li shiu tong

Li Shiu Tong was born January 9th, 1907 in Hong Kong. Li bravely stood against homophobia and racism in his life. He studied medicine at university but his life changed when he met Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld. Li met Magnus at a lecture for Chinese feminists and was drawn to hearing someone speak openly about subjects that were then taboo, especially queerness. He dropped out of medical school in order to study sexology with Dr. Hirschfeld. Li served as a student and protege of Magnus while also being an interpreter. While traveling he endured many instances of racism. 

Li came to live with Magnus and became his partner. He learned from the research at the Institute for Sexual Science in Berlin. A joint paper by Li and Magnus was one of the first academic explorations of intersex people and also positing that gayness was naturally occuring and not a disease. In his writings, he spoke about transgender people, and how he thought they were more common than realized. Li found trans people the most interesting of all mankind. He found that gender was a continuum, and was proud of his partner Magnus, who he credited as the premiere authority on trans issues. 

Li was accepted and liked by Magnus’ other partner, Karl Giese, and the three lived together. As the rise of Nazis grew, Li was evading the authorities, who were seeking information from the institute to blackmail, intimidate, and arrest queer individuals. Li and Magnus witnessed the destruction of the Sexual Sciences Institute on a newsreel in a theater. After death threats, Li saved Magnus by hiding him on the floor of and driving to Switzerland. Li, Karl, and Magnus later snuck into France.

 Magnus and Li were ahead of their time, writing on queer lives and denouncing British Imperialism in Asia After Magnus’ death in 1935, Li felt an obligation as his protege to continue Hirschfeld’s work. This proved to be an overwhelming task. Li passed away on October 5th, 1993 in Canada. His younger brother threw away most of his belongings. A neighbor fortunately noticed some of Li’s prized possessions in the dumpster and saved them. They included manuscripts, his German passport, and precious documents from Magnus, and their life together. Li had risked his life to rescue many of his books from the Nazis, and they found their way to the Hirschfeld Institute.

Sources and Further Reading:

Laurie Marhoefer, Racism and the Making of Gay Rights: A Sexologist, His Student, and the Empire of Queer Love. University of Toronto Press, 2022.