00:00 Michael Dillon was an unsung hero and trailblazer in the trans community, being one of the first people to undergo gender confirmation surgery and write about it.

05:01 In the early 20th century, the medical establishment began to recognize that some people feel they were born the wrong gender and can undergo surgery to change their gender, although this idea was considered radical at the time.

10:07 Michael Dillon, a transgender man, felt out of sync with his assigned gender and sought to physically transition to become the man he felt he was, which was a radical idea at the time.

15:35 Michael Dillon was the first person to undergo hormone therapy for gender confirmation, which was a new and experimental treatment at the time.

20:53 Michael Dillon faced numerous betrayals and a lack of community throughout his life, but he did have some friends who provided support, and after undergoing hormone therapy, he fully transitioned to living as a man, taking on the name Michael, growing a beard, and working as a mechanic.

26:12 Michael Dillon argued that it should be up to the individual to decide if they want to change their body or their head to match their gender identity, which was the opposite of what the medical community believed at the time, and transitioning from male to female was slightly more accepted than the other way around, but ironically it was easier for Dillon to undergo a surgical transition from female to male in Great Britain due to legal restrictions on surgical castration of healthy male genitalia.

31:25 Dr. Gillies invented falloplasty, a procedure that allowed Michael Dillon to undergo the first successful gender confirmation surgery from female to male, and while there were earlier surgeries performed, Gillies standardized the procedure and established best practices for future surgeries.

36:41 Dr. Gillies performed multiple surgeries on Michael Dillon over a three-year period, during which Dillon also attended medical school and developed a defense mechanism in his relationships with women to protect himself and others from potential disappointment.

41:40 After years of surgery and hormone therapy, Michael Dillon finally confirmed his gender identity and became Michael Dillon the man, and he later played a significant role in helping Roberta Cowell with her own transition.

46:48 Michael Dillon, after facing challenges and controversy, sought solace in Buddhism and aspired to become a Buddhist monk, only to be denied due to his transgender identity.

52:24 Michael Dillon, after finding acceptance with Tibetan monks and aspiring to become a confirmed monk, had his chances shot down by Sangharakshita, leading to a sad ending where he died at a young age and his autobiography was only published years later.