I started this page not long after re-reading Christine Jorgensen's autobiography, and I wanted to honor her in this way. Then I got to thinking about the other transsexual people who'd touched my life, who'd inspired me and who are positive role models for the transsexual community. There are so many more I'd love to include, but Professor Lynn Conway (whom I've also listed here) has most of them and many other listed as Transsexual Women Successes on her website. Please note that these are not listed in any order of importance, except for Ms. Jorgensen.

publicity photo, 1958 award dinner, 1953

Christine Jorgensen (May 30th, 1926 - May 3rd, 1989) Every transsexual owes this woman a debt of gratitude for bringing transsexual issues to the forefront of American and international consciousness. Born George Jorgensen, she spent the first 25 years of her life feeling like there was something wrong with her but had no words or frame of reference to express it. From 1951-52 she underwent what were considered very experimental medical procedures, including hormone therapy and surgical conversion techniques, to become the woman she finally knew herself to be inside. She had hoped that she would be able to finally lead a happy, quiet life. She didn't want to be anybody's spokeswoman. Yet her desire for anonymity was trashed when a "friend" of her family sold her and her relatives out for $200, divulging her surgery to the New York Daily News. Thus, in December of 1952, was unleashed a media feeding frenzy never before seen in history. Misinformation, cruel "jokes" and blatant discrimination ran rampant. Everything she did became a news story. With all hopes of a normal life dashed by the non-stop attention, she turned to the entertainment world and became a successful nightclub performer and an accomplished actress. Christine Jorgenen died of bladder cancer on May 3rd, 1989 (coincidentally, the same day that I began the corporate programming job where I transitioned to female.) Christine Jorgensen's courage is an inspriration to us all. A willing "guinea pig" to a medical/surgical protocol that only started to become "common" twenty years later, unlike the transsexual people of today, she had no support groups, no peers at all. She was a high-wire act who found herself thrust into the spotlight against her will, and yet conducted herself with grace and dignity, never faltering once. It is partly in tribute that I took her first name.

Kate Bornstein

Kate Bornstein Kate Bornstein inspired me long before her amazing autobiographical debut and manifesto "Gender Outlaw" that marked the cutting edge of post-modern gender theory. Through her public speaking, performance and books, Kate has rocked the world of trans and non-trans people alike. Her books are taught in thousands of sexuality and sociology courses. I am indebted to her for helping open my eyes to the Wide, Wild World of Gender. Her plays, especially Hidden: A Gender, The Opposite of Sex is Neither and Virtually Yours, and her other books, including My Gender Workbook have contributed as much to the discourse about gender as her frequent public speaking.

Lynn Conway

Lynn Conway Professor Lynn Conway is currently a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Having transitioned in the late 1960's, a few years after her groundbreaking work in computer technology at IBM, she is a pioneer among transsexual women. Given the prejudice against transsexual people at the time, especially at a conservative company like IBM, she was fired despite her pivotal contributions. After completing her transition Lynn had to start her career all over again. Lest she endure more bigotry she hid her transsexual past, living in "stealth" mode for over thirty years. It saddened and angered her that she'd never be credited for the important work that she'd done at IBM, but the risks of coming out were too great. Finally in 1999 her work was discovered, and she began to see how important it was for her to be a visible example of a successful transsexual woman. Dr. Conway's website offers a wealth of information about transsexualism and gender issues.

Jamison Green

Jamison Green Even before I met him in San Francisco in the early 90's, Jamison Green has been one of the most important voices of the FTM community. Carrying on the work of FTM pioneer Lou Sullivan, James is a pioneer in his own right, taking what Sullivan started and turning it into the large and vital organization that is FTM International. For decades James has been prolific public speaker and trans advocate. In 2004 he published Becoming a Visible Man. One of his greatest accomplishments was authorship of Investigation into Discrimination Against Transgendered People for the San Francisco Human Rights Commission. This document, combined with many hours of testimony of trans and non-trans people, spawned that city's anti-discrimination statute for transsexual and transgendered people. It remains the most widely referenced document used to justify the case for transgender protective legislation in the USA and around the world.

Riki Wilchins

Riki Wilchins A prolific writer and activist for the transgender community, Riki Wilchins is the Executive Director of GenderPAC, the national gender advocacy organization. The author of "READ MY LIPS: Sexual Subversion & the End of Gender" from Firebrand Books, hir writing has appeared in the books WOMEN ON WOMEN, POMOSEXUALS, and OUT AT WORK: Building a Gay-Labor Alliance, as well as publications such as the Village Voice, the Advocate, Social Text, Girlfriends, LGNY, and the Bay Area Reporter. One of the first to the barricades in the fight for transgender rights, Ms. Wilchins was recognized in Time magazine's list of 100 Innovators (06/21/01 issue) for hir work with Gender-PAC. Riki has continued to be an inspiration to me ever since we were both staff writers for the TS-oriented magazine TransSisters in the mid 90's.

Calpernia Addams

Calpernia Addams Calpernia Addams never set out to be an activist or community voice but when her boyfriend was the victim of a high profile murder, a story dramatized in the film Soldier's Girl, Ms. Addams found herself thrust into the spotlight. She has used her visibility to raise public awareness of transgender issues and made many contributions working in the entertainment industry The author of Mark 947: A Life Shaped by God, Gender and Force of Will, hers is a tale of a child raised in a Christian cult who escaped to the U.S. Navy and finally found her inner woman in the Nashville LGBT scene. Along with her business partner Andrea James she founded production company Deep Stealth Productions and GenderLife, a source of information, videos, support and more for transsexual women. Among her many other accomplishments, in 2004 she and Andrea produced the first all-transgender production of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues, a production captured in the 2006 documentary Beautiful Daughters.