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Shan Ratnam (1928 – 2001) gynaecologist, sex change doctor
Shan Ratnam was of Ceylonese Tamil descent, and was born in Jaffna where his mother came from, although his father's family had lived in Malaysia for three generations. From the age of six months he...
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Joan Roughgarden (1946 - ) evolutionary biologist.
Jonathan Roughgarden was raised in New Jersey. He did a BSC at the University of Rochester, and a PhD at Harvard, both in Biology. He taught at Stanford university from 1972, and did field work...
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Jacquie Sarduy (1937–) sex-worker, performer.
Sarduy grew up in Amiens. He used Christmas 1955 money from an uncle to buy a train ticket to Paris, and found work in a restaurant, and then selling soap for the blind door-to-door. Sarduy knew about...
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Elliot Blackstone (1924 – 2006) police office, trans ally.
From Chinook, Montana, Elliott Blackstone served in the US Navy during the Second World War. In 1949 he joined the San Francisco Police Department.In 1961-2 there was a 'gayola' scandal about police...
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Broden Giambrone (1982 - ) activist.
Giambrone grew up in the West End of Toronto. The family are of Italian descent and moved to Canada from the US to avoid the Vietnam War.Broden transitioned before doing a BA in Sociology, 2006, at...
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Simone Heradien (1967?–) secretary, activist.
Simone dressed and lived as female from age 18. She was contingently accepted for surgery but told that she must work for a year as a woman first. She managed to obtain work as a secretary/personal...
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Tracy Gayle Norman (1951 - ) model.
Tracy Norman was raised in Newark, New Jersey, and started going to the Ball scene in Harlem, where she became known as Tracy from New Jersey.She was encouraged by friends to attend a modeling event at...
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Logan Carter (1954 – 1988) model, performer.
Robert Logan Carter was raised in Florida by his great-grandmother and then his grand-mother after his mother committed suicide when he was 3 months old. At 11 he discovered Marilyn Monroe. He...
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Paola Revenioti Πάολα Ρεβενιώτη (1959–) poet, photographer, sex worker,...
Revenioti was born and raised in Piraeus, the port of Athens. His father was a factory worker, his mother a hairdresser. His father's family regarded his homosexuality as shameful and he joined the...
View ArticleThai television asks if a kathoey can be a monk
Unfortunately the subtitles translate 'kathoey' as 'transvestite', which is rather misleading.
View ArticleSome observations on the tranny word
There have recently been two well-worth-reading articles on the word by Cristan Williams and Julia Serano. This is by the way of a supplement re aspects not mentioned.Kate Bornstein has previously...
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Lydia Annice Foy (1947–) dentist, activist.
Donal Mark Foy, did a degree in Dentistry at University College Dublin, 1971, and set up a practice in Athy, Co. Kildare. Foy married a woman in 1977 and fathered two daughters.As Lydia, she...
View ArticleDanielle O'L (1911?–?) bellboy, housewife
Daniel came from a family in Ireland which held the position of village postmaster for several generations. When he played house with younger girls, he would be the mother. Other boys called him...
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The Eurovision Song Contest
++ Original May 2009, revised May 2014 This Saturday the Eurovision Song Contest is being held in Copenhagen.Eurovison has a a good track record of including both transsexuals and drag composers and...
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Raven Kaldera (?–) shaman
Kaldera has congenital adrenal hyperplasia. She was introduced to Wicca by a boyfriend at age 14. She wandered through various pagan and earth-centered traditions including Dianic and Umbanda. Despite...
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Octavia St Laurent (1964 – 2009) performer, singer.
As Octavia would openly admit in later years, she started with the name Jeffrey. A native New Yorker, she started walking the New York balls in 1962. She joined the House of St Laurent and at age 26...
View ArticleMark Rees (1942–) Part I: sailor, dental student
Rees' parents met on a P&O cruise, where father, born in South Africa, was part of the crew. He continued in the merchant navy. Mother was a secretary. Brenda Rees was born near Tunbridge Wells,...
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Mark Rees (1942 - ) Part II: activist, councillor.
Continued from Part I.The refusal from the Church of England spurred Mark to consider a challenge through the legal system. A friend told him of Daniel van Oosterwijck who had applied to the European...
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