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Transgender and Transsexual Autobiography |
| For the last 75 years, transgender and Transsexual Autobiographies have told the stories of their authors' lives and appealed for greater acceptance of transgender people. Autobiography remains one of the most important genres of transgender literary expression. | ||
 Kate Bornstein
(b. 1948) is one of the best known transgender activists in America. Her book Gender Outlaw
(1994),
which is part autobiography, part manifesto, and part fashion guide,
contributed to the political mobilization of transsexuals. |
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| Roberta Close (b. 1964), a Brazilian model and entertainer, was proclaimed "The World's Most Beautiful Model" in a 1984 tabloid headline. Her autobiography, Much Pleasure, Roberta Close (1998), raised eyebrows because of her claim to have been involved with many internationally famous male celebrities. | ||
 Michael Dillon (1915-1962) was the first person to transition both hormonally and surgically from female to male. Dillon's unpublished autobiography was rediscovered by English journalist Liz Hodgkinson and served as an important source for her book Michael Née Laura (1989) and a more recent biography by Pagan Kennedy entitled The First Man-Made Man (2007). |
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 Lili Elbe
(1886-1931) was among the world's first post-operative male-to-female
transsexuals. Her letters and diaries were compiled into
Man Into Woman (1933), one of
the first popular books to draw a distinction between homosexuality and
transsexuality. |
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 Leslie Feinberg
(b. 1949) is a pioneering transgender activist, historian, and
writer. The main character of Feinberg's novel
Stone Butch Blues (1993) shares so many
similarities with the book's author that many consider it
semi-autobiographical. |
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 Christine Jorgensen
(1926-1989) was the first person to undergo a a sex-change
operation that was highly publicized in the United States. Her book
Christine Jorgensen: A Personal
Autobiography (1967) was adapted for a film released in
1970. |
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 Charlotte von Mahlsdorf
(1928-2002) was an East German preservationist and museum founder. Her
autobiography, I Am My Own Wife
(1992), tells the story of her own life as well as that of a whole
generation of East German homosexuals who faced persecution first from
the
Nazis and then from the Communists. |
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| Jan Morris (b. 1926), a prolific Anglo-Welsh journalist, historian, and travel writer, was among the first transsexuals to tell her story publicly in a memoir. She dedicated Conundrum (1974) "to all who are suffering still in the same solitary and unsought cause." | ||
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Renee Richards
(b. 1934), a transsexual tennis player, success- fully sued the United States Tennis Association so that she could compete in the U.S. Women's Open. Her autobiography, Second Serve (1986), reveals the details of her troubled childhood as well as her adult successes in tennis and as an eye surgeon. |
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| Click here to test your knowledge of transgender and transsexual autobiography. |
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Lois Rudnick on Cady Wells |
 Lois Rudnick, editor of Cady Wells and Southwestern Modernism (Museum of New Mexico Press, 2009), explains her interest in and describes the life and work of Cady Wells (1904-1954), a modernist painter who thrived in the art colonies of Taos and Santa Fe during the first half of the twentieth century. |
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November 1
Benvenuto CelliniSCULPTOR, GOLDSMITH, MEMOIRIST AND FLAMBOYANT PEDERAST, 1500
Hannah HöchGERMAN BISEXUAL ARTIST KNOWN FOR HER PHOTOMONTAGES, 1889
Tom WaddellOLYMPIC DECATHLETE AND FOUNDER OF THE GAY GAMES, 1937
Robert Hattoy
ACTIVIST FOR GLBTQ RIGHTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL CAUSES, 1950
ACTIVIST FOR GLBTQ RIGHTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL CAUSES, 1950
November 2
Luchino Visconti
ITALIAN FILMMAKER AND PROGENITOR OF THE NEO-REALISM MOVEMENT IN ITALIAN CINEMA, 1906
ITALIAN FILMMAKER AND PROGENITOR OF THE NEO-REALISM MOVEMENT IN ITALIAN CINEMA, 1906
Michelle Cliff
NOVELIST AND POET WHOSE WORK EXPLORES QUESTIONS OF RACE, CLASS, SEXUALITY, AND PRIVILEGE, 1946
NOVELIST AND POET WHOSE WORK EXPLORES QUESTIONS OF RACE, CLASS, SEXUALITY, AND PRIVILEGE, 1946
k.d. langGENDER-BENDING MUSICIAN WHO WORKS IN MANY GENRES, 1961
November 3
Jeannette Howard Foster
WOMAN OF LETTERS WHO PIONEERED RESEARCH INTO LESBIAN LITERATURE, 1895
WOMAN OF LETTERS WHO PIONEERED RESEARCH INTO LESBIAN LITERATURE, 1895
Terrence McNally
THE MOST IMPORTANT GAY PLAYWRIGHT SINCE TENNESSEE WILLIAMS, 1939
THE MOST IMPORTANT GAY PLAYWRIGHT SINCE TENNESSEE WILLIAMS, 1939
Tee CorinneARTIST AND AUTHOR WHO CREATED THE FIRST BOOK OF LESBIAN EROTIC PHOTOGRAPHS, 1943
November 4
J.R. Ackerley
BRITISH EDITOR AND WRITER WHOSE OWN WORK UPSET READERS AND FRIENDS ALIKE, 1896
BRITISH EDITOR AND WRITER WHOSE OWN WORK UPSET READERS AND FRIENDS ALIKE, 1896
Frances Faye
OPENLY BISEXUAL JEWISH VOCALIST AND PIANIST, 1912
OPENLY BISEXUAL JEWISH VOCALIST AND PIANIST, 1912
Barbara Grier
COFOUNDER OF NAIAD PRESS AND AN IMPORTANT NURTURER OF LESBIAN LITERATURE, 1933
COFOUNDER OF NAIAD PRESS AND AN IMPORTANT NURTURER OF LESBIAN LITERATURE, 1933
Robert Mapplethorpe
CONTROVERSIAL AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHER WHO SPARKED A FIRESTORM OF OUTRAGE, 1946
CONTROVERSIAL AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHER WHO SPARKED A FIRESTORM OF OUTRAGE, 1946
Jon Robin Baitz
POLITICALLY CONSCIOUS AMERICAN PLAYWRIGHT, 1961
POLITICALLY CONSCIOUS AMERICAN PLAYWRIGHT, 1961
November 5
Lesléa NewmanPROLIFIC JEWISH FEMME LESBIAN-FEMINIST WRITER OF POETRY, FICTION, AND CHILDREN'S BOOKS, 1955
November 6
Brad Davis
HANDSOME BISEXUAL ACTOR AND GAY FILM ICON, 1949
HANDSOME BISEXUAL ACTOR AND GAY FILM ICON, 1949
Michael CunninghamACCLAIMED NOVELIST WHO WON A PULITZER PRIZE FOR THE HOURS, 1952
Frank DeCaroMEMOIRIST AND COMEDY WRITER AND PERFORMER, 1962
About Notable Birthdays
This feature lists people about whom glbtq.com has both entries and complete birth dates. Each person listed has made a significant contribution to or had a significant impact on glbtq culture or history. Most are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, though some are either heterosexual or cannot be adequately characterized using any of these labels.
This feature lists people about whom glbtq.com has both entries and complete birth dates. Each person listed has made a significant contribution to or had a significant impact on glbtq culture or history. Most are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, though some are either heterosexual or cannot be adequately characterized using any of these labels.
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in memoriam
Stephen Gately(1976-2009)
Singer Stephen Gately died suddenly on October 10, 2009 while on holiday in Majorca with his partner Andrew Cowles. A member of the enormously successful Irish boy band Boyzone and a musical theater star in London's West End, Gately revealed his homosexuality in 1999. He is survived by Cowles, with whom he plighted troth in a commitment ceremony in 2003 and then entered into a civil partnership in 2006.
See Also:
Music: Popular
Musical Theater
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