Aaron Devor

{{Infobox person

| name = Aaron Devor

| image = Dr Aaron Devor portrait by Blake Little (2020).jpg

| website = https://onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca/ahdevor/

| caption = Portrait of Aaron Devor by Blake Little (2020)

| birth_date = 1951

| occupation = Sociologist

| employer = University of Victoria

}}

Aaron H. Devor is a Canadian sociologist and sexologist known for his work in transgender studies.{{Cite web |title=Aaron H. Devor - Sociology |url=https://www.uvic.ca/socialsciences/sociology/faculty-staff/faculty/devor-aaron.php |access-date=2025-02-28 |website=University of Victoria |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Devor |first=Aaron H. |title=How I Got Into Sex |date=1997 |publisher=Prometheus |editor-last=Bullough |editor-first=Bonnie |location=Amherst |pages=87–95 |chapter=How I Became a Sexologist |editor-last2=Bullough |editor-first2=Vern |editor-last3=Fithian |editor-first3=Marilyn |editor-last4=Hartman |editor-first4=William |editor-last5=Klein |editor-first5=Randy}} Devor has taught at the University of Victoria since 1989 and is the former dean of graduate studies.{{Cite web |date=2004-10-13 |title=the fifth estate: Becoming Ayden |url=https://www.cbc.ca/fifth/becomingayden/printer_medical.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041113163145/https://www.cbc.ca/fifth/becomingayden/printer_medical.html |archive-date=2004-11-13 |website=CBC News}}{{Cite web |date=2025 |title=CV-25 |url=https://onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca/ahdevor/wp-content/uploads/sites/2247/2025/02/CV-25.pdf |access-date=2025-02-27 |website=University of Victoria}} He is the inaugural Chair in Transgender Studies at the University of Victoria, and the founder and subject matter expert of the Transgender Archives at the University of Victoria.{{cite news |date=January 15, 2016 |title=Transgender studies chair at UVic will be world's first |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/transgender-studies-uvic-1.3405988 |access-date=27 June 2016 |work=CBC News |publisher= |agency=}}{{cite news |date=January 15, 2016 |title=University of Victoria announces world's first transgender studies chair |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/university-of-victoria-announces-worlds-first-transgender-studies-chair/article28224048/ |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160723024738/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/university-of-victoria-announces-worlds-first-transgender-studies-chair/article28224048/ |archive-date=2016-07-23 |access-date=27 June 2016 |work=The Globe & Mail |publisher= |agency=The Canadian Press}} He is also the organizer of the Moving Trans History Forward conferences.{{Cite web |last=Flegg |first=Erin |date=2014-03-25 |title=Victoria hosts first conference on archiving trans history |url=https://xtramagazine.com/power/victoria-hosts-first-conference-on-archiving-trans-history-59320 |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=Xtra Magazine |language=en-CA}} Maclean's described Devor as "an internationally respected expert on gender, sex and sexuality."{{Cite web |last=MacQueen |first=Ken |date=2003-05-26 |title=BOY VS. GIRL |url=http://www.macleans.ca/science/technology/article.jsp?content=20030526_59856_59856 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100811010255/http://www.macleans.ca/science/technology/article.jsp?content=20030526_59856_59856 |archive-date=2010-08-11 |website=Maclean's}}

Life and education

Devor earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from York University in 1971, a master's degree in communications from Simon Fraser University in 1985, and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Washington in 1990. A trans man, Devor transitioned in 2002 at age 51.{{cite web |title=Presenters |url=http://www.genderodyssey.org/presenters/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329040921/http://www.genderodyssey.org/presenters/ |archive-date=2014-03-29 |access-date= |work=Gender Odyssey Conference}}

Career

Devor is a member of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, co-authoring the Standards of Care versions 6 and 7 and sitting on the Standards of Care revision committee since 2018.{{Cite web |title=Aaron Devor, PhD |url=https://app.wpath.org/provider/233 |access-date=2025-02-28 |website=WPATH World Professional Association for Transgender Health}} He is also chair of the Archives Committee.{{Cite web |title=Advisory Board |url=https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/board |access-date=2025-02-28 |website=Digital Transgender Archive}}{{Needs update|date=February 2025|reason=unsure if present or past}}

He has collected many first-person narratives of transsexual experiences and has done extensive biographical research on Reed Erickson.{{Cite web |last=Green |first=Alex V. |date=2020-02-05 |title=Preserving transgender histories is Aaron Devor's life's work |url=https://universityaffairs.ca/features/preserving-transgender-histories-is-aaron-devors-lifes-work/ |access-date=2025-02-28 |website=University Affairs |language=en-US}}

Devor's book, The Transgender Archives: Foundations for the Future, was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Nonfiction in 2015.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2015-03-04 |title=The 27th Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists |url=https://lambdaliterary.org/2015/03/the-27th-annual-lambda-literary-award-finalists/ |access-date=2025-02-28 |website=Lambda Literary |language=en-US}}

In 2016, through the Tawani Foundation, Jennifer Pritzker gave a $2 million donation to create the world's first academic chair of transgender studies, at the University of Victoria; Devor was chosen as the inaugural chair.{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-transgender-studies-chair-pritzker-donation-met-20160119-story.html |title=Jennifer Pritzker's foundation donates $2 million for transgender studies |last=Rhodes |first=Dawn |date=Jan 19, 2016 |website=Chicago Tribune |access-date=Oct 16, 2020}}

=Selected publications=

Devor, A. & Wilson, M. (Eds.) (2019). "Glimmerings: Trans Elders Tell Their Stories". Transgender Publishings, {{ISBN|978-1775102748}}
{{Cite book|last=Devor |first=Aaron |title= The Transgender Archives: Foundations for the Future|publisher = University of Victoria Libraries|date=2014|isbn =9781550585247 |oclc=870562499 |ref=no}}
Devor, A. H, & Matte, N (2004). "ONE Inc. and Reed Erickson: The Uneasy Collaboration of Gay and Trans Activism, 1964-2003." GLQ: A Journal of Gay and Lesbian Studies, 10(2), 179–209.
Devor, H (1997). FTM: Female-to-Male Transsexuals in Society. Indiana University Press, Second Edition (2016) {{ISBN|978-0253022868}}
Devor, H (1994). Transsexualism, Dissociation, and Child Abuse An Initial Discussion Based on Nonclinical Data. Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality Volume: 6 Issue: 3
Devor, H (1989). Gender Blending: Confronting the Limits of Duality. Indiana University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-253-20533-9}} *889