At a time when trans people across the U.S. are being vilified, legislated against, and assaulted The Hidden Case of Ewan Forbes offers a message simultaneously hopeful and frustrating. The case show us what may be possible for trans people--what was possible for one trans person--but also demonstrated the ways that victories can be buried.

The first two-thirds of the book relates the story of Ewan Forbes, technically born female, but clearly male in identity from the start. Forbes was lucky in being a member of the nobility. He was able to have his birth certificate amended to list him as male. The thinking at that time included the ideas that
• hermaphrodites (not that Forbes was necessarily one) might not reveal their true gender until they reached a certain age
and
• exceptional women might evolve "upward" to maleness.
Gender changes weren't common, but they were possible. In fact, Forbes pursued amending his birth certificate because he wanted to marry. When Ewan's older brother died childless, the family baronetcy seemed likely to be passed on to Forbes, until a distant cousin appeared, claiming Forbes was not male and, therefore, could not inherit the title. After a draw-out, humiliating, and perhaps manipulated private court proceding, Forbes was declared heir.

The problem was—if someone listed as female at birth, who then was amended to male, could inherit as a man, the entire structure of primogeniture would be on shaky grounds. As would the monarchy itself. So, in 1968 Forbes won his case, but the British government did all it could to suppress that ruling so it couldn't be used as precedent in future cases.

The last third of the book surveys that way trans-related law evolved after Forbes Forbes' victory and its concealment. Increasingly, trans identity was viewed as a psychiatric disorder, rather than a revelation that appeared slowly as an individual aged. We're living in a time of anti-trans hatred now, and reading about the evolution of legal and medical views of trans folk is infuriating and heart-breaking. The Forbes case should have made cases like his rather normal, but the need to protect patriarchal institutions and growing public animus made that impossible.

The book is a must-read for anyone interested in queer history or in the history of Britain in the 20th Century. I received a free electronic review copy from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

Playdon's book is absolutely fascinating! It's clearly well researched, connecting the past and present together in an engaging read!