencing suicidal depression and he told his parents he would take his own life if they made him see Money again.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}} Finally, on 14 March 1980, Reimer's parents told him the truth about his gender reassignment,{{sfn|Eskridge|Hunter|2003|p=127}} following advice from Reimer's [[endocrinologist]] and [[psychiatrist]]. At 14, having been informed of his past by his father, Reimer decided to assume a male gender identity, calling himself David. By 1987, Reimer had undergone treatment to reverse the reassignment, including testosterone injections, a double [[mastectomy]], and two [[phalloplasty]] operations.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}} On 22 September 1990 he married Jane Fontane and would adopt her three daughters.{{sfnm |1a1=Beh |1a2=Diamond |1y=2005 |1p=12 |2a1=Goldie |2y=2014 |2p=187 |3a1=Rolls |3y=2015 |3p=144}}<ref>{{cite news |last=Boodman |first=Sandra G. |date=29 February 2000 |title=A Terrible Accident, a Dismal Failure |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/wellness/2000/02/29/a-terrible-accident-a-dismal-failure/83850bc4-b27a-417e-ba85-3693a4cafdd0 |work=The Washington Post |access-date=8 May 2018}}</ref>
In addition to his difficult lifelong relationship with his parents, Reimer had to deal with unemployment and the death of his brother Brian from an overdose of [[antidepressant]]s on 1 July 2002. On 2 May 2004 his wife Jane told him she wanted to separate. On the morning of 4 May 2004, Reimer drove to a grocery store's parking lot in his hometown of Winnipeg<ref name="LA Times"/> and took his own life by shooting himself in the head with a [[sawed-off shotgun]].{{sfnm |1a1=McQuail |1y=2018 |2a1=Rolls |2y=2015 |2p=145}} He was 38 years old.<ref name=nyt-obit>{{cite news |date=12 May 2004 |title=David Reimer, 38, Subject of the John/Joan Case |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/12/us/david-reimer-38-subject-of-the-john-joan-case.html |newspaper=The New York Times |agency=The Canadian Press |access-date=19 May 2015}}</ref> He was buried in St. Vital Cemetery in Winnipeg.<ref>{{cite web |title=St. Vital Cemetery Burial Search |url=http://www.winnipeg.ca/ppd/cemeteries/cemetery_stvital_alpha.stm |publisher=City of Winnipeg |access-date=7 May 2018}}</ref>
|access-date=15 May 2013
|via=University of Hawaii
|ref=harv
}}
: {{cite book
|last1=Eskridge
|first1=William N., Jr.
|author1-link=William Eskridge
|last2=Hunter
|first2=Nan D.
|year=2003
|title=Sexuality, Gender and the Law: 2003 Supplement
|location=New York
|publisher=Foundation Press
|isbn=978-1-58778-655-6
|ref=harv
}}
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