Thomas Baty (8 February 1869 – 9 February 1954), also known as Irene Clyde, was an English international lawyer, writer, and activist. Baty was a legal adviser to the Japanese Foreign Office from 1916 to 1952 and wrote on international law. Under the name Irene Clyde, Baty co-founded and edited the journal Urania (1916–1940), which opposed binary classifications of gender. Modern scholars have described Baty in differing terms, including non-binary, genderfluid, transgender, and trans woman.
Baty studied at The Queen's College, Oxford and Trinity College, Cambridge, and later held academic and legal appointments. Under the name Irene Clyde, Baty published the novel Beatrice the Sixteenth (1909), which depicts a feminist utopian society without sex distinction, and founded the short-lived Aëthnic Union. Baty began advising the Japanese government in 1916 and was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure, third class in 1920 and second class in 1936.
In Japan, Baty developed a legal philosophy based on effective territorial control as the basis for recognition of states. Baty used this argument to support Japanese policy in Manchuria and China, represented Japan in international contexts including the League of Nations, and continued working in Japan during World War II. After the war, the British government considered prosecution for treason but instead revoked Baty's British citizenship. Baty remained in Japan and advised the government until 1952.
Life and work Early life and education Thomas Baty was born on 8 February 1869 in Stanwix, Cumberland, the eldest child of Mary () and the cabinet maker William Thomas Baty. Baty had a sister named Anne. William died when Baty was seven. T. Maait Pepperell writes that Baty then formed a close relationship with Mary and Anne.
Peter Oblas writes that Baty's uncles financially supported the family, enabling a middle-class home shaped by the Victorian ideal of the "feminine home". Baty attended Carlisle Grammar School and won a scholarship to The Queen's College, Oxford in 1888.
Baty completed a B.A. in jurisprudence in 1892. Baty was called to the bar in 1898, and later earned an LL.M. from Trinity College, Cambridge in June 1901, a D.C.L. from Oxford the same year, and an LL.D. from Cambridge in 1903. Baty was a Civil Law Fellow at Oxford and a Whewell Scholar at Cambridge.
Feminist and anti-gender binary activism Baty also wrote under the name Irene Clyde. Jana Funke writes that Clyde advocated the abolition of male dominance, challenged gender binaries, examined the fluidity of biological sex, criticised heterosexual marriage and biological reproduction, and celebrated female-female relationships.
Beatrice the Sixteenth In 1909, Clyde published the feminist utopian novel Beatrice the Sixteenth. Set in Armeria, it describes a genderless society whose members have feminine characteristics and form life partnerships. The novel examines same-sex love and the gender binary. Maria Aline Seabra Ferreira describes it as a precursor to later feminist utopias and radical feminist theories of gender and sexuality.
The Aëthnic Union and Urania
In 1911, Clyde founded the Aëthnic Union, a society dedicated to challenging the gender binary. In 1916, Clyde, Esther Roper, Eva Gore-Booth, Dorothy Cornish, and Jessey Wade, who had also been members of the Union, launched Urania, a privately circulated journal. The journal opposed rigid classification into two genders. "Sex is an accident" and "There are no 'men' and 'women' in Urania" were regular mottos. Clyde also contributed under the name Theta.
Urania became a focus for Clyde over the next 25 years, until its publication ceased with the onset of the Second World War. Initially released bimonthly and later three times a year, the journal was distributed privately and free of charge. It was printed in several locations and included original material, often written by Clyde, alongside reprinted excerpts from books and newspapers and occasional editorial comments. Its subjects included same-sex relationships, androgyny, and sex changes.
Eve's Sour Apples In 1934, Clyde published Eve's Sour Apples, a collection of essays criticising gender distinctions and heterosexual marriage. The book imagined a future in which traditionally masculine behaviour had been removed, and included guidance on how someone assigned male at birth could adopt a more feminine gender presentation. Clyde also opposed the idea that women's worth was tied to motherhood or maternity, writing against "every girl's mind" being "filled with the gruesome details of maternity".
Legal career and life in Japan Early legal career
Baty specialised in international law. After graduation, Baty lectured on international law at the University of Nottingham and served as a degree examiner at Oxford and at universities in Liverpool and London. Baty was honorary general secretary of the International Law Association from 1905 to 1916 and acted as junior counsel in the Zamora case. Baty became an associate member of the Institut de Droit International in 1921.
Japanese government adviser After the outbreak of World War I, Baty helped establish the Grotius Society in London in 1915. As one of its original members, Baty met Isaburo Yoshida, Second Secretary of the Embassy of Japan in London and an international law scholar from Tokyo Imperial University. The Japanese government was seeking a foreign legal adviser after the death of Henry Willard Denison, an American who had held the position until 1914. Baty applied in February 1915. The Japanese government accepted the application, and Baty arrived in Tokyo in May 1916 to begin work at the Japanese Foreign Office. In 1920, Baty was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure, third class, for service as a legal adviser. In 1936, Baty received the second class of the same order.
In 1927, Baty participated in the Japanese delegation to the Geneva Naval Conference on disarmament, Baty's only public appearance as a legal adviser to the Japanese government. Most of Baty's work consisted of writing legal opinions. Baty renewed working contracts with the Japanese Foreign Office several times and became a permanent employee of the ministry in 1928.
Japanese policy in China Oblas writes that Baty's legal philosophy developed while working for the Japanese government and was used to justify Japanese encroachments on Chinese sovereignty. After the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1932 and the establishment of Manchukuo, Baty defended Japan's position in the League of Nations and advocated membership for the new state. Baty also wrote legal opinions justifying the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937.
Baty donated 1,000 yen five times to aid the families of fallen Japanese soldiers. Baty described these donations as humanitarian and argued that the war could have been avoided if the League of Nations had accepted Baty's views and Japan's position.
Baty argued that recognition of states should depend only on effective control by a government over a state's territory, rather than on prior definitions of what a state should be. On this basis, Baty opposed de facto recognition, arguing that recognition should be final and irrevocable. Baty accused Western states of hypocrisy for using de facto recognition as a way to conduct transactions with governments they had not fully accepted as members of the international community.
World War II and aftermath
In July 1941, the Japanese government froze the assets of foreigners living in Japan and its colonies in response to similar actions by the United States. Baty was exempt as an employee of the Japanese government. After the outbreak of war with the United Kingdom in December 1941, Baty remained in Japan, rejecting efforts by the British Embassy to arrange repatriation. Baty continued working for the Japanese government and defended its policy of conquest as a response to Western imperialism in Asia. In late 1944, Baty questioned the legitimacy of pro-Allied governments established after the end of the German occupation in Europe. Baty also wrote articles on British and American affairs for Japanese newspapers.
After the Japanese surrender in 1945, the Foreign Office considered prosecuting Baty for treason. The Central Liaison Office, a British government agency operating in Japan, considered Baty's wartime involvement with the Japanese government to be insignificant. Some legal advisers within the British government also argued against prosecution because of Baty's age. The British government allowed Baty to remain in Japan and revoked Baty's British citizenship instead of bringing charges.
Baty spent the rest of life in a villa in Ichinomiya, Chiba, given by Kano Hisarō. Baty continued to work for the Japanese government until 1952.
Death On 9 February 1954, Baty died of a cerebral haemorrhage in Ichinomiya, Chiba, aged 85. Emperor Hirohito sent flowers to Baty's funeral, as did many people who knew Baty. Eulogies were delivered by Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida, Foreign Minister Katsuo Okazaki, President of the Japanese Society of International Law Saburo Yamada, and Baty's former colleague Iemasa Tokugawa. Baty was buried at Aoyama Cemetery in Tokyo, next to Baty's sister and mother.
Baty, who wrote around 18 books on legal matters, died shortly after completing the first proof of International Law in Twilight. The book comments on legal, historical, political, and Far Eastern questions, drawing on Baty's experience as legal adviser to the Japanese Foreign Office.
Gender identity Personal reflections In 1926, Baty wrote a declaration on love and marriage that was privately shared with close friends and published posthumously. In the text, Baty wrote:
From my earliest years I hated sex. The reason was that I wanted to be a girl. I saw that ladies, while admittedly more graceful and sweet than men, were also just as determined and noble. I could not bear to be relegated to the ranks of rough and stern men.
In an autobiographical sketch in Alone in Japan, Baty wrote: "From earliest days, adored Beauty and Sweetness; considered ladies had both, as well as Persistence and Tenacity. Therefore, longed passionately to be a lady—and have continued to do so."
Accounts by friends and observers Baty publicly presented as Thomas Baty in most public settings. Friends described Baty as reserved and gentle, and noted traits they understood as feminine, including speaking in the women's style of Japanese and fastening garments from right to left. Baty also sometimes wore women's clothes and accessories. Hugh Keenleyside, a Canadian diplomat in Japan, described Baty as a "transvestite" who occasionally entertained guests while dressed in a gown.
Maait Pepperell writes that friends observed "a transition from Thomas Baty to Irene Clyde" in private settings, noting that one identity appeared to fade as the other emerged:
When he extended his hand in greeting his sombre eyes lit up, his withdrawn expression melted away. Dr Baty, Chief Legal Advisor to the Foreign Office of Japan, disappeared and in his place stood Irene Clyde, a gentle, kindly, witty, and intelligent elderly lady.
Modern interpretations Modern scholars have described Baty in differing terms, including non-binary, genderfluid, transgender, and a trans woman. Sandra Duffy writes that Baty's gender identity remains ambiguous. Alison Oram argues that Baty's desire "to be a lady" complicates attempts to trace a continuous transgender identity through history. Oram writes that, while there are similarities to late 20th-century transgender politics, Baty's self-understanding was shaped by a specific historical context and differed from identities shaped by later developments in medical transition.
Personal life