Hello and welcome to Queer is Fact, the podcast bringing you queer history from around the world

and throughout time. My name is Eli. I'm Irene. I'm Alice. And today we're talking about

the trial of 20th century aristocrat, doctor and farmer, Ewan Forbes. I'd like to acknowledge the Wawandari

warrior-ur-ung people of the Koolen Nation

as the traditional owners of the land on which we record this podcast

and pay respect to their elders past and present.

We recognise them as the custodians of an oral history tradition

far older than this podcast.

We have some content

warnings before we start this episode. The episode will include period typical intersexism,

transphobia, homophobia and misogyny. It also includes in-depth discussion of medical procedures,

including discussion of bodies and genitalia, and a brief mention of an invasive medical examination, which will include

the use of anesthetic without consent. It will also contain brief mentions of harassment by the

press, sex and death in a car accident. Lastly, it will contain misgendering and outdated

language for trans and intersex people in quotes. So if any of that sounds like something that

you would rather not listen to, please feel free to skip this one and listen to one of our other episodes

instead. So this episode is going to centre around Ewan's trial in addition to Ewan's life,

as I kind of indicated at the start there. So I want to, before we get started properly,

tell you a little bit about the context

of that trial. Ewen was assigned female at birth and he was raised as a girl, but over his early

adulthood he gradually socially transitioned until he was living full-time as a man.

In 1952, he legally changed his name and sex, and in 1967, after the death of his brother, he became the first in line

...