In 1998 she ran for being mayor of Jesus María, Lima.
She was one of the first transsexuals in Peru.
She died of bronchopneumonia.
01 January 2009
Fulvia Célica Siguas Sandoval (194? – 2004) performer
In 1998 she ran for being mayor of Jesus María, Lima.
She was one of the first transsexuals in Peru.
She died of bronchopneumonia.
Bo Laurent (1956 - ) intersex activist, programmer, translator.
Brian Sullivan was born in New Jersey (although some accounts say that he was named Charlie Chase at birth). He was surgically re-assigned to female at 18 months, when doctors found a uterus and ovotestes. While Brian was what was then called a ‘true hermaphrodite’ (although some accounts specify different intersex conditions), the doctors told the parents that he was actually a girl. They excised her penis/clitoris, and her parents moved to another town and called the child Bonnie Sullivan. The child stopped speaking for six months.
They were advised to shield the child from her medical history. Bonnie frequently fel
t different, but was never told why, although she found out about the clitoridectomy when she was 10. From the age of 19 she tried to access her medical records, and it took three years before she succeeded.
She did a degree in mathematics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and studied Japanese at Harvard. She then helped to found a technology company in Japan doing computer and translation work.
At age 35 she had a nervous breakdown and she flew to Florida and asked her mother a lot of questions. She then moved to San Francisco and started contacting anybody who might help. One such was Anne Fausto-Sterling who was about to publish her paper “The Five Sexes” in The Sciences. Sullivan wrote a letter which was published in the next issue (July/August 1993) asking persons with intersex conditions to contact ‘Cheryl Chase’ at the Intersex Society of North America (ISNA), which jump-started the organization.
She became quite critical of the standard of care for intersexed infants developed by Dr John Money, which proposed early corrective surgery and silence to the child so that he/she will not grow up questioning his/her sexual identity. As Cheryl Chase, Sullivan has been a major voice for the position that surgery on intersex children should not be done until the person is able to make an informed choice, that parents and doctors should be open with the child about the condition, and that parents should be ready if the child later opts for the other gender from that in which it was raised.
Chase has appeared in several documentaries on intersex. She changed her legal name to Bo Laurent in 1995. In 1998 she wrote an amicus brief for the Columbian constitutional court re proposed surgery on a six-year-old boy. In 2004 she persuaded the San Francisco Rights Commission to hold hearings on medical procedures for intersex children. She has published in medical journals, and has criticized feminist writers for ignoring surgery on intersex children while condemning female genital cutting. ISNA was honored with the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission's 2000 Felipa de Souza Human Rights Award.
However in later years she has worked more closely with doctors than with other intersex activists. In particular, she has worked closely with the non-intersex Alice Dreger, who became a major voice in ISNA. She co-authored a paper with Dreger advocating that ‘Intersex’ be replaced by ‘Disorders of Sex Development’ (DSD) – a position strongly criticized by other intersex activists as repathologization.
In 2004 Laurent married her wife of five years in San Francisco, when same-sex marriage was briefly permitted in California for the first time. They live on a hobby farm in Sonomo, California.
In 2008 ISNA was closed down with an anonymous statement, and Chase, who was now openly calling herself Bo Laurent, joined The Accord Alliance (founded by Katrina Karkazis, the author of Fixing Sex: Intersex, Medical Authority, and Lived Experience) which has anonymous funding through the Tides Center and a $305,000 grant from The California Endowment, a spin-off from Blue Cross insurance.
Also in 2008, Bo completed an MA in Organization Development that she had started at the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco and completed at Sonomo State University.
*Not Cheryl Chase the voice actress.
Confusion has arisen from Bo's practice of using both 'Cheryl Chase' and 'Bo Laurent', sometimes in the same publication. Remember the brouhaha when Wayne Dynes also used the name Evelyn Gittone in The Encyclopedia of Homosexuality. In Phyllis Burke's Gender Shock, 1996 (an otherwise well-researched book) Burke somehow managed to interview both Chase and Laurent without noticing that they were the same person.
Susan Stryker's Transgender History, which was published only a few months ago, mentions Chase only as an activist, without a single word about her Bo Laurent persona, and without a single word about the controversy over the DSD terminology.
The 'Cheryl Chase' Wikipedia page has a link at the bottom to a category called "American Intersex Activists'. When you click on it it turns out to be a set of one. There is no mention of Sherri Morris of the AIS Support Group, Hale Hawbecker who is developing a legal challenge to infant intersex surgeries or Curtis Hinkle, the founder of OII. These three are also missing from Stryker's book.
They were advised to shield the child from her medical history. Bonnie frequently fel
t different, but was never told why, although she found out about the clitoridectomy when she was 10. From the age of 19 she tried to access her medical records, and it took three years before she succeeded.She did a degree in mathematics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and studied Japanese at Harvard. She then helped to found a technology company in Japan doing computer and translation work.
At age 35 she had a nervous breakdown and she flew to Florida and asked her mother a lot of questions. She then moved to San Francisco and started contacting anybody who might help. One such was Anne Fausto-Sterling who was about to publish her paper “The Five Sexes” in The Sciences. Sullivan wrote a letter which was published in the next issue (July/August 1993) asking persons with intersex conditions to contact ‘Cheryl Chase’ at the Intersex Society of North America (ISNA), which jump-started the organization.
She became quite critical of the standard of care for intersexed infants developed by Dr John Money, which proposed early corrective surgery and silence to the child so that he/she will not grow up questioning his/her sexual identity. As Cheryl Chase, Sullivan has been a major voice for the position that surgery on intersex children should not be done until the person is able to make an informed choice, that parents and doctors should be open with the child about the condition, and that parents should be ready if the child later opts for the other gender from that in which it was raised.
Chase has appeared in several documentaries on intersex. She changed her legal name to Bo Laurent in 1995. In 1998 she wrote an amicus brief for the Columbian constitutional court re proposed surgery on a six-year-old boy. In 2004 she persuaded the San Francisco Rights Commission to hold hearings on medical procedures for intersex children. She has published in medical journals, and has criticized feminist writers for ignoring surgery on intersex children while condemning female genital cutting. ISNA was honored with the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission's 2000 Felipa de Souza Human Rights Award.
However in later years she has worked more closely with doctors than with other intersex activists. In particular, she has worked closely with the non-intersex Alice Dreger, who became a major voice in ISNA. She co-authored a paper with Dreger advocating that ‘Intersex’ be replaced by ‘Disorders of Sex Development’ (DSD) – a position strongly criticized by other intersex activists as repathologization.
In 2004 Laurent married her wife of five years in San Francisco, when same-sex marriage was briefly permitted in California for the first time. They live on a hobby farm in Sonomo, California.
In 2008 ISNA was closed down with an anonymous statement, and Chase, who was now openly calling herself Bo Laurent, joined The Accord Alliance (founded by Katrina Karkazis, the author of Fixing Sex: Intersex, Medical Authority, and Lived Experience) which has anonymous funding through the Tides Center and a $305,000 grant from The California Endowment, a spin-off from Blue Cross insurance.
Also in 2008, Bo completed an MA in Organization Development that she had started at the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco and completed at Sonomo State University.
*Not Cheryl Chase the voice actress.
- Cheryl Chase (dir). Hermaphrodites Speak! With Cheryl Chase. Intersex Society of North America. US 30 mins 1997.
- Cheryl Chase. “Affronting Reason”. In Joan Nestle, Clare Howell & Riki Wilchins (eds). GenderQueer: Voices from Beyond the Sexual Binary. Alyson Books 297 pp 2002.
- Phyllis Ward (dir). The Child with an Intersex Condition: Total Patient Care . Scr: Cheryl Chase & Phyllis Ward, with Cheryl Chase. US 20 mins 2003.
- Brad Brough (dir). Intersexuality: Redefining Sex. With Cheryl Chase. Canada CHUM TV 25 mins 22 July 2000.
- Elizabeth Weil. “What if It’s (Sort of) a Boy and (Sort of) a Girl?”. New York Times Magazine. Sept 24, 2006. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/magazine/24intersexkids.html?ex=1316750400&en=11174796a1323948&ei=5088&partner.
- Curtis E. Hinkle. “Cheryl Chase and Disorders of Sex Development (DSD)”. Organization Intersex International – USA. October 2, 2006. http://oii-usa.blogspot.com/2006/10/cheryl-chase-and-disorders-of-sex.html.
- “Would the real Cheryl Chase, Bo Laurent, Charlie Chase, Brian Sullivan, Bonnie Sullivan please stand up?”. Organization Intersex International. www.intersexualite.org/Cheryl_Chase.html.
- Susan Stryker. Transgender History
. Seal Press. 190 pp 2008: 138-9.
- “Cheryl Chase (activist)”. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheryl_Chase_(activist)
- www.isna.org.
- www.accordalliance.org.
- www.bolaurent.com.
Confusion has arisen from Bo's practice of using both 'Cheryl Chase' and 'Bo Laurent', sometimes in the same publication. Remember the brouhaha when Wayne Dynes also used the name Evelyn Gittone in The Encyclopedia of Homosexuality. In Phyllis Burke's Gender Shock, 1996 (an otherwise well-researched book) Burke somehow managed to interview both Chase and Laurent without noticing that they were the same person.
Susan Stryker's Transgender History, which was published only a few months ago, mentions Chase only as an activist, without a single word about her Bo Laurent persona, and without a single word about the controversy over the DSD terminology.
The 'Cheryl Chase' Wikipedia page has a link at the bottom to a category called "American Intersex Activists'. When you click on it it turns out to be a set of one. There is no mention of Sherri Morris of the AIS Support Group, Hale Hawbecker who is developing a legal challenge to infant intersex surgeries or Curtis Hinkle, the founder of OII. These three are also missing from Stryker's book.
30 December 2008
Some Events of the year 2008
++ = added later.
This is just some of what happened in 2008.
Stu Rasmussen (1948 - ) elected mayor of Silverton, Oregon as an open transgender.
Alejandra Victoria Portatadino (1959 - ) on International Women’s Day, she was recognized as one of 20 Argentinian women who ‘broke traditional molds’.
Choochat Dulayapraphatsorn (1962 - ) elected village chief of Tai Ban Mai, Thailand.
Leo Kret (1983 - ) elected to city council of Salvador, Bahia.
Bishni Adhikari (1987 - ) a Nepali, acquires an identity card with gender=third.
Robin Mathy (1957 - ) US sociologist filed ethics complaints against Alice Dreger and Michael Bailey.
Pascale Ourbih (? - ) ran for office in the 16th arrondissement of Paris.
Ramesh Venkatesan (1980 - ) using name Rose is host of television program in Tamil Nadu.
Nepal's Supreme Court confirms full rights for all GLBTI persons.
Bangadeshi court rules that transgenders are citizens and have the right to vote, along with travellers, prisoners and 1947 migrants from India.
Australia considers third sex recognition
Sweden removes transvestity from the list of illnesses.
First Indonesian Islamic school for waria (transgender) set up in Yogyakarta.
Colombia's constitutional court rules that a five-year-old intersex child can choose her own gender against her parents' wishes.
Philippines Supreme Court rules that Jennifer Cagandahan, an intersex, could change her legal gender to male.
Pan-African meeting for transgender activists held in South Africa.
The UK Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations extended to Northern Ireland.
++ At the London pride March, trans women where denied the use of women's toilets, and were told incorrectly that they had to produce their Gender Recognition Certificates.
++ A court in Karlsruhe ruled that a trans woman who transitioned after being married to a woman for 50 years could both remain married and change her legal gender.
++ The Irish High Court ruled that Irish Law was incompatible with Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights with respect to Lydia Foy's attempt to get her birtt certificate changed.
Uganda High Court ruled in favour of GLBT activists (including Victor Mukasa) and against the Attorney General.
UN statement on universal rights of GLBT persons. The participating countries urged all nations to "promote and protect human rights of all persons, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity," and to end all criminal penalties against people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. This was conceived by Louis Tin, the founder of the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO), and adopted by France during its rotating presidency of the European Union. 66 countries including all EU countries (including Poland, Latvia and Lithuania) and several African countries signed. Notable among the non-signers were South Africa and Turkey, and, as expected, the US. Opposition came from the Vatican and the Islamic Conference.
National Fatwa Council of Malaysia issued a fatwa saying that tomboyism, where a girl behaves or dresses in what is seen as a boyish manner, is forbidden by Islam.
Turkish court bans Lambda Istanbul, and police raid its cultural centre on grounds of "frequent visits by transgender people".
New Kuwaiti law against cross-dressing used to arrest transgender Kuwaitis.
Police in Bangalore, India, forced 100 hijras from their homes, after a scandal about some hijras kidnapping and castrating male children.
Yet more US States banned equal marriages.
California voted in referendum to abolish all personal and business contracts except marriage where the persons are of different genders - details.
US DHHS regulations "Provider Conscience" rule permits any healthcare provider to refuse service to any gay or trans person on grounds of moral, religious or personal beliefs.
The CAMH Clinic gains more power by controlling restored funding for some Ontario transsexuals.
Ken Zucker and Ray Blanchard at Toronto's CAMH appointed to APA's DSM-5.
Bo Laurent closed down the Internet Society of North America, and joined The Accord Alliance.
Transphobic Julie Bindel shortlisted by Stonewall as lesbian journalist of the year.
Alice Dreger's "The Bailey Affair: Political Correctness and Attacks on Sex Research". Archives of Sexual Behavior. 37,3. June 2008.
++ Herman Ratjen (1918 - 2008) high jump for Germany, 1936, as Dora. Hamburg.
Erica Rutherford (1923 - 2008 ) artist, Prince Edward Island.
Lynne Braithwaite (1934 - 2008) aircraft engineer, Morecambe, Lancashire.
Steve Dain (1940 - 2008) San Francisco teacher.
Raymond Sheehan (1958 - 2008) New York cop outed as a transvestite when his abused wife killed him.
Jahna Steele (1958 - 2000) Las Vegas show girl.
Jennifer Gale (1960 - 2008) perennial political candidate, Austin, Texas.
Madeleine Blaustein (1960 - 2008) New York comic artist, writer, voice actor.
Jang Chae-won (1982 - 2008) Korean game-show contestant in apparent suicide.
Westerly Drouyn (1950 - ) Australian champion surfer transitioned.
Bülent Ersoy (1950 -) Turkish singer, was put on trial but found not guilty for saying on television that if she were a mother she would not want her son to be in the Turkish forces in Iraq.
Desiré Dubounet (1951 - ) arrested at Budapest airport.
Melanie Parltrow (1951 - ) Staffordshire lorry driver and lottery winner. Her ladies darts team was ejected from the league for questionable reasons.
Jillian Page (1952 - ) Montréal Gazette journalist, transitions.
Olli Aalto (1954 - ) vicar of Imatra, Finland, announces transition.
Lana Lawless (1953 - ) Palm Springs ex-cop, wins female Long Drive Championship.
Gwynedd Thomas (195? - ) engineering professor Auburn University, Alabama, transitioned at work.
Nicole Dolder (195? - ) in Scotland, has her play Painted Eggs based on her experiences as a transsexual presented by the theatre group, The Luvvies.
Lily Savage (1955 - ) awarded an MBE.
Stephen Whittle (1955 - ) became President of Transgender Europe (TGEU).
Julie Yoo (1959 - ) diner manager, Tarpon Springs, Florida, transitioned, and lost her diner.
Mike Penner (1959 - ) Los Angeles Times sports writer, transitions and then changes back.
Christiane Völling (1960 - ) Düsseldorf nurse, awarded €100,000 against the surgeon who removed her uterus and womb and hid her intersex status from her.
Adrian Poleglase (196? - ) Stockwell, London, civil servant, survived after a trick tied him up and set his flat on fire.
Enza Anderson (1964 - ) Metro party columnist, was Grand Marshall for Toronto Pride.
Valdimir Luxuria (1965 - ) lost her seat in the Italian Parliament, but was later the winner in the reality television show, Celebrity Island.
Raven Navajo (1965 - ) pleaded guilty in Las Vegas of first-degree murder, but convicted of second degree, and sentenced to 10 years.
Vikki-Marie Gaynor (1970 ) lorry driver, awarded £20,000 against DHL for discrimination.
Calpernia Adams (1971 - ) featured on Transamerican Love Story.
Darlene Harris (1973 - ) Atlanta police officer, goes public about her intersex status.
Hussain Rabie (1974 - ) Bahraini shot-putter, finally recognized as male by High Civil Court.
Thomas Beatie (1974 - ) gave birth and became pregnant a second time.
Eulis Campbell/Madeline Monroe (1980 - ) pleaded guilty to murder in Florida and sentenced to 40 years.
Aderet (1976 - ) Israeli singer, top of the playlist in Lebanon.
Cat Tuyen (1977 - ) Vietnamese singer, married.
Betheny Black (1978 - ) Manchester goth lesbian standup comedian, appeared at the Glastonbury Festival.
Balian Buschbaum (1980 - ) German champion pole-vaulter, transitioned.
Christy Nicole Lewis (1981 - ) sentenced to 4 years in Alabama for bank robbery.
Susanna Achora (? - ) herbalist, publicly exposed as male-bodied when she went into Mbale Hospital, Uganda, with meningitis.
Natasha Thoday (1966 - ) teacher in Brighton. Tribunal rules in her favour after she was fired and harassed.
Issa Fazli (196? - ) who converted from a female Muslim to a male Christian, was detained by his parents in Pakistan for four years. On return to the US his Permanent Residence had expired.
Lindiwe Ringane (? - ) rejected from Miss South Africa pageant.
Isis King (1986 - ) on America's Next Top Model.
Becca Goldstein (dir). The Lisa Jackson Documentary. With Lisa Jackson. US 2008.
James Rasin (dir). Beautiful Darling. With Candy Darling, Andy Warhol, Holly Woodlawn. US 2008.
Jules Rosskam (dir). Against a Trans Narrative. With Desi del Valle. US 61 mins 2008.
Randolph Viverito (dir). My Name is Jackie Beat. With Jackie Beat, Roseanne Barr. US 65 mins 2008.
Marleen Gorris (dir). Heaven and Earth. With Natascha McElhone as James Barry. UK 2009. In pre-production.
Anand Tucker (dir). The Danish Girl. Based on the novel by David Ebershoff, with Nicole Kidman as Einar Wegener and Charlize Theron as Greta Wegener. US 2010. In pre-production.
The film biography of April Ashley with Catherine Zeta-Jones as Ashley is apparently not happening.
Born in the Wrong Body: Girls Will Be Boys. MSNBC US 60 mins 2008.
Born in the Wrong Body: A Change of Heart. With Joseph Kirchner, Michael Berke. MSNBC US 60 mins 2008.
Born in the Wrong Body: Tying the Knot. MSNBC US 60 mins 2008.
Taboo: The Third Sex. National Geographic Channel. Oct 27, 2008.
Kate Cummings. Katherine's Diary‑the Story of a Transsexual. William Heinemann Australia 1992. Revised and updated 2008.
Katrina Alicia Karkazis. Fixing Sex: Intersex, Medical Authority, and Lived Experience. Durham: Duke University Press, 2008.
Nicholas Clapton. Moreschi: the Angel of Rome. Haus, 265pp 2008. A castrati.
Susan Stryker. Transgender History. Seal Press. 190 pp 2008.
Savannah Knoop. Girl Boy Girl: How I Became JT LeRoy. Seven Stories Press. 224 pp 2008.
Tracie O’Keefe (ed) Trans People in Love. Routledge 2008.
This is just some of what happened in 2008.
Public
Sou Southevy (193? - ) Cambodian sex worker, made a formal complaint to the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, in the hope that the extermination of transgender, lesbian and sex workers will be acknowledged.Stu Rasmussen (1948 - ) elected mayor of Silverton, Oregon as an open transgender.
Alejandra Victoria Portatadino (1959 - ) on International Women’s Day, she was recognized as one of 20 Argentinian women who ‘broke traditional molds’.
Choochat Dulayapraphatsorn (1962 - ) elected village chief of Tai Ban Mai, Thailand.
Leo Kret (1983 - ) elected to city council of Salvador, Bahia.
Bishni Adhikari (1987 - ) a Nepali, acquires an identity card with gender=third.
Robin Mathy (1957 - ) US sociologist filed ethics complaints against Alice Dreger and Michael Bailey.
Pascale Ourbih (? - ) ran for office in the 16th arrondissement of Paris.
Ramesh Venkatesan (1980 - ) using name Rose is host of television program in Tamil Nadu.
Nepal's Supreme Court confirms full rights for all GLBTI persons.
Bangadeshi court rules that transgenders are citizens and have the right to vote, along with travellers, prisoners and 1947 migrants from India.
Australia considers third sex recognition
Sweden removes transvestity from the list of illnesses.
First Indonesian Islamic school for waria (transgender) set up in Yogyakarta.
Colombia's constitutional court rules that a five-year-old intersex child can choose her own gender against her parents' wishes.
Philippines Supreme Court rules that Jennifer Cagandahan, an intersex, could change her legal gender to male.
Pan-African meeting for transgender activists held in South Africa.
The UK Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations extended to Northern Ireland.
++ At the London pride March, trans women where denied the use of women's toilets, and were told incorrectly that they had to produce their Gender Recognition Certificates.
++ A court in Karlsruhe ruled that a trans woman who transitioned after being married to a woman for 50 years could both remain married and change her legal gender.
++ The Irish High Court ruled that Irish Law was incompatible with Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights with respect to Lydia Foy's attempt to get her birtt certificate changed.
Uganda High Court ruled in favour of GLBT activists (including Victor Mukasa) and against the Attorney General.
UN statement on universal rights of GLBT persons. The participating countries urged all nations to "promote and protect human rights of all persons, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity," and to end all criminal penalties against people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. This was conceived by Louis Tin, the founder of the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO), and adopted by France during its rotating presidency of the European Union. 66 countries including all EU countries (including Poland, Latvia and Lithuania) and several African countries signed. Notable among the non-signers were South Africa and Turkey, and, as expected, the US. Opposition came from the Vatican and the Islamic Conference.
China re-introduces optional sex testing at the Olympics.
National Fatwa Council of Malaysia issued a fatwa saying that tomboyism, where a girl behaves or dresses in what is seen as a boyish manner, is forbidden by Islam.
Turkish court bans Lambda Istanbul, and police raid its cultural centre on grounds of "frequent visits by transgender people".
New Kuwaiti law against cross-dressing used to arrest transgender Kuwaitis.
Police in Bangalore, India, forced 100 hijras from their homes, after a scandal about some hijras kidnapping and castrating male children.
Yet more US States banned equal marriages.
California voted in referendum to abolish all personal and business contracts except marriage where the persons are of different genders - details.
US DHHS regulations "Provider Conscience" rule permits any healthcare provider to refuse service to any gay or trans person on grounds of moral, religious or personal beliefs.
The CAMH Clinic gains more power by controlling restored funding for some Ontario transsexuals.
Ken Zucker and Ray Blanchard at Toronto's CAMH appointed to APA's DSM-5.
Bo Laurent closed down the Internet Society of North America, and joined The Accord Alliance.
Transphobic Julie Bindel shortlisted by Stonewall as lesbian journalist of the year.
Alice Dreger's "The Bailey Affair: Political Correctness and Attacks on Sex Research". Archives of Sexual Behavior. 37,3. June 2008.
Obituaries
Felicity Chandelle (1906 - 2008) airline pilot, USA.++ Herman Ratjen (1918 - 2008) high jump for Germany, 1936, as Dora. Hamburg.
Erica Rutherford (1923 - 2008 ) artist, Prince Edward Island.
Lynne Braithwaite (1934 - 2008) aircraft engineer, Morecambe, Lancashire.
Steve Dain (1940 - 2008) San Francisco teacher.
Raymond Sheehan (1958 - 2008) New York cop outed as a transvestite when his abused wife killed him.
Jahna Steele (1958 - 2000) Las Vegas show girl.
Jennifer Gale (1960 - 2008) perennial political candidate, Austin, Texas.
Madeleine Blaustein (1960 - 2008) New York comic artist, writer, voice actor.
Jang Chae-won (1982 - 2008) Korean game-show contestant in apparent suicide.
Private Events
Jan Morris (1926 - ) formally rejoined her wife of nearly 60 years in a civil union in Wales.Westerly Drouyn (1950 - ) Australian champion surfer transitioned.
Bülent Ersoy (1950 -) Turkish singer, was put on trial but found not guilty for saying on television that if she were a mother she would not want her son to be in the Turkish forces in Iraq.
Desiré Dubounet (1951 - ) arrested at Budapest airport.
Melanie Parltrow (1951 - ) Staffordshire lorry driver and lottery winner. Her ladies darts team was ejected from the league for questionable reasons.
Jillian Page (1952 - ) Montréal Gazette journalist, transitions.
Olli Aalto (1954 - ) vicar of Imatra, Finland, announces transition.
Lana Lawless (1953 - ) Palm Springs ex-cop, wins female Long Drive Championship.
Gwynedd Thomas (195? - ) engineering professor Auburn University, Alabama, transitioned at work.
Nicole Dolder (195? - ) in Scotland, has her play Painted Eggs based on her experiences as a transsexual presented by the theatre group, The Luvvies.
Lily Savage (1955 - ) awarded an MBE.
Stephen Whittle (1955 - ) became President of Transgender Europe (TGEU).
Julie Yoo (1959 - ) diner manager, Tarpon Springs, Florida, transitioned, and lost her diner.
Mike Penner (1959 - ) Los Angeles Times sports writer, transitions and then changes back.
Christiane Völling (1960 - ) Düsseldorf nurse, awarded €100,000 against the surgeon who removed her uterus and womb and hid her intersex status from her.
Adrian Poleglase (196? - ) Stockwell, London, civil servant, survived after a trick tied him up and set his flat on fire.
Enza Anderson (1964 - ) Metro party columnist, was Grand Marshall for Toronto Pride.
Valdimir Luxuria (1965 - ) lost her seat in the Italian Parliament, but was later the winner in the reality television show, Celebrity Island.
Raven Navajo (1965 - ) pleaded guilty in Las Vegas of first-degree murder, but convicted of second degree, and sentenced to 10 years.
Vikki-Marie Gaynor (1970 ) lorry driver, awarded £20,000 against DHL for discrimination.
Calpernia Adams (1971 - ) featured on Transamerican Love Story.
Darlene Harris (1973 - ) Atlanta police officer, goes public about her intersex status.
Hussain Rabie (1974 - ) Bahraini shot-putter, finally recognized as male by High Civil Court.
Thomas Beatie (1974 - ) gave birth and became pregnant a second time.
Eulis Campbell/Madeline Monroe (1980 - ) pleaded guilty to murder in Florida and sentenced to 40 years.
Aderet (1976 - ) Israeli singer, top of the playlist in Lebanon.
Cat Tuyen (1977 - ) Vietnamese singer, married.
Betheny Black (1978 - ) Manchester goth lesbian standup comedian, appeared at the Glastonbury Festival.
Balian Buschbaum (1980 - ) German champion pole-vaulter, transitioned.
Christy Nicole Lewis (1981 - ) sentenced to 4 years in Alabama for bank robbery.
Susanna Achora (? - ) herbalist, publicly exposed as male-bodied when she went into Mbale Hospital, Uganda, with meningitis.
Natasha Thoday (1966 - ) teacher in Brighton. Tribunal rules in her favour after she was fired and harassed.
Issa Fazli (196? - ) who converted from a female Muslim to a male Christian, was detained by his parents in Pakistan for four years. On return to the US his Permanent Residence had expired.
Lindiwe Ringane (? - ) rejected from Miss South Africa pageant.
Isis King (1986 - ) on America's Next Top Model.
Films & Television programmes
Chen Kaige (dir & scr). Mei Lanfang, with Leon Lai as Mei Lanfang. China 2008.Becca Goldstein (dir). The Lisa Jackson Documentary. With Lisa Jackson. US 2008.
James Rasin (dir). Beautiful Darling. With Candy Darling, Andy Warhol, Holly Woodlawn. US 2008.
Jules Rosskam (dir). Against a Trans Narrative. With Desi del Valle. US 61 mins 2008.
Randolph Viverito (dir). My Name is Jackie Beat. With Jackie Beat, Roseanne Barr. US 65 mins 2008.
Marleen Gorris (dir). Heaven and Earth. With Natascha McElhone as James Barry. UK 2009. In pre-production.
Anand Tucker (dir). The Danish Girl. Based on the novel by David Ebershoff, with Nicole Kidman as Einar Wegener and Charlize Theron as Greta Wegener. US 2010. In pre-production.
The film biography of April Ashley with Catherine Zeta-Jones as Ashley is apparently not happening.
Born in the Wrong Body: Girls Will Be Boys. MSNBC US 60 mins 2008.
Born in the Wrong Body: A Change of Heart. With Joseph Kirchner, Michael Berke. MSNBC US 60 mins 2008.
Born in the Wrong Body: Tying the Knot. MSNBC US 60 mins 2008.
Taboo: The Third Sex. National Geographic Channel. Oct 27, 2008.
Books
Michael Seth Starr. Hiding in Plain Sight: The Secret Life of Raymond Burr. New York: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. 2008: 120-8. (on Libby Reynolds).Kate Cummings. Katherine's Diary‑the Story of a Transsexual. William Heinemann Australia 1992. Revised and updated 2008.
Katrina Alicia Karkazis. Fixing Sex: Intersex, Medical Authority, and Lived Experience. Durham: Duke University Press, 2008.
Nicholas Clapton. Moreschi: the Angel of Rome. Haus, 265pp 2008. A castrati.
Susan Stryker. Transgender History. Seal Press. 190 pp 2008.
Savannah Knoop. Girl Boy Girl: How I Became JT LeRoy. Seven Stories Press. 224 pp 2008.
Tracie O’Keefe (ed) Trans People in Love. Routledge 2008.
++ Terri O'Connell. Dangerous Curves. BookSurge Publishing 2008.
Terry Noel (1936 - ) performer, housewife, programmer/analyst.
From a small town in Kentucky, Terry won a Halloween contest in 1958, and sent the photographs to T
he Jewel Box Revue and was hired as a performer. From 1960 she worked at Club 82 in New York City, where she dated actor Jim Hutton.
She took female hormones for only 18 months, starting in 1961. She was on the cover of Female Mimics in 1963.
She had been scheduled to have genital surgery at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn in 1964, but the surgeon felt wrong and she cancelled. She did have the operation the next year with Dr Trowbridge in Illinois. Her mother took the surgeon’s and psychiatrist’s letters to the county clerk and got Terry’s birth certificate re-issued. How
ever there were complication with her bladder that continued until she had extra surgery in Yonkers.
She continued at the Club 82 until she found an office job as a typist. In 1969 she moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia, where she married a US naval officer, and was with him and his son for 14 years without either knowing her past.
After divorce she retrained as a computer programmer/ analyst, and then worked for the US federal government.
She retired in 1997.
*Not the New York DJ.
he Jewel Box Revue and was hired as a performer. From 1960 she worked at Club 82 in New York City, where she dated actor Jim Hutton.She took female hormones for only 18 months, starting in 1961. She was on the cover of Female Mimics in 1963.
She had been scheduled to have genital surgery at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn in 1964, but the surgeon felt wrong and she cancelled. She did have the operation the next year with Dr Trowbridge in Illinois. Her mother took the surgeon’s and psychiatrist’s letters to the county clerk and got Terry’s birth certificate re-issued. How
ever there were complication with her bladder that continued until she had extra surgery in Yonkers.She continued at the Club 82 until she found an office job as a typist. In 1969 she moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia, where she married a US naval officer, and was with him and his son for 14 years without either knowing her past.
After divorce she retrained as a computer programmer/ analyst, and then worked for the US federal government.
She retired in 1997.
*Not the New York DJ.
- J.D. Doyle (ed). “Terry Noel”. Queer Music Heritage. www.queermusicheritage.us/fem-terrynoel.html.
- Vicki Rene. “Interview with a Superstar!: Terry Noel” http://www.vickirene.net/intterry.htm.
29 December 2008
David Raven (1934 - 2025) master grocer, performer & James Court (194? - ) performer.
David was adopted by a couple in pub and hotel management. He trained as a master grocer. He married a woman at the age of 19, and at 21 was manager of the Norwich Co-op. At 29 he was assistant manager at Selfridges food hall in London, when he realized t
hat he was really gay.
He got up and sang at the Cricketers pub in Battersea, and found that he had a natural talent. With James Court he won a talent competition and they became The Trollettes, David adopting the name Maisie Trollette, and James as Jimmy Trollette. They appeared regularly at the Union Tavern in Camberwell.
David was the first to revive own-voice singing in drag acts. He was in the London stage version of Boys in the Band, and has also played dames in pantomimes many times, especially Widow Twanky and The Ugly Sisters. He won £12,000 on the football pools and bought a hotel in Brighton which he ran with hi
s boyfriend for 18 years.
He has a successful one-man show, and has played around the world. He was a founder member of Brighton Cares, the HIV charity.
Although he never went to Pattaya, Thailand, until 2003, he has become enthusiastic and now visits there at least twice a year.
James (Jimmy Trollette) has also done dame parts, especially the Ugly Sisters with David, and likewise has done lots of charity work.
The Trollettes were the model for Les Dawson and Roy Barraclough when they played on television as Ada and Cissie.
hat he was really gay.He got up and sang at the Cricketers pub in Battersea, and found that he had a natural talent. With James Court he won a talent competition and they became The Trollettes, David adopting the name Maisie Trollette, and James as Jimmy Trollette. They appeared regularly at the Union Tavern in Camberwell.
David was the first to revive own-voice singing in drag acts. He was in the London stage version of Boys in the Band, and has also played dames in pantomimes many times, especially Widow Twanky and The Ugly Sisters. He won £12,000 on the football pools and bought a hotel in Brighton which he ran with hi
s boyfriend for 18 years.He has a successful one-man show, and has played around the world. He was a founder member of Brighton Cares, the HIV charity.
Although he never went to Pattaya, Thailand, until 2003, he has become enthusiastic and now visits there at least twice a year.
James (Jimmy Trollette) has also done dame parts, especially the Ugly Sisters with David, and likewise has done lots of charity work.
The Trollettes were the model for Les Dawson and Roy Barraclough when they played on television as Ada and Cissie.
David Maisie died age 91, peforming well into her 80s. A Biographical fil was released in 2021.
*Not the footballer, nor the drummer.
*Not the footballer, nor the drummer.
- The Trollettes. Live at The Cricketers, with Lee Paris. Bona Records LP 1, 1983.
- Five Drag Divas and a Duo. CD 1998.
- “The real guy beneath the greasepaint”. Pattaya Today. 14 July 2005. www.pattaya2day.com/index.php?action=show&type=news&id=1176.
- D.J. Doyle. “The Trollettes”. Queer Musical Heritage. www.queermusicheritage.us/drag-trollettes.html.
- Lee Cooper (dir). Maisie, with David Raven, Paul O'Grady and Walter Cole/Darcelle XV. UK 76 mins 2021.
- Delores Delargo Towers. "The End of an Era". The Museum of Camp, 12 March 2025. Online.
27 December 2008
Ben Schatz (1959 -) and Irwin Keller (? - ) lawyers, performers.
Ben graduated fr
om Harvard Law School in 1985. He founded a US-wide legal program to combat Aids-related discrimination, and was executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association. He wrote position papers for then US presidential candidate Bill Clinton.
Irwin graduated in law from the University of Chicago. He was director of the Aids Legal Referral Panel of the San Francisco Bay Are
a. He authored Chicago’s gay rights ordinance, which was passed in 1980 and is still in effect.
In 1993 Schatz, Keller and others attended a Bette Midler concert in San Francisco dressed as the Andrews Sisters. They were offered engagements, and even discovered that they all could sing.
Ben let his Rachel persona evolve, and the group became The Kinsey Sicks. After a few years of a double life Ben quit his law jobs and became a full time drag performer. Irwin followed in 2002 to become Winnie.
Kinsey Six is of course the exclusively gay end of the Kinsey scale.
om Harvard Law School in 1985. He founded a US-wide legal program to combat Aids-related discrimination, and was executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association. He wrote position papers for then US presidential candidate Bill Clinton.Irwin graduated in law from the University of Chicago. He was director of the Aids Legal Referral Panel of the San Francisco Bay Are
a. He authored Chicago’s gay rights ordinance, which was passed in 1980 and is still in effect.In 1993 Schatz, Keller and others attended a Bette Midler concert in San Francisco dressed as the Andrews Sisters. They were offered engagements, and even discovered that they all could sing.
Ben let his Rachel persona evolve, and the group became The Kinsey Sicks. After a few years of a double life Ben quit his law jobs and became a full time drag performer. Irwin followed in 2002 to become Winnie.
Kinsey Six is of course the exclusively gay end of the Kinsey scale.
- Ben Schatz. ” Save your life: Sing in drag”. Salon.com Oct 17, 2000. http://archive.salon.com/health/feature/2000/10/17/drag_queen/index.html.
- Web Behrens. “Sweet Sick-cess”. Chicago Free Press. Oct 30, 2002. Online at: www.kinsey6.com/presskit/reviews/ChicagoFree103002.htm.
- www.kinseysicks.com
- http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=84980257
- “The Kinsey Sicks”. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kinsey_Sicks.
24 December 2008
Ali Saleem (1979 - ) performer.
Born in Islamabad, Ali is the son of a now-retired colonel in the Pakistani army, and a government official.
Saleem describes himself as ‘a woman in a man’s body’, who fantasized about growing up to be a woman since he was a child.
He built a reputation impersonating former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Diane Spencer, Princess of Wales and actress/singer Noor Jehan. Bhutto herself asked Ali to do his impersonation of her and burst out laughing.
He has now become famous as Begum Nawazish Ali, a flirtatious widow on The Late Night Show on Aaj TV, where she poses taboo questions, that journalists regularly avoid, to imans, celebrities and politicians. Pakistan’s military government has threatened to ban the program.
Saleem is openly bisexual.
The show was finally banned in July 2007.
Saleem describes himself as ‘a woman in a man’s body’, who fantasized about growing up to be a woman since he was a child.
He has now become famous as Begum Nawazish Ali, a flirtatious widow on The Late Night Show on Aaj TV, where she poses taboo questions, that journalists regularly avoid, to imans, celebrities and politicians. Pakistan’s military government has threatened to ban the program.
Saleem is openly bisexual.
The show was finally banned in July 2007.
- Isambard Wilkinson. “How Pakistan's 'Dame Edna' has upset Musharraf”. Daily Telegraph. 22/04/2006. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/22/wpak22.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/04/22/ixworld.html. No Longer Available
- Ali Saleem interviewed by Sohema Rehan “I get to have the best of both worlds”. Newsline. January 2006. www.newsline.com.pk/NewsJan2006/startrekjan.htm.
- “Begum Nawazish Ali”. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begum_Nawazish_Ali.
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