Experiences of the Undaunted
Christine Goodwin (she/her)
Born in 1937, Christine Goodwin was a British transgender rights activist, who was formerly a bus driver. She had been married with four children and was the children’s biological father. After decades of gender dysphoria, Christine began the long and difficult process of gender re-assignment. But after the surgery, she remained, in the eyes of the law, a male.
It was legal action taken by Christine Goodwin in 2002 which paved the way for the Gender Recognition Act 2004. The Act was a huge step forward for the rights of transgender people.
Christine had been living life as her true self and had transitioned medically.
However she was considered a man in the eyes of the law, and felt unable to do things that would require her to present her birth certificate. She could not draw a pension at age 60 or report that £200 had been stolen from her. It was also illegal for her to marry a man.
Christine took her case to the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that her right to private life and right to marry had been violated.
The Court said that the law conflicted with an important aspect of Christine’s personal identity, which was a serious interference with her private life. Her right to marry had also been breached.
Because of Christine’s case, an Act of Parliament, the Gender Recognition Act 2004, was passed to give legal recognition to trans people.
The Act allows them to obtain a new birth certificate and permits them to marry members of the opposite gender. Christine passed away in December 2014. She was one of the few transgender people to use her name in her application to court, because she “had nothing to be ashamed of”.
Goodwin was hailed as "a trailblazer for trans rights" and a "pioneer" by trans rights network Transgender Europe.
https://eachother.org.uk/stories/im-a-woman-deal-with-it/
Freddy McConnell (he/his)
Freddy McConnell is a British writer and journalist, who gained international attention for his legal battle to be recognized as the father of his child after giving birth in 2018. McConnell was assigned female at birth and experienced gender dysphoria from a very young age. He came out as a transgender man in his mid-20s.
McConnell documented his journey into parenthood in a film called Seahorse. The film follows McConnell's experience of becoming pregnant and giving birth, and the challenges he faced as a transgender man navigating the medical and legal systems. The film premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival and received critical acclaim.
In 2018, McConnell gave birth to his son, Jack, via a sperm donor. When he attempted to register the birth, he was told he would be listed as the mother on the birth certificate. McConnell challenged this decision in court, arguing that he should be recognized as the child's father. In September 2019, the High Court ruled against McConnell, stating that the law was clear in defining a mother as the person who gives birth.
McConnell's case sparked a national conversation in the UK about the rights of transgender parents and the need for legal recognition of their roles. Despite the legal setback, McConnell continues to be a powerful voice for trans rights and parenthood. He has spoken at numerous events and conferences, sharing his story and advocating for greater acceptance and understanding of trans experiences. In a 2019 interview with The Guardian, McConnell said, “It sounds wishy-washy, but I thought it could be a good opportunity to spread empathy. I think empathy is key in convincing people that trans people are actually quite normal, and live lives that are not sensational or scary.”
Freddy McConnell's story highlights the challenges that many transgender parents face in a world that is still grappling with issues of gender identity and equality. His courage and advocacy have helped to raise awareness of these issues and inspire greater understanding and acceptance of trans people and their families.
A proud father of two, who he gave birth to, he is still fighting for the recognition of LGBTQ+ parents equally on UK birth certificates.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7vybb/a-brief-history-of-the-pregnant-man
Georgina Beyer (she/her)
Georgina Beyer was a New Zealand Labour Party politician. In 1995 she was elected mayor of Carterton, making her the world's first openly transgender mayor. In 1999 she became the world's first openly transgender member of parliament.
When New Zealand sought to legalise same-sex marriages and conservative religious groups organised a march to oppose the legislation, Beyer was on parliament steps undaunted to meet the chanting crowd. “I’m happy to stare you in the eye,” she said. “Why do you hate people like us?”
She never lost faith in the fairness of her countrymen who elected her to the parliament, as well as stood up for her identity and the community she represented.
Circumstances led her into the sex industry as a young teenager, and later she was raped by a group of men. She couldn’t seek justice because sex work was viewed as criminal offence. “I was raped, and, yes, I’m a prostitute, and, no, it was not right that I should have been raped, because I said no.” she had said.
Her speech on sex work was credited with tipping the balance in favour of the prostitution reform bill in New Zealand in 2003. The laws decriminalised sex work in New Zealand, aiming to create a safer environment for sex workers, who could access legal support if faced with violence or exploitation.
Until the final moment of her life, she joked with her friends and had a twinkle in her eye.
Jacqueline Charlotte Dufresnoy (she/her)
Better known by her stage name Coccinelle, Dufresnoy was a singer, entertainer and activist who was the first French person to undergo gender-affirming surgery. Born in August 1931, she knew as young as four that she was different, that she was a girl but nobody could see it.
As a teenager, she picked up the nickname Coccinelle after wearing a red dress with black polka dots to a fancy dress party. 'Coccinelle' means ladybug in English, the name later became her stage name.
She made her stage debut in 1953 at Madame Arthur, a cabaret venue in Paris, performing a song from the film Premier rendez-vous. She went on to earn a regular spot at Le Carrousel de Paris, a popular music hall with many transgender performers, where she quickly earned herself a sizeable following.
In France at the time, it was illegal to wear clothing not associated with one’s assigned gender. In 1958, Coccinelle became the first French celebrity to undergo gender-affirming surgery, with the operation being performed by French gynaecologist Georges Burou in Casablanca, Morocco.
Coccinelle later said of the operation: “Dr Burou rectified the mistake nature had made and I became a real woman, on the inside as well as the outside. After the operation, the doctor just said, ‘Bonjour, Mademoiselle’, and I knew it had been a success.”
After the operation, France amended its laws to allow details on birth certificates to be changed following sex reassignment surgery, and Dufresnoy legally changed her name to Jacqueline-Charlotte.
Her first marriage established a legal precedent for transgender people’s right to marry in France, and it was the first union featuring a transgender person to be officially recognised by the French state.
Coccinelle worked extensively as an activist on behalf of transgender people, founding the organization Devenir Femme (To Become Woman), which was designed to provide emotional and practical support to those seeking gender reassignment surgery. She also helped establish the Center for Aid, Research, and Information for Transsexuality and Gender Identity.
Judy Bowen (she/her)
Judy Bowen is a transgender activist who started two transgender support organizations in New York City in the early years after the riots at the Stonewall Inn. But Bowen raised in the South in a religious home, and worked as a reporter for an evangelical newspaper. She was unable to conceal her transgender identity in her youth, and found support from her mother after an attempted suicide. Bowen moved to New York after witnessing racist and transphobic violence in Knoxville. She worried that if she stayed, she would be killed. In New York, Bowen lived in Greenwich Village before the Stonewall riots, and found joy in a community filled with trans people. She was an organizer and community activist, as well as a patient of the famous pioneer of transgender medicine, Harry Benjamin, who wrote a book on Transsexualism. She eventually moved to Las Vegas and is a veteran of the rich trans history of NYC in the mid-twentieth century.
Judy Bowen on Activism: “The police were really, really bad. The first time I got arrested, I was at a club in Long Island, and I was running for a beauty contest, and the police raided the place and took everybody to jail. I had bruises that lasted three months. I lived on Christopher Street, just below the Stonewall, during the time when people were rising up and saying, ‘We’re not gonna take this anymore.’ It was basically the trans [people] that were being hit the most by the police. That was my salvation. We moved between the Village to Times Square, which was really the big red light district. I was working in Times Square at a club called the Tango Room. [The Stonewall uprising] lasted for several nights, but it was just down the block. I could barely get to my apartment, it was two blocks away. I’ve always been an activist.”
At 74, she was an active member of The Center in Las Vegas, which supported the needs of LGBTQ people, as well as a champion of the Safety Dorm for transgender individuals at The Salvation Army, which housed and provided professional support for homeless transgender people in Las Vegas.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/wj3dkx/judy-bowen-transgender-survival-stonewall-riots-history
Patricio Manuel (he/his)
Patricio Manuel, also known as Cacahuate, is a transgender boxer from Los Angeles who has made history by becoming the first transgender boxer to compete professionally in the United States. He was born in 1985 to an Irish mom and a black dad in Santa Monica, California and was raised by a single mother.
When he was a little kid he always thought of himself as a boy but he learned really early on to be quiet and stifle that part of himself. He started feeling disconnected from himself and later was hit by a heavy bout of anxiety and depression for holding his true self back. He discovered boxing during Middle School and immediately fell in love with the sport. Boxing brought him back into his body and allowed him to be proud of actually what he was physically able to do.
He started boxing at the age of 16 and became a five-time USA female national amateur boxing champion. He fought his last fight as a woman in 2012 before starting to transition a year later. This decision ended his ten year collaboration with his then coach. But the feeling of living a lie was so much that he risked the love of his life, boxing, to be true to himself.
When he returned to professional boxing as a man after two years, he began to notice how the world treated him differently. He faced discrimination, male boxers refused to fight using the excuse that they weren't willing to dishonor a woman. He won his first amateur fight, yet it got harder for him to get fights because of the social stigma associated with being a trans person.
In 2018, Patricio made history by becoming the first transgender male boxer to compete professionally in the United States, and he won by unanimous decision after defeating Hugo Aguilar. While the audience was not happy to see a trans man win, Patricio expressed nothing but respect for his opponent for not giving into transphobia, for showing up for the fight and for fighting him as a man.
He hopes to live in a world where being yourself isn't seen as this courageous act. He wants to see all the people be celebrated when they fight against those specific restrictive norms, where being oneself was like a celebration of life itself. When not boxing, Patricio raises awareness about transgender issues and to fight for trans rights. He has been an advocate for transgender athletes, calling for more inclusivity and acceptance in sports.
After a long period of not getting professional fights due to injuries, pandemic and transphobia, on March 18, 2023, he defeated Hien Huynh in a fight at Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjK4E92yBvA
Rituparno Ghosh (zie/hir)
Rituparno Ghosh was an Indian filmmaker.
Zie was born into a Hindu family in 1963 and spent hir early years working in advertising. Zie had an extremely successful film career where zie made films about the Indian middle class, films with high ranking Bollywood actors, and finally, films that focused on the queer community.
Zie is reported to have been at odds with hir sexuality and gender identity for most of hir life. According to Subhash Jha, zie “was cautious about sending out the wrong signals to actors,” It must have felt stifling to live in such an environment where one just couldn’t be oneself.
It is said zie threw hirself into hir work only to spend the bulk of hir personal life alone. The general rigid queerphobic tendencies of the present Indian society isolated hir from hir own community.
It is through hir work that zie freely expressed hirself, hir emotions, hir sexuality free of any judgement and zie won the hearts of the audience through hir work. From hir films we get to witness the society as Rituda saw it, delving into complex relationship dynamics, exploring and questioning the traditional societal expectations.
Hir movie Chitrangada: The Crowning Wish was beautiful queer love story. In Arekti Premer Golpo zie performed the role of a non-binary character. Zie was transitioning a few years before hir death. More details of hir life, however, remain hidden from the public view.
Vivek Shraya (she/her)
Vivek Shraya is a Canadian artist, musician, and writer who has been an influential voice in the LGBTQ+ community. Her work explores themes of identity, gender, and sexuality, and she has become a powerful advocate for queer rights through her art. She is also an assistant professor in the creative writing program at the University of Calgary.
Shraya's journey towards self-acceptance and embracing her trans identity was a long and difficult one. Growing up in a conservative Indian family in Alberta, she struggled to reconcile her desires with the expectations placed upon her. In her early twenties, she came out as gay, but still felt a sense of shame and isolation.
It wasn't until her thirties that Shraya began to fully embrace her trans identity. Having been silenced in her childhood, due to relentless homophobia and bullying, she found a different way to express herself through music. Her music often touches on the struggles of being queer in a society that does not always accept or understand it.
In addition to her music, Shraya is also a writer. She has written several books, including the novel She of the Mountains and the poetry collection Even this Page is White. In her writing, she often explores the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality, and has become a powerful voice in the LGBTQ+ literary community.
One of Shraya's most notable works is her book I'm Afraid of Men, in which she reflects on her experiences of growing up in a culture that is often hostile towards queer and gender-nonconforming individuals. In the book, she writes about the fear and anxiety that comes with living in a world where being different is often punished, and the ways in which she has learned to navigate and resist that fear.
Through her art, Shraya has become an important voice in the LGBTQ+ community. She has used her platform to advocate for trans rights, and has spoken out against discrimination and violence towards queer and gender-nonconforming individuals. In a world that can often be hostile towards those who are different, she has become a beacon of hope and inspiration for many.
She has received numerous accolades for her work, including the Lambda Literary Award, the Toronto Arts Foundation Emerging Artist Award, and the Writers' Trust of Canada's Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ Emerging Writers.
https://www.dw.com/en/trans-author-vivek-shraya-on-what-she-loves-about-being-queer/a-59559274
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