Editorial

by Katherine Cummings

(The Gender Centre advise that this article may not be current and as such certain content, including but not limited to persons, contact details and dates may not apply. Where legal authority or medical related matters are cited, responsibility lies with the reader to obtain the most current relevant legal authority and/or medical publication.)

As you may have noticed from the cover of this issue, we are commemorating 50 year anniversary of the first widely publicised transsexual in modern times, Christine Jorgensen, who was outed by the press in December 1952. It is said that for a time she was the most recognised woman in the world. The effect she had on those of us who thought we had no hope of ever living our dream is impossible to describe. I usually say it was like being hit between the eyes with a hammer. All the wishes became hopes, for Christine showed us that with the right circumstances we could achieve what she had achieved and become the people we knew we were. In the last issue of Polare I asked for contributions on what Christine Jorgensen meant to our community but response has been minimal, which may be a healthy sign. Gender reassignment is no longer a Gee-Whiz wonder to cover every headline for days on end, and the woman who was seen as unique and a lonely pioneer is now one among thousands who have followed her path to self-fulfilment.

If Christine Jorgensen had never existed, maybe we would still be approximately where we are now, but she did exist and she was the first to be widely recognised as having gone through a successful surgical intervention designed to allow a human to cross the gender barrier. Unlike Lili Elbe, who died a year after her reassignment in 1930, Christine lived for 32 years after her operation (or operations, to be precise) and died when she was sixty-two. I am not ignoring the fact that there were other gender reassignments in the early 1950s. There was Roberta Cowell, ex-Spitfire pilot and racing driver and there was Ewan (formerly Elizabeth) Forbes-Sempill who successfully defended his male gender in the courts to secure succession to a baronetcy. There were probably others whose stories have never been made public.

Elsewhere in this issue I have written an account of my own meeting with Christine Jorgensen, after she had decided there was little chance she would be left alone by the media to pursue her chosen profession as a photographer, and was performing in night clubs as a "curiosity" attraction.

The transgender community is like a pyramid standing on its point. Fifty years ago there was only a few of us [visible, anyway] whereas today there are many thousands. The general public still confuses us with other sex and gender diverse communities but there is a growing awareness of our separate identity and a resultant development of medical and social services tailored to our needs. There is also a growing recognition of our human and legal rights.

We will continue to rely heavily on those prepared, like Christine Goodwin in Britain and Kevin and Jennifer here in Australia, to sacrifice their privacy and take on the legal system to advance the rights of the community as a whole. We should, in return, respond with every kind of support we can for these brave pioneers, including financial support when it is requested.

Nothing significant will be achieved without effort, cohesion and sacrifice.

Polare is published in Australia by The Gender Centre Inc. which is funded by the Department of Community Services under the S.A.A.P. Program and supported by the N.S.W. Health Department through the AIDS and Infectious Diseases Branch. Polare provides a forum for discussion and debate on gender issues. Advertisers are advised that all advertising is their responsibility under the Trade Practices Act. Unsolicited contributions are welcome, though no guarantee is made by the Editor that they will be published, nor any discussion entered into. The editor reserves the right to edit such contributions without notification. Any submission which appears in Polare may be published on our internet site. Opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor, The Gender Centre Inc.I, the Department of Community Services or the N.S.W. Department of Health.