Dianna Boileau - Behold I am a Woman Now

1972, Canada, Dianna Boileau, English,

Full title: "Behold I am a Woman Now" by Dianna Boileau.

"Behold, I Am a Woman Now" by Dianna Boileau moved me deeply, evoking tears as I read. I had thought that my own transition posed immense challenges, but Boileau’s experience, set against the backdrop of the 1960s and 70s, was far more harrowing. In the preface, we are introduced to a compelling narrative: "Now Dianna tells her story. The story of a boy growing up to discover he was a girl in every way but in physical form. The story of a boy forced by society to live a secret life of shame and degradation in the night world of the sexual outcast. A story that is bizarre, startling, shocking—but one that is deeply human and courageous, a moving plea for tolerance and understanding of individual sexual preferences, no matter how unconventional they may be."

 

In a 2016 article in The Spectator, Dianna was described as “the woman who was trans before her time.” In 1970, she made headlines as one of the first Canadians to undergo gender-affirming surgery. She also published one of Canada’s earliest trans memoirs, only to retreat from the public eye, marry, and embrace a life away from the spotlight of being a trans pioneer.

 

As The Spectator aptly noted, this was the life Boileau had always yearned for: "one in which she could simply be another woman." Dianna Boileau (born c. 1929 or 1930 – 2014) was a Canadian transgender woman, one of the first in the country to undergo gender-affirming surgery. She began living as a woman in her late teens. Born in Manitoba, Boileau spent her adolescence in Fort Frances, Ontario. At the age of 17, she began publicly presenting as female. Boileau later lived in Calgary and Edmonton, where she worked as a model and stenographer before relocating to Toronto, where she continued her career as a stenographer and legal secretary.

 

In 1962, while living in Toronto, she was involved in a fatal car accident, an event that garnered sensational media attention focused on her gender. This intense scrutiny led her to a suicide attempt. In the aftermath, Boileau began hormone therapy and explored options for gender-affirming surgery. In 1969, she and a close friend underwent orchiectomies (the removal of the testicles) in New York. The following year, in 1970, Boileau underwent a full gender-affirming procedure at Toronto General Hospital, having her male genitalia removed and female genitalia surgically constructed. In 1972, she published her memoir, Behold, I Am a Woman, and then withdrew from public life, living the rest of her years in relative privacy. Boileau’s legacy is now being honored with an Ontario Heritage Trust plaque in Fort Frances, Ontario, ensuring her story remains a vital part of Canadian history.

Quote from thespec.com

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Photo via digitalarchive.tpl.ca