Keller grew up in Rochester, Minnesota, married in 1992, and they had twin daughters in 1998.
In 2010, not able to deny it anymore, Keller came out as trans, and the wife immediately filed for divorce. Keller contemplated suicide, but considered the daughters and did not do so. One daughter was supportive, and after the divorce they moved to Andover, north of Minneapolis. The other daughter, more religious, more traditional, moved to Florida with her mother, and cut off communication for two years.
In 2013 Minnesota passed its Child Victims Act which removed its previous requirement that civil suits re child abuse must be filed before the victim turned 24. Keller and one other then filed civil lawsuits anonymously against Richard Hokanson, the troop leader (who had admitted in 1982 that he had sexually abused boys under his care); St. Pius X Catholic Church, which sponsored the troop; the Boy Scouts of America; and Gamehaven Council, a branch of the Scouts in southeastern Minnesota, in that Hokanson had abused Keller and others from age 11, and appeals for help to other adults had been ignored, and in Keller's case the involuntary abuse continued until age 17.
While the filings were anonymous, Keller went public under her male name to encourage other victims to come forth. The case was eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. In 2014 Keller formally requested to be excommunicated from the Catholic Church.
Keller had taken the name Marisa and started hormone therapy at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Sexual Health. She also sought counseling and other support for her ongoing issues with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and other related mental health concerns. After complaining, she was dropped from the program. However at that time, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester opened its new Transgender and Intersex Specialty Care Clinic, and Marisa was quickly enrolled. She was provided with a voice therapist, and had facial and breast surgeries. In February 2017 she became Mayo's first patient to undergo vaginoplasty, with surgery at the Methodist Hospital. Dr Pierre Brassard, the experienced surgeon from Montreal, assisted.
- Kay Fate. “Abuse lawsuits hold Rochester church, Boy Scout personnel accountable”. Post Bulletin, July 23, 2013. Online.
- Brett Boese. “Difficult road for Mayo's first sex reassignment patient”. Post Bulletin, May 06, 2017. Online.
- Brett Boese. “Mayo performs first sex reassignment surgery”. Post Bulletin, May 06, 2017. Online.
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