#christine jorgensen

[dailyhistoryposts]

On This Day In History

December 1st, 1952: The New York Daily News gives the first report of Christine Jorgensen's sex reassignment surgery.

#history #world history #queer history #trans history #lgbtq history #christine jorgensen

[oldshowbiz]

Christine Jorgensen Reflects

#lgbtq #Christine Jorgensen

[newyorkthegoldenage]

Christine Jorgensen, the first openly transgender person, arrives home in New York from Denmark, where she received hormone treatments and surgery, February 12, 1953. She said she was happy to be home. "What American woman wouldn't be?" she asked.

Photo: Associated Press

#vintage New York #1950s #Christine Jorgensen #transgender #trans woman #Feb. 12 #12 Feb. #LGBTQ+

[genderoutlaws]

Drag queen and actor Divine posing alongside Christine Jorgensen at the first annual party of the Limelight disco in Atlanta | 1981

#op #photography #trans women #drag queens #divine #christine jorgensen #tgnc #g #1980s #1981

[butchqueersapphic]

#divine #drag queen #trans woman #christine jorgensen #1980s #lgbt history #lgbt icons #drag queens #transgirl #trans pride

[uwmspeccoll]

International Trans Day of Visibility

Today we are spotlighting a few of the books from our LGBTQ+ Collection that highlight trans lives and issues. Check out the photo captions to find out what books the images came from. 

International Transgender Day of Visibility was created in 2009 by therapist and transgender activist Rachel Crandall Crocker, partially as counterweight to Trans Day of Remembrance, a day of memoriam for all those lost to transgender violence. Crocker wanted "a day that we can just celebrate being ourselves.” More recently, Crocker spoke about the double-edge sword of visibility for trans folks, and called on allies of trans people to make themselves more visible. So for all the cis people reading this, think hard about how you are going to show up for the trans community today, and every day. 

-Olivia Hickner, Special Collections Graduate Intern

#International Trans Day of Visibility #Trans Day of Visibility #Rachel Crandall Crocker #Lou Sullivan #Lili Elbe #Christine Jorgensen #Beverly Little Thunder #Tula #Caroline Cossey #Mario Sanchez Perez #Diana Laura Guerrero Sandoval #Bordered Lives #To Survive on This Shore #two-spirit #holidays #olivia #lgbtq+ #queer pride #queer #UWM LGBTQ+ Collection

[celluloidrainbow]

THE CHRISTINE JORGENSEN STORY (1970) dir. Irving Rapper Half fiction, half truth, and based on her own autobiography, this is the life story of Christine Jorgensen, known as the first trans woman in the US to have a sex-affirming operation. Ever since she was a young child, Christine felt she was different from the boys, and by the time she becomes an adult, she finds herself increasingly confused regarding her identity. After a lot of research, Jorgensen heads to Denmark to have genital reconstructive surgery performed under the auspices of Dr. Victor Dahlman. (link in title)

#lgbt cinema #trans cinema #the christine jorgensen story #christine jorgensen #us cinema #lgbt #trans #transgender #usa #lgbt movie #trans movies #us movie #lgbt film #trans film #us film #lgbt media #trans media #queer cinema #north american cinema #irving rapper #Joan Tompkins #Quinn K. Redeker #1970 #1970s #70s #70s movies #70s cinema #70s film #1970s movies #1970s films

[halogen2]

im listening to this interview with christine jorgensen from 1957 and its so so interesting hearing a trans woman from like 60+ years ago describing her experiences and discussing her transition

#christine jorgensen #digital transgender archive #transgender history #1950s history #video #v #Youtube

[goatyoat]

My portrait of Christine Jorgenson for a recent class project! I had a lot of fun with experimenting w texture-making here.

Christine Jorgenson (May 30, 1926 – May 3, 1989) was a singer, actress and also the first  American transgender woman in the public eye to have had sex reassignment surgery.

#digital art #original art #digital portrait #portrait art #historical figure #christine jorgensen #queer art #trans art #trans artist #digital painting #goaty's art catalogue

[olena]

This is Christine Jorgensen, a transgender pioneer. The way her story evolved is incredibly sad: an initially curious and enthusiastic public turned to hate — because they would not accept a sterile woman.

Excerpts below from a VICE article by Hugh Ryan (warning for possible triggers; hate speech after 2nd paragraph):

“Christine's celebrity happened at a very particular time in US history,” said David Serlin, a Professor of Communications and Critical Gender Studies at UC San Diego and the creator of the CJMB. He pointed out, “There was this incredible enthusiasm for science,” and Jorgensen’s transformation was seen as a triumph of modern medicine. The public’s initial response, he said, was, “We are building rockets, we can cure illnesses, and we can take a boy from the Bronx and turn him into a glamorous woman!” ... This question of realness would end up being Jorgensen’s undoing, Serlin told me. Part of her celebrity had to with America’s love of science, but the rest had to do with how little anyone knew about sex reassignment surgeries. Her peers, even those in the nascent homophile movements of the 50s, had no context for gender transitioning. There was no T in the vague LGB movement, and the word transgender hadn’t even been coined yet. Of course, people with cross-gender desires have always existed, and a few earlier pioneers had also undergone experimental surgical gender reassignments, but they didn’t have a public face in America until Jorgensen, according to GLAAD. Serlin speculates that at first most Americans “really thought Christine was menstruating and had eggs in her fallopian tubes.” But after six months, the press began to ask more probing questions about what her surgeries actually entailed. When they didn’t like the answers, the country “went ballistic.” Gender panic took over, said Serlin. “They said, ‘He's not a woman. He's just a neutered faggot.’” Reputable magazines like Time stopped using female pronouns for Jorgensen, and coverage of her took on a nasty, speculative air. America didn’t have a huge problem with someone switching between two discreet and very separate sexes, but the suggestion of some middle ground, of a spectrum between male and female, made people fearful and angry. Jorgensen’s existence and acceptance as a woman implied that gender and the body were not necessarily connected, that gender was something one worked to create. If this were true, the sex-segregated ideals of post-war suburbia would have been out the window. In the eyes of the public, Jorgensen was no longer a man-made woman, but a gender terrorist in a blond bouffant. ... our awe came first and our hatred came after ... America stumbles towards every new thing like a delighted (but dangerous) toddler, and that our present moment is just another moment waiting to be changed.

#Christine Jorgensen #trans #trans rights #lgbtqplus #womens rights #women #historical #science #scientific literacy #science enthusiasm

[asylumania]

I just came across this video of Christine Jorgensen, One of the first public figures to be recognized as having transitioned and being transgender. I’ve been watching quite a few videos where she’s interviewed. I was honestly surprised because EVERY video I found used her new correct pronouns when talking to her or about her. 

This interview is from 1982. but she transitioned on September 24, 1951. Even initial interviews I’ve seen at the time use she/her pronouns. While I’m sure there were many times she was misgendered in and out of the media. I couldn’t help but be surprised at how even 60-70 years ago people were willing to respect her gender identity. 

We need to preserve history and show it in the face of current leadership who stands against our past. 

here’s her first interview after arriving in the US in 1952 where she’s also referred to as she/her. 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9Q50y5IsJU

Also it might be worth noting that Christine was passable and therefore more likely to be accepted by American society. However she undoubtedly paved ways for future generations.

#trans history #trans rights #queer history #christine jorgensen #pronouns #gender equality #lgbt #history

[newyorkthegoldenage]

Christine Jorgensen accepts a certificate from Harry Berglind, chairman of the Scandinavian Societies of Greater New York, for their Woman of the Year award for her "contribution to science," March 7, 1953.

Photo: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images/Digital Transgender Archive

#vintage New York #1950s #Christine Jorgensen #transgender #LGBTQ+ #Woman of the Year #March 7 #7 March #Scandinavian Societies

[spikesart]

This is Christine Jorgensen, a trans woman who was an American soldier in WW2 and transitioned medically after the war.

Part 2 of my series Important Faces of Queer History in Colour

#Art #SpikesArt #IFQHC #Christine Jorgensen #trans #Part 2

[sanitariumslumber]

#christine jorgensen

[oldshowbiz]

The never-proudced parody of The Untouchables starring Jimmy Durante, Jackie Gleason, Sammy Davis Jr., Danny Thomas, Phil Silvers, Pat Boone, Steve Allen, Perry Como and Christine Jorgensen.

#Christine Jorgensen #Jimmy Durante #Jackie Gleason #Sammy Davis Jr. #Danny Thomas #Phil Silvers #Pat Boone #Steve Allen #Perry Como #unrealized projects

[fipindustries]

actually, you know what?

we should play some proper respect to christine, lets not remember her as just an old news paper clipping, she seemed to be a very intelligent woman who was very aware of what she meant for the world and for society and who was rather lucid in her opinions about it

#christine jorgensen