The British Society for the Study of Sex Psychology (BSSSP) was founded in 1913, "to advance a particularly radical agenda in the field of sex reform, based on the writings of gurus such as dwardCarpenter and avelockEllis."

Magnus Hirschfeld Magnus Hirschfeld (14 May 1868 – 14 May 1935) was a German physician and sexologist. Hirschfeld was educated in philosophy, philology and medicine. An outspoken advocate for sexual minorities, Hirschfeld founded the Scientific-Humanitarian Com ...

, the famous German-Jewish sexologist, was also a co-founder. In 1931, the Society was renamed the British Sexological Society.George Cecil Ives: An Inventory of His Papers
at the

Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...

It seems to have continued until some point in the 1940s. The society was particularly concerned with

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

, aiming to combat legal discrimination against homosexuality with scientific understanding. Members included

George Cecil Ives George Cecil Ives (1 October 1867 in Frankfurt, Germany – 4 June 1950 in Hampstead/Middlesex, Great Britain) was an English poet, writer, penal reformer and early homosexual law reform campaigner. Life and career Ives was the illegitimate ...

Edward Carpenter Edward Carpenter (29 August 1844 – 28 June 1929) was an English utopian socialist, poet, philosopher, anthologist, an early activist for gay rightsWarren Allen Smith: ''Who's Who in Hell, A Handbook and International Directory for Human ...

Montague Summers Augustus Montague Summers (10 April 1880 – 10 August 1948) was an English author, clergyman, and teacher. He initially prepared for a career in the Church of England at Oxford and Lichfield, and was ordained as an Anglican deacon in 1908. He ...

Stella Browne Stella Browne (9 May 1880 – 8 May 1955) was a Canadian-born British feminist, socialist, sex radical, and birth control campaigner. She was one of the primary women in the fight for women's right to control and make decisions regarding their s ...

(a founder of the

Abortion Law Reform Association Badges from the 1970s campaigning to keep and expand the achievements of the ALRA Abortion Rights is an advocacy organisation that promotes access to abortion in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the Abortion Law Reform ...

Laurence Housman Laurence Housman (; 18 July 1865 – 20 February 1959) was an English playwright, writer and illustrator whose career stretched from the 1890s to the 1950s. He studied art in London. He was a younger brother of the poet A. E. Housman and his s ...

Havelock Ellis Henry Havelock Ellis (2 February 1859 – 8 July 1939) was an English physician, eugenicist, writer, progressive intellectual and social reformer who studied human sexuality. He co-wrote the first medical textbook in English on homosexuality in ...

Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

, and

Ernest Jones Alfred Ernest Jones (1 January 1879 – 11 February 1958) was a Welsh neurologist and psychoanalyst. A lifelong friend and colleague of Sigmund Freud from their first meeting in 1908, he became his official biographer. Jones was the first En ...

. The society had established a number of contacts in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, including

Margaret Sanger Margaret Higgins Sanger (born Margaret Louise Higgins; September 14, 1879September 6, 1966), also known as Margaret Sanger Slee, was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. Sanger popularized the term "birth control ...

, who gave a speech to the group on the issue of

sexual continence ''Coitus reservatus'' (''coitus'', "sexual intercourse, union" and ''reservatus'', "reserved, saved"), also known as sexual continence, is a form of sexual intercourse in which the man does not attempt to ejaculate within his partner, but instead ...

. The BSSSP had planned to form an American branch.

Publications of the BSSSP

The Society published a series of pamphlets: * No. 1. ''Policy & principles, general aims'', London: C.W. Beaumont for the Society,

914 __NOTOC__ Year 914 ( CMXIV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Spring – Empress Zoe Karbonopsina leads a palace coup at Constantino ...

* No. 2. ''The social problem of sexual inversion'', London: Beaumont, 913? Abridged translation from the German treatise... published under the auspices of the Humanitarian-Science Committee (Wissenschaftlich-humanitären icKomitee) of Leipzig and Berlin in 1903. * No. 3.

, ''Sexual variety & variability among women and their bearing upon social reconstruction'', London: Printed for the Society by C.W. Beaumont, 1917. * No. 4.

, ''The relation of fellow-feeling to sex'', London: Printed for the Society by Battley Bros, 917? * No. 5.

, ''The erotic rights of women, and The objects of marriage: two essays'', Battersea: Battley Bros. for the Society, 1918. * No. 6.

, ''The Marquis de Sade: a study in algolagnia'', London: Battley Bros. for the Society, 1920. * No. 7. Hugh Northcote, ''The Social Value of the Study of Sex Psychology'', London, 1920. * No. 8.

Edward Westermarck Edvard Alexander Westermarck (Helsinki, 20 November 1862 – Tenala, 3 September 1939) was a Finnish philosopher and sociologist. Among other subjects, he studied exogamy and the incest taboo. Biography Westermarck was born in 1862 in a we ...

, ''The origin of sexual modesty'', London: J. E. Francis for the Society, 1921. * No. 9. Havelock Ellis, ''The play-function of sex'', London: J. E. Francis for the Society, 1921. * No, 10.

Eden Paul Maurice Eden Paul (27 September 1865, Sturminster Marshall – 1 December 1944) was a British socialist activist, physician, writer and translator.'Paul, Maurice Eden' in ''Who Was Who'' Early life Paul was the younger son of the publisher Charl ...

, ''The sexual life of the child'', London: J. E. Francis for the Society, 1921. * No. 11.

Norman Haire Norman Haire, born Norman Zions (21 January 1892, Sydney – 11 September 1952, London) was an Australian medical practitioner and sexologist. He has been called "the most prominent sexologist in Britain" between the wars. Life When Norman was bo ...

, ''Rejuvenation: Steinach's researches on the sex-glands'', London: J. E. Francis for the Society, 1923. * No. 12. Harold Picton, ''The morbid, the abnormal and the personal'', London: J. E. Francis for the Society, 1923. * No. 13.

, ''Some friends of Walt Whitman, etc.'', London: J. E. Francis for the Society, 1924. * No. 14.

Francis Albert Eley Crew Francis Albert Eley Crew FRS FRSE LLD (2 March 1886 – 26 May 1973) was an English animal geneticist. He was a pioneer in his field leading to the University of Edinburgh’s place as a world leader in the science of animal genetics. He was ...

, ''Sexuality and intersexuality'', London: J. E. Francis for the Society, 1925. * No. 15. H. D. J. White, ''Psychological causes of homoerotism & inversion'', London: J. E. Francis for the Society, 1925. * No. 16.

Cecil Reddie Dr Cecil Reddie (10 October 1858 – 6 February 1932) was a reforming English educationalist. He founded and was headmaster of the progressive Abbotsholme School. Early life He was born in Colehill Lodge, Fulham, London, the sixth of ten child ...

, ''Edward Carpenter, 1844 born at Brighton, died at Guildford 1929 : one of the founders and the first president of the Society'', London: British Sexological Society, 1932. * No. 17.

Frank Braine Rockstro Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curr ...

, ''A plain talk on sex difficulties, etc.'', London: British Sexological Society, 1933.

References

{{reflist

External links

British Sexological Society Records
at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...

George Cecil Ives Papers
at the

Sexology organizations Medical and health organisations based in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1913 Organizations disestablished in the 1940s 1913 establishments in the United Kingdom Sexuality in the United Kingdom Sexual orientation and medicine LGBT history in the United Kingdom

Publications of the BSSSP

See also

References

External links