Hirschfeld was an early pioneer of transgender rights, coining the term "transvestite" and founding the Institute for Sexual Research (Institut für Sexualwissenschaft).

Founded in 1919, the Institute for Sexual Research built upon and expanded Hirschfeld's existing efforts to promote science-backed tolerance of non-heterosexual sexualities and non-gender conforming identities.

• On the eve of the Nazi seizure of power, Hirschfeld fled Germany to avoid persecution. The Institute and its documents were eventually ransacked and its library burned by the Nazis.