March is Women’s History Month and March 31st happens to be this years’ Transgender Day of Visibility, so what better way to celebrate than with a list.
Elbe was a Danish artist and illustrator and one of the first trans
women to undergo gender confirmation surgery. […]
Her case became a sensation in both
Germany and Denmark and a Danish court invalidated her marriage to
Gottlieb. She was able to get her sex and name legally changed.
Elbe began a relationship with French art dealer Claude Lejeune, with
whom she wanted to marry and have children, and was looking forward to
her final surgery involving a uterus transplant, so that they could one
day have children.
With no medication to prevent organ rejection, she did not recover
from her final operation and died September 13, 1931 […] Elbe’s life is the
subject of the 2015 Oscar nominated film “The Danish Girl”.
Wendy Carlos
Wendy Carlos is an Americn Composer and keyboardist best known her
electronic music and film scores. Carlos help oversee the development of
the Moog synthesizer, and help to popularize the instrument by
recording an album of music by Johann Sebastian Bach called Switched-On Bach which won her three Grammy Awards. She also composed the scores for both, A Clockwork Orange and The Shining as well as Disney’s Tron.
Tracy Norman
Tracey “Africa” Norman was the first black trans fashion model,
though she hid the secret of her gender identity as she rose through the
industry in the 1970s. Norman was recruited for the Italian version of
Vogue and quickly became a model, appearing in magazines and
advertisements for such brands as Avon and Clairol. Norman said that she
only went into modeling to avoid sex work, which she thought of as the
only other outlet for a black trans woman from Newark, New Jersey, who
had just begun taking hormones.
Around 1980, an assistant on an Essence magazine photo shoot
who recognized her from Newark exposed her secret, and Norman stopped
getting modeling work after that. She worked abroad in Paris and Milan
before moving back to Newark, and only decided this year to tell her
true story.
Sally Mursi
In 1988, Egyptian Sally Mursi sent a shockwave through the Muslim
World when she changed her sex from male to female in Egypt. The case
led to such a crisis in the country that the Grand Mufti was asked to
decide on it. Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy, the Grand Mufti, released a fatwa,
making it spiritually legal for a transgendered individual to change to
his or her appropriate gender.
Martine Rothblatt
Martine Rothblatt is a lawyer, author and entrepreneur. She also
happens to be the highest paid female executive in the US, and for good
reason. She was a leading proponent of satellite communications, as well
as former CEO of the Geostar Corporation and founder of Sirius
Satellite Radio.
Fallon Fox is the only out trans mixed martial arts fighter and the
subject of the documentary Game Face. She has used her influence outside
of the ring to bring attention to issues affecting trans youth, like
ending conversion therapy.
Sadie Switchblade of G.L.O.S.S.
Sadie is the badass frontwoman of G.L.O.S.S. (Girls Living Outside
Society’s Shit), a hardcore punk band out of Olympia, Washington.
G.L.O.S.S. is crucial listening for punks who are hungry for music that
vocalizes queer and trans experiences with brutal honesty Check out
their bandcamp here: (https://girlslivingoutsidesocietysshit.bandcamp.com/releases)
Landa Lakes
Landa Lakes is a Native American two-spirit individual from the
Chicasaw Tribal Community in Oklahoma, and an activist and drag
performer. Regarding their self-chosen name, Landa said, “It’s a
tongue-in-cheek reference for the famous butter mascot because I like to
point out that even in today’s world we’re still using native people as
mascots.”
