GenderLife Forum: The Information Exchange

Christine Jorgensen and Wendy Carlos a close second. 

Ironically enough my first exposure to a transwoman was at a dinner near Bedford NY. A group of friends and I went to this dinner and the waitress was simply lovely, natural, female and I had no clue whatsoever until one of the people I was with started wispering to another of our party.

I asked what they were talking about and was told "The waitress is actually a guy!" The funniest part was I launched right into defending her without knowing she was right behind me. I feel this hand on my shoulder and I look up she's standing right there. She said I didn't need to defend her, she wasn't bothered by much of anything but appreciated what I was trying to do.

She then looked at the chuckleheads I was with and said; "Your frined is right, my life history isn't on the menu and my ability to take your orders has nothing to do whith gender, expect of course when dealing with guys of limited intelligence. So to make thigs easier on you I'll use small words and clear something up.

I was born a girl, have always been a girl, and couldn't imagine anything else. I have had some cosmetic surgery over the years but that doesn't make me a guy. I have had to have some minor birth defects corrected which are none of your business and I couldn't possibly be a guy, my mind and heart are not small enough to demean and belittle other people I don't understand and lack the courage to learn from. So boys, would you like some vanilla icecream to go with your pie?"

I counldn't help myself, I bust out laughing and looked at her and said; "Score another major point for the fairer sex! I usually don't deign to have a battle of whits with unarmed opponents, but you handled that with grace and aplomb."

As we were leaving she pulled me aside and said; "Would you be surprised to find out that they were 'technically' correct? My birth defect was that I was born looking more male than I do now, and had to go through many years of pain and suffering to get here. Before you ask, it was well worth it, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. So, do you think your friends and family are going to cope when you finally decide it's time?"

I feigned ignorance and said; "When I decide it's time?"

She like everyone I've come out to, saw right through my facade and predicted this day would come. She said I could do it, it would work, and while it wouldn't be easy it would be worht it. That seems like a lifetime ago, it really does . . . I wish I'd stayed in touch, if for no other reason than to be able to thank her now. . .

I remember the very first TS womann that i heard of was Renee Richards. I asked my mom, what was a sex change? She replied "thats a man that has a surgery to become a lady". I can remember thinking to myself.................so it IS possible!!!!! I was about 10 years old.

I have always been facinated by the showgirls like Coccinelle who worked at the Carousel in Paris at the end of the fifties, early sixties, It was one of those times when a group of beautiful talented women ended up working at the same place, at the same time. I believe Coccinel was the first of that group of showgirls who had SRS with Dr Bourou, later on April Ashley, Amanda lear, Pandora and one other I can't think of the name on all followed suit. This was a period when It was cool to know a transsexual, all of these showgirls from that time all went on to have very interesting lives. Although Pandora I think married an Italien count and disappeared into stealth, I wonder what became of her?

My best friend used to know April Ashley in Hay on Wye, another really good friend knew Amanda Lear when she was known as Peki D'oslo and was working at a caberat in Barcalona. So I have often felt a sort of connection with these people at that time.

Otherwise the first TS I ever heard of was Tula when she was outed after apearing in that Bond film.

I could have sworn I answered this thread...

For me it was Christine Jorgensen. I don't remember the context of what brought that name to my attention, but it stuck in the mind of this eight year old like nothing before. It was one of the things that really started to cement in my mind that I was female inside...information to be kept and buried in those years, but, as Jillian above mentions, it brought it home that transition was possible.

Renee Richards for me -- I was 13 when her story became public, and I read every article I could find about her. When I finally learned how she'd managed to transition, I was crushed -- because it led me to think you had to be rich and well-connected in order to accomplish it, neither of which I had any hope of being.

I'd become aware of transsexualism itself, though, several years before the Richards story broke. When I was eight years old, I found a book on "deviant sexual behavior" that my mother had hidden under the towels in the kitchen drawer, containing a brief description of transsexualism, and stating that some of those experiencing it underwent "sex transformation operations." This was the first indication I ever found that I wasn't unique in the way I felt, and that there was some hope of dealing with it.

Ruby Taylor

Ever wonder why your mom had a copy of that book in the first place, and why she was hiding it there?