John Money

John William Money (8 July 1921 – 7 July 2006) was a New Zealand American psychologist, sexologist and professor at Johns Hopkins University known for his research on human sexual behavior and gender.

Money researched paraphilia, including pedophilia, and pioneered the use of drug treatment to extinguish the libido of sex offenders. He advanced the use of new terminology in sex research, coining the terms gender role and sexual orientation. Despite popular belief, Money did not coin the term gender identity.

Money was a proponent of genital surgeries for children with intersex conditions, based on his belief that gender was malleable during the first two years of life and that raising a child outside the male–female binary was harmful. The practice proved controversial when many intersex people later rejected the gender assigned to them. Money also applied the protocol to David Reimer, who lost his penis in a botched circumcision, and advised his parents to raise him as a girl. Reimer struggled to adapt, exhibiting masculine behavior in childhood, and reverted to living as a male when he became aware of the treatment. He later died by suicide following his twin brother’s suicide.

Money believed that transgender people had an idée fixe, and established the Johns Hopkins Gender Identity Clinic in 1965. Money screened adult patients for two years prior to granting them a medical transition, and believed sex roles should be de-stereotyped, so that masculine women would be less likely to desire transition. His views have been criticized by transgender scholars and activists.

Today, Money is a subject of academic scrutiny among psychologists, ethicists, and intersex rights activists for his handling of the Reimer case. Money was defended by his colleague Richard Green, who believed Money aimed to help rather than "experiment" on Reimer, and operated under accepted medical knowledge of the time. Money's writing has been translated into many languages and includes around 2,000 articles, books, chapters and reviews. He received around 65 honors, awards and degrees in his lifetime.