| Thomas Baty | |
| Other Names: | Irene Clyde, Theta |
| Birth Date: | 8 February 1869 |
| Birth Place: | Stanwix, Cumberland, England |
| Death Place: | Ichinomiya, Chiba, Japan |
| Resting Place: | Aoyama Cemetery, Japan |
| Occupation: | International lawyer, writer, activist |
| Years Active: | 1898–1954 |
| Awards: | Order of the Sacred Treasure (third class, 1920; second class, 1936) |
| Signature: | Thomas Baty signature.svg |
Thomas Baty (8 February 1869 – 9 February 1954), also known as Irene Clyde, was an English international lawyer, writer and activist. They were a renowned legal scholar and international law expert, spending the majority of their career as a legal advisor to the Japanese Foreign Office and publishing several works on international law. Baty was also a notable advocate for radical feminism and against binary gender distinctions. Contemporary scholars have described them variously as non-binary, genderfluid, transgender, or a trans woman.
Baty was born in Stanwix, Cumberland. Despite their father's early death, Baty's academic prowess earned them a scholarship to The Queen's College, Oxford, where they completed a degree in jurisprudence in 1892. They furthered their studies at Trinity College, Cambridge. Baty's career included teaching positions at several prominent universities and a prolific writing output on international law. Using the name Irene Clyde, she published Beatrice the Sixteenth, a feminist utopian novel set in a genderless society, as well as founding the short-lived Aëthnic Union and co-founded the journal Urania to challenge binary gender categories. Their legal career led them to Japan in 1916, where they served as a legal adviser to the Japanese government and were awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure for their work.
During their tenure in Japan, Baty developed a legal philosophy that emphasised effective control over territory as the sole criterion for state recognition, a view that justified Japanese expansionist policies. They defended Japan's actions in international forums, including the League of Nations. Despite the geopolitical tensions of World War II, Baty remained in Japan, continuing their work for the Japanese government. Their alignment with Japanese policies led to considerations of treason by the British government, but they were ultimately spared prosecution and instead had their British citizenship revoked. Baty died in Ichinomiya, Chiba, and was honoured posthumously by Japanese dignitaries.
Thomas Baty was born on 8 February 1869, in Stanwix, Cumberland, the eldest child of William Thomas Baty and his wife Mary (née Matthews). Their father, a cabinet-maker, died when Baty was seven.[1] Consequently, they grew up close to their mother and sister. Baty's uncles financially supported the family, enabling a middle-class home characterised by the "feminine home" concept. This Victorian ideal depicted a nurturing sanctuary dominated by female virtue, fostering spiritual and emotional well-being.[2]
Baty attended Carlisle Grammar school.[3] They were a gifted student and received a scholarship to study at The Queen's College, Oxford. They enrolled in 1888, and earned their bachelor's degree in jurisprudence in 1892. Baty was called to the bar in 1898.[4] In June 1901 they received an LL.M. from Trinity College, Cambridge.[5] They earned their D.C.L. from Oxford in 1901 and LL.D. from Cambridge in 1903.[6] At Cambridge, they were a Whewell Scholar, and at Oxford, a Civil Law Fellow.
As Irene Clyde, she advocated for the abolition of male dominance, the dismantling of gender binaries, the fluidity of biological sex, critical examinations of heterosexual marriage and biological reproduction, and the celebration of female-female relationships.
In 1909, Clyde published the feminist utopian novel Beatrice the Sixteenth.[7] Set in Armeria, it describes a genderless land of people with feminine characteristics who form life partnerships together. The novel examined her perspective on same-sex love and the gender binary.[8] It is considered a precursor to other feminist utopias and contemporary radical feminist theories on gender and sexuality.[9]
Around 1908, Clyde founded the Aëthnic Union, a society dedicated to challenging the societal gender binary. In 1916, Clyde, along with Esther Roper, Eva Gore-Booth, Dorothy Cornish, and Jessey Wade—fellow members of the Union—launched Urania, a privately circulated journal. The journal expressed their opposition to the rigid classification of people into two genders.[10] [11] [12] "Sex is an accident" and "There are no 'men' and 'women' in Urania" were regular mottos. Clyde also contributed under the name Theta.[13]
Urania became a central 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 at various global locations and featured original content, often written by Clyde herself, alongside reprinted excerpts from books or global mass media, and occasional editorial comments.[14] Subjects of the articles included same-sex relationships, androgyny, and sex changes.[15]
In 1934, Clyde published Eve's Sour Apples, a collection of essays criticising gender distinctions and heterosexual marriage. In the book, she envisioned a future where all forms of traditionally masculine behaviour were eradicated and offered guidance on how someone assigned male at birth could adopt a more feminine gender presentation. Clyde also passionately opposed the idea that women's worth was tied to motherhood or maternity, arguing that it was disastrous for "every girl's mind to be filled with the gruesome details of maternity".
Baty's expertise was in the field of international law. After completing their degree, they lectured on international law at Nottingham University and served as a degree examiner at Oxford, London, and Liverpool universities. At that time, they became a prolific writer on international law. Baty served as the honorary general secretary of the International Law Association from 1905 to 1916 and acted as junior counsel in the Zamora case. They were an associate member of the Institut de Droit International from 1921 onwards.
Following the outbreak of the First World War, Baty took part in the establishment of the Grotius Society, established in London in 1915. As one of the original members of that society, they became acquainted with Isaburo Yoshida, Second Secretary of the Embassy of Japan, London, and an international law scholar from the graduate school of the Tokyo Imperial University. The Japanese government was at that time searching for a foreign legal adviser following the death of Henry Willard Denison, a US citizen who served in that position until his death in 1914. Baty applied for that position in February 1915. The Japanese government accepted their application, and they came to Tokyo in May 1916 to start work at the Japanese Foreign Office. In 1920, they were awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure, third class, for service as a legal adviser. They were awarded second class of the same order in 1936.
In 1927, Baty was part of the Japanese delegation to the Geneva Naval Conference on disarmament, marking their only public appearance as a legal adviser for the Japanese government, with the rest of their work primarily involving writing legal opinions. They renewed their working contracts with the foreign office several times, until in 1928 they became a permanent employee of that ministry.[16]
Baty's legal philosophy evolved as they worked for the Japanese government and was designed to justify Japanese actions of encroaching upon the sovereignty of China. Following the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1932 and the establishment of Manchukuo, Baty defended Japan's position in the League of Nations and advocated for the new state's membership. They also wrote legal opinions justifying the Japanese invasion of China in 1937.
Their main argument was that the recognition of states must depend on one factor alone—effective control by the military and security forces of the government over the state's territory, and not on preconceived definitions of what the state should be. For that reason they opposed the procedure of according de facto recognition, claiming that only final and irrevocable recognition must be used, and accusing the western international community of hypocrisy in using the de facto recognition as a means to allow some transactions with governments of states unfriendly to them without making the definite commitment to accept them fully into the family of nations.[17]
In July 1941, the Japanese government froze the assets of foreigners residing in Japan or any of its colonial possessions in retaliation for the same move against Japanese assets in the US, but Baty was exempt from this due to their service for the Japanese government. Baty decided to remain in Japan even following the outbreak of war with the British Empire in December 1941. They rejected the efforts by the British Embassy to repatriate them, and kept working for the Japanese government even during the war. They defended the Japanese policy of conquest as a remedy to Western imperialism in Asia. In late 1944, they questioned the legitimacy of the pro-Allied governments established following the end of the German occupation in Europe.
Following the Japanese surrender in 1945, the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs was considering indicting Baty for treason, but the Central Liaison Office (a British government agency operating in Japan) provided an opinion stating that Baty's involvement with the Japanese government during the war was insignificant. In addition, some legal advisers within the British government shielded Baty from possible prosecution on the grounds that they were too old to stand trial. Instead, the British government decided to revoke Baty's British citizenship and leave them in Japan.
Baty died of a cerebral haemorrhage at the age of 85, in Ichinomiya, Chiba, on 9 February 1954.[18] The Emperor of Japan sent floral tributes, as did many of the people who knew Baty. Eulogies were delivered by Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida, Foreign Minister Katsuo Okazaki, Saburo Yamada (President of the Japanese Society of International Law) and Iyemasa Tokugawa (a former colleague). They were buried in Aoyama Cemetery, Tokyo, alongside their sister and mother.
Baty lived out the principles promoted by Urania which challenged the binary conception of gender, and for this reason has been described variously by contemporary scholars as non-binary,[19] genderfluid,[20] transgender or a trans woman. Although Baty publicly presented themselves as Thomas Baty to most of society, in 1926, they confessed their feelings in an address to their friends:
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.
Hugh Keenleyside, a Canadian diplomat in Japan, described Baty as a "transvestite", who occasionally entertained guests while dressed in a gown.[21] Friends observed a transition from Thomas Baty to Irene Clyde, noting that one identity gradually faded 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.
Baty was a strict vegetarian since the age of 19 and later served as vice-president of the British Vegetarian Society. They were also a member of the Humanitarian League[22] and the Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Society.[23]
Influenced by the writings of Thomas Carlyle, Baty came to perceive the unity of all religions and disregarded the specific historical contexts of Hebrew and Christian traditions. They subsequently became a Theosophist and a follower of Shinto.
An important person in their life was their sister Anne, who accompanied them to Japan in 1916 alongside their mother (who died in the same year). Anne lived with them until she died in Nikkō on 22 January 1945.
Baty's recreations included a passion for music, heraldry, and the sea, and they were described as a conservative. They also had a passion for literature and localism, particularly the formation of small, self-sustaining communities. Living in Tokyo, they embraced a leisure-class lifestyle, spending summers at Lake Chuzenji with their sister. There, they sailed their boat, the Ark, and socialised at the Nantaisan Yacht Club. The exclusivity of the resort was marked by its mainly diplomatic occupants and daily sailboat races.
Baty never married. Some evidence suggests that they were disillusioned with Victorian sexual norms and disgusted by the then accepted notions of male domination over women. They described themselves as a radical feminist and a pacifist,[24] arguing that masculine traits lead to war, while feminine traits reject it, concluding that ending war requires prioritising feminine characteristics.
Baty's later years inspired Japanese writer Ayako Sono's 1954 short story "Grave of the Sea". Although the story is set in Hakone instead of Nikkō, where Baty resided, it portrays a tale of a difficult life in a foreign land after the war. A notable line from the main character reads: "When I die, please throw my bones in the sea. I don't need a grave."[25]
In 1993, scholars Daphne Patai and Angela Ingram uncovered that starting in 1909, Baty had been writing about feminism and gender using the name Irene Clyde.[26] Baty's vehement opposition to the restrictive gender conventions of their time and their defying of these norms in their private life is considered by contemporary scholars to make them a transgender pioneer.[27]
Baty's unwavering support for Japan during the war led to them being regarded as a controversial figure in international law. They have been described as an apologist for imperialism.[28] In 2004, a commemorative seminar was held at the University of Tokyo on the 50th anniversary of Baty's death to reappraise their contributions to international law. It featured work from the scholars Vaughan Lowe, Martin Gornall and Hatsue Shinohara.[29]