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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. |
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The
autobiography of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf
published by
Cleis
Press.
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 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. |
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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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Image
Credits: Cover image of I am My Own Wife courtesy
Cleis Press. Image of
Kate Bornstein courtesy Kate Bornstein. Image of Leslie Feinberg
is a detail from a portrait, courtesy
www.transgender
warrior.org.
Image of Christine Jorgensen is a detail from a press photograph,
courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. |
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