Michele Castellana grew to 1.9 m (6'2") and qualified as a dermatologist, and worked in the hospitals of Salerno. For a while s/he was the androgynous Micha. Then she was Martina.
In 2009, after twenty years on hormones, Martina ran, perforce under the name of Michele, as a Salerno list candidate for Silvio Berlusconi's Il Popolo della Libertà (PdL) in the provincial elections and became a consigliere. In 2010 she was elected president of the provincial commission for equal opportunities, and was able to open a gender identity centre – the first south of Rome.
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In 2011 the city of Salerno granted her a revised identity card making her the first Italian trans woman to have a revised card without undergoing surgery.
In 2012 she released her autobiography, Sulla mia pelle.
In June 2013 Martina flew to Malta with the singer Sandro Giacobbe, and was invested with a Cross of Malta (although not the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta).
In 2009, after twenty years on hormones, Martina ran, perforce under the name of Michele, as a Salerno list candidate for Silvio Berlusconi's Il Popolo della Libertà (PdL) in the provincial elections and became a consigliere. In 2010 she was elected president of the provincial commission for equal opportunities, and was able to open a gender identity centre – the first south of Rome.
In 2011 the city of Salerno granted her a revised identity card making her the first Italian trans woman to have a revised card without undergoing surgery.
In 2012 she released her autobiography, Sulla mia pelle.
In June 2013 Martina flew to Malta with the singer Sandro Giacobbe, and was invested with a Cross of Malta (although not the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta).
- Filippo Maria Battaglia. "Bionda, dermatologa e transgender. Una Castellana per il Pdl a Salerno". Panorama, 13-03-2009. http://news.panorama.it/politica/Bionda-dermatologa-e-transgender-Una-Castellana-per-il-Pdl-a-Salerno .
- Silvia Morani. "'Io, trans del PdL, vorrei che tutti i partiti parlassero d’amore'" Giornalettismo, 24 ottobre 2011. www.giornalettismo.com/archives/160945/io-trans-del-pdl-vorrei-che-tutti-i-partiti-parlassero-damore.
- Angela Cappetta. "Donna all'anagrafe senza cambiare sesso Vittoria della trans-consigliera del Pdl: La battaglia vinta da Martina Castellana, presidente della commissione Pari opportunità della Provincia". Corriere del Mezzogiorno,21 ottobre 2011 .http://corrieredelmezzogiorno.corriere.it/napoli/notizie/cronaca/2011/21-ottobre-2011/nome-donna-senza-cambiare-sessovittoria-trans-consigliere-castellana-1901893308251.shtml .
- Martina Cartellana. Sulla mia pelle. La mia vita senza bavaglio. Edisud Salerno, 2011.
- Angela Cappetta. "«Sulla mia pelle», le tre vite
del consigliere ". Corriere del Mezzogiorno,13 gennaio 2012 .http://corrieredelmezzogiorno.corriere.it/napoli/notizie/politica/2012/13-gennaio-2012/sulla-mia-pelle-tre-vitedel-consigliere-martina-castellana-1902847834320.shtml. - "New Knight of Malta Dame is a Transsexual". The Independent, 23 June 2013. www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-06-23/news/-new-knight-of-malta-dame-is-a-transsexual-1889501188.
- "Un trans diventa «dama» all'Ordine di Malta, ma i Cavalieri smentiscono: «Non con noi». Nota del gran magistero sull'investitura della Castellana: «Organizzazioni usano il nostro nome per scopi di lucro»". Corriere del Mezzogiorno, 21 maggio 2013. http://corrieredelmezzogiorno.corriere.it/salerno/notizie/cronaca/2013/21-maggio-2013/trans-diventa-dama-ordine-maltama-cavalieri-smentiscono-non-noi-2221251998458.shtml.