Hirschfeld co-wrote and acted in the 1919 film "Anders als die Andern" ("Different From the Others"), which featured the first homosexual character ever written for cinema. It was released a few years ago on DVD and still offers a fascinating view from the time. He also founded the Institute for Sexual Research which featured an immense library on sex and provided educational services and medical consultations.

The writers Christopher Isherwood & W.H. Auden both visited the institute while in Germany. When the Nazis took power, one of their first actions was to destroy the Institute and burn the library. At that time Hirschfeld was away from Germany on a speaking tour. He died in Nice on his 67th birthday in 1935, while in exile from his native Germany in Nice, France.

The word "transsexual" was coined by Dr. Hirschfeld to describe the phenomenon that he argued was a natural extension of human sexuality. His philosophy centered on the contention that there was a third sex, called the Uranian, which was neither male nor female, but a combination of both that was manifested in homosexuality, which was not to be considered an impure deviation, or even as an illness, but as a natural and phenomenal component of human nature.

For his work, the Nazis targeted Dr. Hirschfeld as an example of Jewish influence infecting the purity of the German people, luring the Aryan race into impure and destructive perversity. He was ultimately driven into exile and burned in effigy as an emblem of evil. The slogan with which he began his speeches, "Uranians of the World, Unite!" was not to be realized until our own time.

Eltinge did not present a caricature of women but presented the illusion of actually being a woman. He toured simply as "Eltinge" which left his sex unknown and his act included singing and dancing in a variety of female roles. At the conclusion of his performances, he would remove his wig, revealing his true nature to the surprise of the often unknowing audience.

As Eltinge's star began to rise, he appeared in vaudeville and toured Europe and the United States even giving a command performance before King Edward VII. Eltinge appeared in a series of musical comedies written specifically for his talents starting in 1910 with "The Fascinating Widow," returning to vaudeville in 1918. His popularity soon earned him the moniker "Mr. Lillian Russell" for the equally popular beauty and musical comedy star.

As Eltinge's star began to shine on Broadway and on national tours and his name became known worldwide, women were so enthralled by his performances that he established the Eltinge Magazine which advised women on beauty, fashion, and home tips. Hollywood beckoned Eltinge and in 1917 he appeared in his first feature film, "The Countess Charming." This would lead to other films including 1918's "The Isle of Love" with Rudolph Valentino. By the time Eltinge arrived in Hollywood, he was considered one of the highest paid actors on the American stage but with the arrival of the Great Depression and the death of vaudeville; Eltinge's star began to fade.

He continued his show in nightclubs but found little success, he died in 1941 following a show at a New York nightclub. He leaves a legacy as one of the greatest female impersonators of the 20th century and a pretty great Dorothy Parker verse.

My heart is simply melting at the thought of Julian Eltinge;

His alter ego, Vesta Tilley, too.

Since our language is so dexterous, let us call them ambi-sexterous -

Why hasn't this occurred before to you?

Dorothy Parker, "A Musical Comedy Thought" - Vanity Fair, June 1916

According to reader Pierce Titring: The theatre named for him is still standing on 42nd Street, or at least the Facade is. If you go into the Multiplex on the south side of the building, there is a fresco on the ceiling, which is just about all that remains of his theatre.

In Buster Keaton's comedy, Seven Chances, Keaton’s character is expected to find a bride by the end of the day or lose his inheritance. At one point, he goes into the stage door of the Eltinge Theatre and comes out having had his face slapped. Few modern audiences realize that Keaton has just proposed to a drag queen. Audiences of the day, however, probably got the joke.

Deacon often portrayed pompous, prissy, and/or imperious figures in film and television. He made appearances on The Jack Benny Program as a salesman and a barber, and on NBC's Happy as a hotel manager. He made a brief appearance in Alfred Hitchcock's film The Birds. He played a larger role in Invasion of the Body Snatchers as a physician in the "book-end" sequences added to the beginning and end of the film after its original previews.

In Billy Wilder's 1957 film adaptation of Charles Lindbergh’s The Spirit of St. Louis, Deacon portrayed the chairman of the Columbia Aircraft Corporation, Charles A. Levine.

His best-known roles are milksop Mel Cooley (producer of The Alan Brady Show) on CBS's The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961–1966) and Fred Rutherford on Leave It to Beaver (1957–1963), although Deacon played Mr. Baxter in the 1957 Beaver pilot episode "It's a Small World". He co-starred as Tallulah Bankhead's butler in an episode of The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour called "The Celebrity Next Door". Deacon played Roger Buell on the second season of TV's The Mothers-in-Law (1967–1969), replacing Roger C. Carmel in the role. He played Principal "Jazzbo" Conroy in The Danny Thomas Show (1958). He also appeared in the 1960 Perry Mason episode The Case of the Red Riding Boots as Wilmer Beaslee.

During World War II, Deacon served in the United States Army medical corps. In 1946, upon completion of his service, he returned to Binghamton where he resumed living with his parents. He worked in occupations such as laboratory technician and intern at Binghamton General Hospital. He later attended Ithaca College, first as a medical student, but later developed an interest in acting, engaging in some nighttime radio announcing.

This writer can personally confirm that Deacon was a gourmet chef having dined with him on numerous  occasions in addition to working as an actor. In the 1970s and 1980s, he wrote a series of cookbooks and hosted a Canadian television series on microwave oven cooking. He was a delightful dinner companion.

While not widely known during Deacon's lifetime, he was a charitable man. At his memorial service, a number of people previously unknown to Deacon's friends and colleagues spoke of how Deacon had provided for needy people and charitable organizations during his life.

Deacon was gay and was among a number of actors and actresses who were closeted homosexuals working in Hollywood. Often employed in Disney films Richard always said it would kill his career. Given Disney's track record in that time, there is little doubt he was correct. His obituary, published in The New York Times, listed only his father, a nephew and niece as survivors.

He made his feature-length debut in 2018 with Girl, a drama film inspired by the story of Nora Monsecour which focuses on a trans girl pursuing a career as a ballerina. Girl premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Caméra d'Or award for best first feature film, as well as the Queer Palm. It received the André Cavens Award for Best Film given by the Belgian Film Critics Association (UCC) and was selected as the Belgian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards. It received nine nominations at the 9th Magritte Awards and won four, including Best Flemish Film and Best Screenplay for Dhont.

Dhont's second feature, Close, starring Emilie Dequenne and Léa Drucker, premiered in competition at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where he shared the Grand Prix with Claire Denis' Stars At Noon. It also won the Sydney Film Prize in June 2022. The film is based on his own experiences at school, and tells the story of the friendship between two boys in their early teens. As of July 2021 Dhont is developing an untitled film with screenwriter Laurent Lunetta.

Her most important role came in developing a policy for social security in 1935. She also helped form government policy for working with labor unions, although the union leaders distrusted her. Her Labor Department helped to mediate strikes by way of the United States Conciliation Service. Perkins dealt with many labor questions during World War II, when skilled labor was vital to the economy and women were moving into jobs formerly held by men.

In 1933, Roosevelt summoned Perkins to ask her to join his cabinet. Perkins presented Roosevelt with a long list of labor programs for which she would fight, from Social Security to minimum wage. "Nothing like this has ever been done in the United States before," she told Roosevelt. "You know that, don’t you?" Agreeing to back her, Roosevelt nominated Perkins as Secretary of Labor. The nomination was met with support from the National League of Women Voters and the Women's Party. The American Federation of Labor criticized the selection of Perkins because of a perceived lack of ties to labor.

As secretary, Perkins oversaw the Department of Labor. Perkins went on to hold the position for twelve years, longer than any other Secretary of Labor. She also became the first woman to hold a cabinet position in the United States, thus she became the first woman to enter the presidential line of succession. The selection of a woman to the cabinet had been rumored in the four previous administrations, with Roosevelt being the first to follow through. Roosevelt had witnessed Perkins’s work firsthand during their time in Albany. With few exceptions, President Roosevelt consistently supported the goals and programs of Secretary Perkins.

As Secretary of Labor, Perkins played a role in the New Deal by helping to write legislation. As chair of the President's Committee on Economic Security, she was involved in all aspects of its advisory reports, including the Civilian Conservation Corps and the She-She-She Camps. Her most important contribution was to help design the Social Security Act of 1935.

In 1939, she came under fire from some members of Congress for refusing to deport the communist head of the West Coast  International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Harry Bridges. Ultimately, Bridges was vindicated by the Supreme Court.

With the death of President Roosevelt, Harry Truman replaced the Roosevelt cabinet, naming Lewis B. Schwellenbach as Secretary of Labor. Perkins's tenure as secretary ended on June 30, 1945, with the swearing in of Schwellenbach.

In 1913, Perkins married New York economist Paul Caldwell Wilson. She kept her maiden name because she did not want her activities in Albany and New York City to affect the career of her husband, then the secretary to the New York City mayor. She defended her right to keep her maiden name in court. The couple had a daughter, Susanna, born in December 1916. Less than two years later, Wilson began to show signs of mental illness. He would be institutionalized frequently for mental illness throughout the remainder of their marriage. Perkins had cut back slightly on her public life following the birth of her daughter, but returned after her husband's illness to provide for her family.

In James Kirchick's recent, estimable history of gay Washington D.C. Secrest City: The Hidden History of Washington D.C. he reports that Perkins's biographer, Kirsten Downey, wrote that "while it is probably impossible to know whether Perkins's relationship with Junior League founder Mary Harriman Rumsey was sexual or romantic ...it was much more than an ordinary friendship." The two women lived, vacationed, entertained and raised puppies together, all hallmarks of a "Boston marriage," a term used to describe the cohabitation of two, usually wealthy women during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The initial focus of the WhK was Paragraph 175 of the Imperial Penal Code, which criminalized "coitus-like" acts between males — the WhK assisted defendants in criminal trials, conducted public lectures, and gathered signatures on a petition for the repeal of the law. Signatories included Albert Einstein, Hermann Hesse, Thomas Mann, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Leo Tolstoy. Petitions were submitted to parliament, in 1898, 1922 and 1925, but failed to gain the support of the parliament, and the law continued to criminalize all male-male sexual acts until 1969 and wasn't entirely removed until 1994. Original members of the WhK included physician Magnus Hirschfeld, publisher Max Spohr, lawyer Eduard Oberg and writer Max von Bülow. Adolf Brand, Benedict Friedländer, and Kurt Hiller also joined the organization.

In 1929, Hiller took over as chairman of the group from Hirschfeld. At its peak, the WhK had about 500 members and branches in approximately 25 cities in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. The committee was dissolved in 1933 when the Nazis destroyed the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft in Berlin where the WhK was based.