On This Date in Minnesota History: September 26

September 26, 1972 – Christine Jorgensen, the first person to become famous in the U.S. for having sex reassignment surgery, spoke to an overflowing crowd on this date in UMD’s Kirby Student Center ballroom about transsexualism.

Born George William Jorgensen, Jr., Jorgensen graduated from Christopher Columbus High School in the Bronx in 1945 and was shortly afterwards drafted into the US Army.

“I don’t think there was any time in my childhood that I didn't know something was wrong, but I didn’t know what.

“The military was an extremely good thing for me. I had always lived a very cloistered life because I knew I was different. After living in close quarters, I found that I was not the only one with problems,” she told her audience.

Jorgenson was 24-years-old when she underwent surgery in Denmark in 1952 that transformed her from a man into a woman. She said she makes public appearances in the hopes she will help other people with confused sexual roles.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Jorgensen

Duluth News-Tribune; “Christine Jorgensen Says She’s More Feminine Now”; September 27, 1972; p. 6.

 Christine Jorgensen
http://www.transactiveonline.org/resources/history-video.php