Christine Jorgensen was one of the first trans activist whose gender reassignment was the focus international headlines in the 1950s and a movie in 1970.
Jorgensen was born George William Jorgensen Jr in 1926. She described her early life as:
“frail, blond, introverted little boy who ran from fistfights and rough-and-tumble games"
After servicing time in the army, Jorgensen became concerned over a “lack of male physical development". She searched sex reassignment surgery and she began taking estrogen. This led to a trip to Sweden where she intended to undergo the surgery, but a stopover in Copenhagen (Denmark) led to her meeting Christian Hamburger, a Danish specialist. Jorgensen decided to stay in Denmark and underwent hormone replacement therapy under Hamburger's care. She chose the name Christine in honor of Hamburger.
After more than a year of hormone therapy, Jorgensen requested and received permission for sexual reassignment in 1951. This involved multiple surgeries. She did not tell anyone because to her concern that they would not be supportive.
After treatment began, she wrote to friends:
“Remember the shy, miserable person who left America? Well, that person is no more… I'm in marvelous spirits.”
In 1952, she was outed by the New York Daily News (which received a leaked copy of a letter to her parents). It ran a front-page story with the headline "Ex-GI Becomes Blonde Beauty". Jorgensen became an instant celebrity. The overwhelming amount of coverage opened new discussions surrounding gender, sex, and transsexuals.
Jorgensen attempted twice to get married but was refused because her birth certificate identified her as male.
Jorgensen later wrote (in 1980):
“My family were very understanding. They had a choice; I gave them only one choice. Either they were to accept me or there was a break. My family did not want to lose me, and I was very close with [my mother and father] until they died (in 1967)”.
Jorgensen published her autobiography in 1967. She also became an actress and cabaret singer - her signature song was “I Enjoy Being a Girl” from the Broadway musical Flower Drum Song. She even included a quick-change into a Wonder Woman costume (but Warner Brothers which owned the copyright, sued her).
In 1970, a factionalized version of her story was told in the film The Christine Jorgensen Story, a loosely based on Jorgensen's memoir.
She died of cancer on May 1989, at age 62.
