Encyclopedia
Discussion
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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 Dillon's unpublished autobiography was rediscovered by English journalist Liz Hodgkinson and served as an important source for her book Michael Née Laura (1989) and a more recent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 15
Charlotte Mew
A POET WHOSE WORK ENCODES THE PAIN OF HIDING HER LESBIAN IDENTITY, 1869
A POET WHOSE WORK ENCODES THE PAIN OF HIDING HER LESBIAN IDENTITY, 1869
Cady WellsPAINTER, PATRON OF THE ARTS AND ACTIVIST, 1904
November 16
Paula Vogel
PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING PLAYWRIGHT WHO HAS TACKLED CONTROVERSIAL SOCIAL QUESTIONS, 1951
PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING PLAYWRIGHT WHO HAS TACKLED CONTROVERSIAL SOCIAL QUESTIONS, 1951
Glenn Burke
THE FIRST MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYER TO ACKNOWLEDGE HIS HOMOSEXUALITY PUBLICLY, 1952
THE FIRST MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYER TO ACKNOWLEDGE HIS HOMOSEXUALITY PUBLICLY, 1952
Scott WittmanAWARD-WINNING LYRICIST AND DIRECTOR, 1955
November 17
Agnolo BronzinoA LEADING MID-16TH-CENTURY ARTIST AND COURT PAINTER TO COSIMO DE MEDICI, 1503
Louis XVIIIKING OF FRANCE WHOSE FAVORITES INCLUDED MEN AND WOMEN, 1755
Rock HudsonTALL, DARK, AND HANDSOME ACTOR, A GAY MAN WHO BECAME A SYMBOL OF HETEROSEXUALITY, UNTIL HIS MASK WAS CRUELLY RIPPED FROM HIM, 1925
RuPaul (RuPaul Andre Charles)AFRICAN-AMERICAN DRAG QUEEN WHO HAS GIVEN DRAG A NEW VISIBILITY, 1960
November 18
Klaus Mann
MELANCHOLIC WRITER WHOSE FICTION DEPICTS HOMOSEXUALS AS LONELY AND ALIENATED, 1906
MELANCHOLIC WRITER WHOSE FICTION DEPICTS HOMOSEXUALS AS LONELY AND ALIENATED, 1906
November 19
Clifton WebbCHARACTER ACTOR WHO TRANSFORMED THE HOLLYWOOD SISSY INTO A SERIOUS FIGURE, 1891
Nathan F. LeopoldPERPETRATOR OF NOTORIOUS 1924 MURDER, 1904
William Thomas StrayhornPROLIFIC COMPOSER WHO LIVED BEHIND THE SCENES OF JAZZ GLORY, 1915
Morris KightCOURAGEOUS, SOMETIMES ECCENTRIC, LOS ANGELES BASED ACTIVIST, 1919
Calvin Klein
CREATOR OF AN EXTRAORDINARILY SUCCESSFUL FASHION EMPIRE, 1942
CREATOR OF AN EXTRAORDINARILY SUCCESSFUL FASHION EMPIRE, 1942
Jodie FosterFILM ACTRESS, DIRECTOR, AND PRODUCER, 1962
November 20
Edward Westermarck
FINNISH SOCIAL SCIENTIST AND PHILOSOPHER WHO WROTE A NUMBER OF CLASSICS IN THE STUDY OF SEXUALITY, 1862
FINNISH SOCIAL SCIENTIST AND PHILOSOPHER WHO WROTE A NUMBER OF CLASSICS IN THE STUDY OF SEXUALITY, 1862
Geneviève Pastre
LEADING FRENCH LESBIAN THEORIST AND WRITER, 1924
LEADING FRENCH LESBIAN THEORIST AND WRITER, 1924
November 21
Jeanne Mammen
GERMAN ARTIST AND CREATOR OF SYMPATHETIC IMAGES OF LESBIANS, 1890
GERMAN ARTIST AND CREATOR OF SYMPATHETIC IMAGES OF LESBIANS, 1890
James Gleeson
ACCLAIMED AUSTRALIAN SURREALIST ARTIST, 1915
ACCLAIMED AUSTRALIAN SURREALIST ARTIST, 1915
Cherry Jones
THE FIRST OUT LESBIAN TO WIN A TONY AWARD, 1956
THE FIRST OUT LESBIAN TO WIN A TONY AWARD, 1956
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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