[Magdalen] Christine Jorgensen

[Cantor03 at aol.com]

In a message dated 6/4/2015 9:13:52 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
gracecan at gmail.com writes:

Alln,
I was thinking about Jorgenson yesterday, because I  remember that, though 
I was only nine in 1952. I was a voracious reader even  then, and must have 
seen it in the paper or heard something on the radio. We  were living in 
Japan at the time. I remember knowing only that a man had  somehow turned into 
a woman, but I never asked my parents about it. I seem  also to remember 
seeing before and after pictures...maybe in Life  Magazine.
Then a bit later there was Dr. Renee Richards, but I don't  remember her 
other name or which came first.>>>>
I remember the snarky jokes about both of these individuals.  It was  all 
very
unsavory, and it wasn't just the red-neck element, either.  Mainstream  
comedians
considered these two as fair game for their standup acts.
 
It's nice to see that public opinion has changed so positively about the  
subject
of transsexuals.  This is not to say that there are not still snarky  
jokes, but
they are no longer as acceptable in mainstream society.
 
I've had some contact with perhaps a half-dozen transsexuals in my  day.
One, a retired gynecologist and decorated paratrooper was especially  close,
and I have mentioned before my escorting her to operas at the Met  where
she was quite a sensation with her blonde, beehive hairdo.
 
I actually dated a male to female transsexual, an investment banker,  and
communicant at Saint Mark's Cathedral, Minneapolis.  Her friends who  had
known her before the changes considered it all mutilation because she  had
been a stunning man, but not a gorgeous woman.  She was unhappy with  that,
but soldiered on anyway.  
 
Another female to male transsexual sang bass with me in the NE PA  
Philharmonic
Chorus.  She has a PhD in the Welsh language.  It's amazing what  hormones
can do to the larynx.  
 
These are all tough guys/gals.
 
 
David S.