Christine Jorgensen, born May 30, 1926 and died May 3, 1989, was an American transgender woman who was the first person to become widely known in the United States for having sex reassignment surgery. Jorgensen grew up in the Bronx, New York City. Shortly after graduating from high school in 1945, she was drafted into the U.S. Army during World War II. After her military service, she attended several schools and worked; it is during this time she learned about sex reassignment surgery. Jorgensen traveled to Europe, and in Copenhagen, Denmark, obtained special permission to undergo a series of operations beginning in 1952.
She returned to the United States in the early 1950s and her transition was the subject of a New York Daily News front-page story. She became an instant celebrity, known for her directness and polished wit, and used the platform to advocate for transgender people. She also worked as an actress and nightclub entertainer and recorded several songs. Jorgensen often lectured on the experience of being transgender and published an autobiography in 1967.
Resources
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Christine Jorgensen: The Power of Transgender Visibility by Leigh Goodwin
Christine Jorgensen is known as the Army GI that became a Beauty Queen in the early 1950s. She was an early open transgender woman, an early transgender advocate and she set a good example of work ethic for transgender people. Suffering from classic gender dysphoria, she was not the first to receive sexual reassignment surgery but was one of the first Americans to receive her surgeries supplemented with hormone replacement therapy medication. As is sometimes common with goal of obtaining sexual reassignment surgeries Miss Jorgensen had to travel abroad to receive some surgical treatments. Christine Jorgensen played a major role in helping to create transgender visibility by her openness about her gender identity in both her professional and her personal life.
The Transgender Empowerment series is for:
•The general public
•People that work with transgender people
•People who are gender variant
•People who may be questioning their gender identity
•People who could benefit from understanding transgender people
•People who could benefit from understanding transgender issues
•Employers that might work with transgender people
•Healthcare professionals
•Readers that like learning about fascinating people
Dead on her Feet by Christine T. Jorgensen
When Stella takes a theater company job, working as a gofer and keeper of a problematic stage mother, she discovers one of the founders of the troupe dead–someone with more money that talent–leading Stella into a dangerous investigation.
TRANS-formation: The true Story of how George became Christine by Donnie
In 1947, after leaving the military, George stepped onto a ship and headed to Copenhagen to begin the process of transitioning from male to female. Of course, there were others before George to do this; Lili Elbe is well known and documented in the movie The Danish Girl. Unfortunately, Lili did not get to live as the person she felt and knew she was. Whereas George successfully transitioned from George to Christine and became a sensation when she flew back to America in 1952, stepping off a plane all the bit a woman. Christine Jorgensen, the first person to become widely known in the United States for having sex reassignment surgery and became the spokesperson for transgender people everywhere. TRANS-formation is written from several books, articles, including the movie about Christine’s life. This is the first play ever to address the historical event that occurred when George sought to have a sex change and succeeded! The World Premiere production was produced some twenty-eight years after her death in 1989.
As Christine said, “Nature made a mistake, which I have corrected.”