Baptist Medical Center sex reassignment surgery controversy
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The Baptist Medical Center sex reassignment surgery controversy occurred in 1977 in
Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...
,
Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
, United States. Surgeons at the Baptist Medical Center, a hospital owned by the
Southern Baptist Convention The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The wor ...
, were prohibited from performing sex reassignment surgery.


History

In 1973, David William Foerster and Charles Reynolds founded the Gender Identity Foundation at the Baptist Medical Center for the purpose of providing care to transgender patients. It was composed of six doctors, including Foerster, Reynolds, Fenton Sanger, and endocrinologist Jonathan Drake. By 1977, Oklahoma City was one of the major American centers for sex reassignment surgery (SRS) for transsexual people. The number of surgeries rivaled those of Stanley Biber of
Trinidad, Colorado Trinidad is the home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Las Animas County, Colorado, United States. The population was 8,329 as of the 2020 census. Trinidad lies north of Raton, New Mexico, and s ...
. Most of the patients were
trans women A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and so ...
. The hospital was one of about seven U.S. hospitals offering sex reassignment surgery. The surgical procedures offered by Foerster and Reynolds were
penile inversion Vaginoplasty is any surgical procedure that results in the construction or reconstruction of the vagina. It is a type of genitoplasty. Pelvic organ prolapse is often treated with one or more surgeries to repair the vagina. Sometimes a vaginoplas ...
procedures. The famous transsexual actress and activist Christine Jorgensen came to Oklahoma in the late seventies to have some minor corrective surgery on her surgically created genitals. The Oklahoma team handled Jorgensen's care at this time. The surgical team required patients to pay in full prior to any genital surgeries. Each patient was required to sign a waiver that they would never sue for malpractice if anything went wrong with the SRS procedures.


Controversy

In July 1977, the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma (a state convention of the
Southern Baptist Convention The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The wor ...
) learned that the Gender Identity Foundation had performed more than fifty SRS procedures. Joe L. Ingram, then the state convention's executive director, issued a moratorium on SRS at Baptist Medical Center, until a final decision could be made. Gene Garrison, an Oklahoma City pastor who was on the hospital's Board of Directors, supported sex reassignment surgery, calling it "a Christian procedure". He seemed confused about the details, however, believing that post-op trans women could
menstruate Menstruation (also known as a period, among other colloquial terms) is the regular discharge of blood and mucosal tissue from the inner lining of the uterus through the vagina. The menstrual cycle is characterized by the rise and fall of horm ...
and get
pregnant Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops (gestation, gestates) inside a woman, woman's uterus (womb). A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Pregnancy usually occur ...
. Foerster and Reynolds released a statement saying "If Jesus Christ were alive today, undoubtedly he would render help and comfort to the transsexual as he did the leper, the blind and the lame". The hospital's medical staff and lay advisory board voted overwhelmingly to continue allowing SRS. Foerster told the press that "We won't even touch the patients until they have lived as a woman for two years. Our work ranks up there with that of Johns Hopkins." Foerster mentioned that a few transsexual patients treated by the team had committed suicide. In one case, a trans man who had cancer committed suicide; Foerster blamed his suicide on the cancer. Reynolds had his 25-year-old son appear with some post-op trans women at the meeting to decide the fate of the procedures at Baptist Medical Center. Many of Foerster's post-op patients were male to female transsexuals who were in the sex trade. Reynold's son told ''The Daily Oklahoman'' newspaper that 'these women are genetically female'. The wife of Foerster told ''The Daily Oklahoman'', "my husband won't abandon these people. One of his latest patients is a psychotherapist from a neighboring state". On 14 October 1977, the Board of Directors of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma voted 54–2 to ban SRS at Baptist Medical Center. Curtis Nigh, a pastor from Midwest City, Oklahoma, opposed the decision. Foerster warned that the vote would cause Baptists to be "viewed as bigoted buffoons". At the time of the decision, Baptist Medical Center had been offering SRS for four years, 50 transsexual people had had SRS there, and another 50 were in the process of transitioning. Foerster told the press that "this is a disease probably beginning in early embryonic life best treated by surgical methods". Pastor Curtis Nigh stated to ''The Daily Oklahoman'' newspaper that "this is about healing for women who feel trapped in men's bodies". A post-op transsexual patient of Foerster stated to the Oklahoma news media that "I think they do better work here. I know a gal who had surgery in Colorado (performed by Biber) and she ended up having a colostomy. I have everything that a woman has including the sensitivity". The patient then ended with a sexually explicit description of her post op sex life and the functioning of her spongiform clitoris structure.


Aftermath

Foerster and the Gender Identity Foundation appealed, but without success. They then transferred their operation to
University Hospital A university hospital is an institution which combines the services of a hospital with the education of medical students and with medical research. These hospitals are typically affiliated with a medical school or university. The following is a l ...
, which had been allowing a small number of SRS procedures. University Hospital ended its SRS program in 1981, leaving no hospital in Oklahoma that provided sex reassignment surgery.


Current situation

Sex reassignment surgery still occurs in Oklahoma, but the state is not a major center for SRS. Foerster continues to provide SRS for trans women and top and bottom surgery for trans men. A few other doctors, including the Oklahoma Memorial Hospital Gender Reassignment Program, provide FTM top and bottom surgery. Most transsexual Oklahomans have their surgery in
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
or
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. In the decades since the controversy, Charles Reynolds has died. Fenton Sanger no longer takes part in SRS procedures. Both Pastors Gene Garrison and Curtis Nigh in time left the Southern Baptist convention. Garrison later moved to North Carolina and he died in 2017 at age 85. Nigh continued his counseling practice but also served on the ministerial staff of the United Methodist congregation 'Church of the Servant' in Oklahoma City until his retirement. He died in 2022. Before retirement, plastic surgeon Foerster was responsible for creating and patenting the
foerster clamp A foerster clamp is a surgical clamp with a round eyelet. Also known as a sponge clamp, or sponge stick. Used for atraumatically grasping lung tissue in thoracic surgery. When grasping a surgical sponge in the jaws, Foerster clamps are commonly us ...
used in
body piercing Body piercing, which is a form of body modification, is the practice of puncturing or cutting a part of the human body, creating an opening in which jewelry may be worn, or where an implant could be inserted. The word ''piercing'' can refer to ...
. He is now retired from his medical practice and is 81 years of age as of March 2015.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baptist Medical Center Sex Reassignment Surgery Controversy 1977 controversies 1977 in LGBT history 1977 in Oklahoma 1977 in Christianity Baptist Christianity in Oklahoma 1970s controversies in the United States History of Oklahoma City LGBT history in Oklahoma LGBT and Protestantism Medical controversies in the United States Southern Baptist Convention Gender-affirming surgery (male-to-female)