What follows is a very incomplete list of some of the sexual pioneers we lost in 2006.

John Money (July 8,1921- July 7,2006)

John Money was a pioneering sex researcher whose work covered a wide range of sexual subjects but who was most famous (and in some circles infamous) for his work on gender identity and gender roles. It was Money who coined the term "gender role" and his work set the frame of reference for much of the contemporary discussion around gender.Listen to an NPR segment on the legacy of John Money.

Betty Friedan (February 4,1921- February 4,2006)

Well known author of The Feminine Mystique, life long political activist and feminist. Friedan co-founded and was the first president of the National Organization for Women, co-founded the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, and founded the National Women's Political Caucus. The New York Times ran a three page obituary for Friedan the day after her death.

Vern Bullough (July 24,1928 - June 21,2006)

Professor Vern Bullough was the author and editor of over 50 books and hundreds of articles on human sexuality. He was a professor in the History department at California State University Northridge, and the founding director of The Center for Sex Research in the College of Social and Behavioral Science at CSU, Northridge. Bullough was a key participant in American sexology, civil rights, and the international sexological community.

Tee Corinne (November 3,1943 - August 27,2006)

Tee Corinne was a pioneering lesbian photographer and artist. Tee co-founded “The Blatant Image – A Magazine of Feminist Photography” and produced an incredible body of lesbian erotic photography (and an equally well known coloring book) throughout her life. Friend and frequent co-conspirator Susie Bright posted a lovely remembrance of Corrinne on her blog.

Fritz Klein (December 27,1932 - May 24,2006)

Fritz Klein was a psychiatrist and an American sex researcher whose work focused on the study of bisexuality and the inclusion of bisexuality into the larger discussion of sexual orientation. He was also an activist and organizer, and he may be best known academically for the development of the Klein Sexual Orientation Grid, which sought to expand the Kinsey scale to account for a more fluid understanding of sexual orientation.

Coccinelle (August 23,1931 — October 9,2006)

Born Jacques-Charles Dufresnoy, Coccinelle was the first person in France to have sex reassignment surgery (which was done in Casablanca, Morocco) in 1958. France recognized her gender reassignment and Coccinelle, who was previously a popular drag performer became an even more wildly popular and loved female entertainer whose career spanned decades. She was also an outspoken activist for transsexual and transgender issues in France and abroad.

Stanley H. Biber (May 4,1923 - January 16,2006)

Dr. Stanley H. Biber had the distinction of performing more sex reassignment surgery procedures than any doctor in the world. He is said to have turned the small town where he practiced, Trinidad, Colorado, into the sex reassignment capital of the world. Considered an ally in the trans community, Biber practiced until 2003 when he turned over his practice to Dr. Marci Bowers who is trans herself.

Tyron Garner (July 10, 1967 - September 11, 2006)

Tyron Garner was one of two plaintiffs in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down sodomy bans in 13 states. Garner and his partner John Lawrence were arrested while engaging in consensual sex in their home in 1998 and charged under the Homosexual Conduct Law. They challenged the constitutionality of the law and on June 26, 2003 the Supreme Court (in a 6-3 decision) declared homosexual relations a basic civil right under the 14th Amendment, and ruled that what gay men and women do in the privacy of their bedrooms was not the government's business.