When he reached puberty several of the other boys, who had been rude to him, volunteered him as the one who would be sexually passive.
At Louisiana State University he found his first gay friends, but was ejected for being gay. He found a lover in Baton Rouge until his mother interfered. He then went to Southwestern Louisiana Institute (now the University of Louisiana at Lafeyette) and found another lover before being kicked out for doing so. In New Orleans he became a waiter and a prostitute, and as a kept boy started wearing female clothing full time, until his mother interfered.
He then joined the US Navy where he was a nurse, and married a woman from high school. However he found himself unable to have sex with her. He then told the Navy doctors that he was a woman, and was discharged within a week.
He returned to waiting, and did his first drag show at the My-O-My Club on Lake Ponchatrain. He was recruited for the Jewel Box Review because his size allowed him to take over the costumes of one who had left. He quit the Revue when his father was in hospital.
After that he opened a beauty salon, but then performed in various drag clubs. An agent in New York named him ‘The South’s Most Beautiful Boy’. In 1958 he and 142 others were arrested at a big costume ball at the Manhattan Center in New York. At the same time he came down with jaundice.
One day on the street he met an old friend who was close to completing transition, and demanded the name of her doctor. Perry then started on hormones injections from Dr Ritter in New York (probably Dr Benito Rish) , and started electrolysis. She also bleached her hair. She had a nose job and silicone injections.
Once she had breasts she passed easily as a woman, and went back to a mix of hooking and running a beauty salon. She gave that up to be a kept woman, but after a year of two-timing her husband, left him for the other man, Wayne.
In 1968 her father died, and she bought male clothing to attend his funeral.
She opened a new beauty salon in a haunted ante-bellum house in New Orleans, and then became a self-taught astrologer, and did lots of drugs. Her business evolved into an occult shop called The Age of Aquarius. She had her fortune read two or three times every day and constantly recalculated her horoscope.
After seven years together, Wayne beat her up and took off. Perry consulted a witch who sold her a spell to get Wayne to return.
After ten years on hormones, she contacted Dr Murphy Seeling in New York to be castrated. Wayne returned to go with her, and while she was there she had facial silicone implants as well. Seeling’s operation resulted in a painful abscess.
The next time that Wayne took off, Perry attempted suicide. Afterwards she bailed him out of jail and took him to a rehabilitation ward. In that ward Wayne embraced Jesus. After he got out, Wayne would not live with Perry because that would be a sin. He kept sending Christian leaflets to Perry and tried to get Perry to go to his church.
Perry found herself a new younger lover, but after a year of conflict with Wayne the new lover left for a ‘real woman’. This was 1974. Then her mother died, and wished to remember Perry ‘as you were’.
After an abortive visit to Wayne’s church she read the literature he had been sending to her, and approached the Baptist Church next to the laundromat. The minister visited her at home, and she converted, and was persuaded that to God she was still a man.
Perry reverted to male clothing, and he became a minister, and a celebrity on the Christian circuit. He became a pioneer in the Exodus movement. He supported the Anita Bryant crusade. He died of a heart attack at age 48.
*Not the singer, Perry Desmond-Davies
- Randy Hammer. "Brother Perry Trades Satin for Tracts". Pensacola News Journal (Florida), Jul 3, 1976: 28.
- James E Adams. "Transsexual wants to be male again". St Louis Post-Dispatch, Oct 7, 1976: 57.
- Lester Lee & Good News Gang. And such were some of you (1st Cor. 6:11) : introducing Perry Desmond and the Good News Gang. New Orleans: Good News 1976.
- Perry Desmond & Dr. R. L. Hymers. Perry: A Transformed Transsexual. Ironton, MO: Metamorphis Books, 137 pp1978. Impact Christian Books 133 pp 2004.
- April Kupfer. " 'Tranformed transsexual' begins life as a man again". The Orlando Sentinel, Mar 31, 1979: 25.
- Robin Witt. "Cal Expo Evangelist Perry Desmond calls himself 'Eunuch for the Lord' ". The Sacramento Bee, Jun 30, 1979: 23.
- Elizabeth Mehren. "Ex-gay wants a Humility Week". The Tribune (Oakland), Jul 1, 1979: 12.
- Lenita Powers. "Former gay delivers message of salvation". Reno Gazette-Journal, Oct 27, 1980: 17.
- Keith Lawrence. "Evangelist abandons trsnssexual lifestyle to preach gospel". Messenger-Inquirer (Kentucky), May 8, 1982: 8.
- Perry Desmond. “The Final Transformation”. No longer available.
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Both Drs Ritter and Seeling are obscure. I cannot find any other information about them, nor any other transsexuals who used their service.
At the end of the book Perry issues a blanket forgiveness to the homophobic bullies and other who made his life difficult. Surely even within Christianity, forgiveness should only follow repentance -- which does not seem to apply here. This is more serious than it sounds in my summary of Perry's life. He mentions two female impersonators who were his friends, and who were murdered in really horrible ways by homophobes. Are we to take it that he forgives these murderers too?
From the way that Perry chooses Dr Ritter we see that she is impulsive on making such a choice. Therefore it is not strange that she chose a church equally impulsively. This is a shame for there are churches that accept transsexuals, but they are not usually the one next to the laundromat. It is an enormous pity that Perry did not find a trans-positive church before changing back.
I heard a rumor that Perry had a heart attack caused by the fem hormones he had taken. Is there any truth to this?
ReplyDeleteI knew Perry, both before his Christian conversion and after. She often opened her home as a place for this poor runaway kid to "crash" and protected me from the dangers of the street. I became a Christian, and was taken in by my pastor and his family. My foster father was a pastor of a church on the edge of the French Quarter. One Sunday morning, I was really happy to see Perry and several of her friends show up one Sunday morning. However, Rev. Bresciani interrupted the service to ask them to leave as it was "wicked for Perry to be dressed in women's clothes", even though it was a pantsuit. I was crushed to see the woman who had sheltered me from the streets being rejected by the man who took me in as his child.
ReplyDeleteWhen I got married, we returned to New Orleans on our honeymoon, and I dropped in on Perry to see how she was doing. She had converted her little store into an all-night store front church and ministry. Anyone and everyone was welcome, Gay or straight. It was truly the way God has always intended; inclusive and accepting of people for who they are and how God made them. I lost track of her after we returned up North, but I always kept her in my heart.
In 1977, I gave birth to a little girl who was noticeably "different" from the time she could remove her dresses and put on her brother's clothes. She continually chopped off her hair, and as she grew older, finally refused to wear women's clothes. I knew she was either transgendered or a lesbian, but I did not care. She was the person God had put inside that body. She is now openly Gay, and although she has her moments, I love and accept her for who she is.
Human sexuality is not one or the other, but rather a continuum along a spectrum. We now know that many people are born in the wrong body and this is just an expression of nature; it's neither right or wrong. It just is what it is.
I hurt to hear that Perry died so young, and that she was deceived into buying into the lie that God expects Gay people to be something that they are not. Everyone should be loved and accepted for who they are, Gay, straight, bisexual, or transgendered. I am active in my church and work for the full inclusion of GLBT people in church life, including ordination into the clergy.
Christ would be ashamed of the church today if he saw how Christians are treating gays as if they were inherently evil. If you are gay, lebian, bisexual or transgendered, don't fall for the lie that you have to be something that you are not in order to please God. He said, "It was good" the moment you were concieved, and you are still perfect in His eyes today. Seek out other Christian sites that are accepting of all people, such as the Evangelic Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) or the United Church of Christ. We love God, put Christ first and love you for who you are. Welcome.
That is awesome Jan I traveled with Perry for years and worked on his book. I went to Christ For The Nations with him and we were
Deletegood friends!
I knew Perry as a child. Im not sure if this site is still active but I will tell you he was beloved in our home and I was only this moment telling MY son a story about Perry so I googled for a quick pic. I remember him being so funny, sweet and kind, a great listener who loved to laugh and be silly with us. We knew he had depression (even as kids) and didnt understand all of it but by far and away he is remembered for the joy and laughter he brought every time he visited.
DeleteAfter reading Perry's book, I wrote an opinion piece:
ReplyDeletehttp://transchristians.org/people/perry-desmond
I'd appreciate feedback, especially from anyone who knew him personally.
I knew Perry. He ate in my home in 1976 to 1980 at least once a year. He loved giving his testimony. He did not feel pressured to change. He was happy with his decision to identify with being a man after so many years of confusion. His mother attended the church services in Baton Rouge, when he came with his team ... Diamonds in the Rough.
ReplyDeleteI FIRST MET PERRY WHEN HE WORKED FOR RUTH ANN FASHIONS IN NEW ORLEANS..HE THEN OPENED THE AGE OF AQUARIUS. HIS BEST FRIEND ANGEL INTRODUCED ME TO PERRY..HE WAS A HAPPY QUEEN. HAVEING FUN AT THE TIME..IM SORRY HE IS GONE. AND IM ALSO SORRY SO MANY UNTRUE THINGS HAVE BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT HIM..I REMEMBER HIM TRYING TO SELL YO YOS ON BOURBON ST. IN FRONT OF HIS SHOP.
ReplyDeleteBART SIMONE
I met Perry in the 80's.Perry had to be one of the most infectious, fanatical, in-love-with-Jesus Christians I have ever known. He extended a tremendous amount of kindness and love to whomever he met and i am proud to have known him.
ReplyDeleteEphilei, you mentioned in your opinion piece that he did not seem close to his mother - I remember him referring (laughingly but seriously) as "Smother" which could be interpreted as "overbearing".
I met Perry in 1980, at a place called Victory Farm, in Missouri. He was touring and speaking on his experiences. Oddly enough, the thing I remember most about him was that his earlobes had not completely closed from having been pierced. He had red spots where the piercings were healing. I'm sorry to hear he died so young.
ReplyDeleteI knew of Perry and his book while living in Ironton, MO. The summer between my two years at Christ for the Nations. I read the book and knew who he was when I returned to Dallas. As a younger student I was somewhat afraid of him. He was a male at this time but still had breasts and in 1981 this was not something that I was used to. I am glad he got his life together before he died. I am not sure who the identity of SpermBank. I am sure we were in Dallas at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI was at CFNI during the same time he was there...Spermbank is me Stephen Eaglin.
DeleteI loved Perry. I only knew him after he became a Christian and he became very dear to me. I visited his outreach in the French Quarter several times. We had him in our home and church several times. He was truly the MOST UNIQUE AND ONE OF A KIND person I've ever known. I loved him and look forward to seeing him in heaven
ReplyDeleteI loved this man. He became dear to my whole family. I visited him in New Orleans many times and he came and stayed with bus many times. Funny, special, loving, humble, truly one of a kind. Period. I will see you again dear friend.
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere a few years back that Perry went back into the LGBT community. Does anyone know if that is true.
ReplyDeleteI heard that Perry's trans surgery did not go as was supposed to something was not right ? Anyone know anything about that?
ReplyDeletePerry’s operation was a disaster. He told me abou it and it was a horrible story. He laughed several times about. He looked at me and said. What the fuck are ya gonna do. I’m still gorgeous. And he was. New Orleans 1973.
DeleteDo you know if Perry was still holding on to her strong Christian persona and rejecting their trans idendtiity before they passed.
ReplyDelete