Saint James Barry

Bio:

James Barry was a pioneering British army surgeon, public health advocate, pistol duelist, and transgender man. For a full rundown of his fascinating biography, I recommend the Sawbones podcast episode #178. Instead of rehashing it here, I am going to situate his life into the Anglican tradition in order to argue that he should be recognized as a distinctively Anglican saint.

The Anglican Church of the early 19th century was an insular and socially ineffective arm of the British aristocracy. Nevertheless, its rites and philosophies were an important part of public life, regardless of how individuals felt about God or the Church--especially for agents of the British Crown, which Dr. Barry was. Outright "atheism" was still rare. In my research I was not able to find much about his personal religiosity, but Dr. Barry would have been familiar with the scriptures and the Book of Common Prayer. Besides this, he embodied the ideals of Enlightenment humanism, which remain inextricably intertwined with Anglicanism both in the past and continuing into the present. Dr. Barry was ethnically Irish, and his family experienced anti-Irish and anti-Catholic discrimination. It was thanks to liberal-minded family friends that James was first able to become James, enter medical school, and become a commissioned officer in the British Army. Wherever he was posted, public health improved, because Dr. Barry was a tireless advocate for women, the poor, and enslaved people.

By most accounts, Dr. Barry was a brash, aggressive, and unpleasant person, especially when someone (like Saint Florence Nightingale, on one occasion) had challenged him. He kept his personal life very private. Nevertheless, he was highly respected as aprofessional and was said by his female patients to have a reassuring and respectful bedside manner. He even performed something that arguably counts as a miracle: the first verified C-section, by a Western doctor, in which the mother and child both survived. This was a procedure that had been successfully practiced in Africa for hundreds of years before colonization, and since Dr. Barry's procedure was performed in colonial South Africa, I don't think it's unlikely that he learned from African traditional medical practitioners as well as Western academic medicine. Coming from a colonized background himself, it may have been easier for him to respect colonized African people than it was for other British imperialists. He embodies what Anglicanism can be at its best: tolerant, curious, courageous, innovative, and orthopraxic. Even during the brutal height of the British Empire, these ideals shone through the darkness, and can be an example for us today.

A "saint" is a holy person, not necessarily a "nice" or "polished" person. In his role as a British army surgeon and public health officer, Dr. Barry would have seen and worked in some of the most miserable and depraved conditions you can imagine. Medical treatments were risky, painful, and often experimental. His environment shaped his character, but did not erase the gentle, compassionate spirit he demonstrated with his patients.

After Dr. Barry's death, the British government was embarrassed by the fact that he was a trans man, and they sealed his service record for the next 100 years. It was rediscovered by scholars in the 1950s, and morerecently by the general public of people interested in queer history. His story is especially important in an age of resurgent British fascism, particularly the anti-trans sentiment that has earned it the nickname of "TERF Island." He was a trans man, not a "woman who disguised herself as a man in order to become a doctor." He lived as a man, wanted to die as a man, and is remembered as a man on his gravestone. To erase that reality is to erase trans people from the past, present, and future, which is exactly what fascists want. We must not allow that to happen.

Iconography:

• Halo: Dr. Barry's halo is painted in Trans Pride colors. He was assigned female at birth, but began living a man's life in his late teens with the support of his family and open-minded family friends. He was known as a man for the rest of his life, until his body was examined (against his express wishes) after his death. His headstone commemorates him with his chosen name and military rank.
• Medical kit: Something like this would have been Dr. Barry's toolkit and his constant companion on his travels. In a very real way, he was "married to the job." It is marked with his name and a simple cross.
• Dueling pistol: I wasn't sure whether to include this, since firearms are not common in iconography. I decided to include it for a couple ofreasons. 1) Dr. Barry was a known duelist. Dueling with flintlock pistols was the height of masculine performance for gentlemen in his culture. Dueling pistols weren't very accurate and deaths weren't very common, but using them in a highly ritualized duel was a demonstration of manly discipline, skill, and honor. 2) Dr. Barry was willing to fight for what he thought was right, and he was constantly fighting. By laying his pistol between the viewer and his medical kit, he demonstrates that comprehensive queer and trans healthcare must be defended with force, if necessary. 3) It's worth reminding ourselves that Anglicanism, as the imperial religion of Britain, originally spread around the world at the end of a musket.
• "Respect trans folk or I shall identify as a f--king problem": this is a"poshed up" version of a slogan on a banner carried by pro-trans-healthcare protestors in my city recently. I think it started as an internet post, but I can't remember where I first saw it.