"Transsexualism is not a new phenomenon: male-to-female sex changes are mentioned in the literature of Ancient Greece and Rome. But only in the last forty years or so has medical science been able to achieve what those who feel they have been 'born into the wrong body regard as the only thing that will give them peace of mind, a full surgical sex change. In this investigation into the who, how and why of sex changes, Liz Hodgkinson tells the stories of some fascinating cases, some famous, others entirely unpublicized.
Gl George (later Christine) Jorgensen made headlines in the early fifties with his, the first fully documented operation to remove male sex organs and replace them with some approximation of female ones. Other household names include April Ashley, Jan Morris, Renée Richards and Adèle Anderson of Fascinating Aida' (the headlining cases have all been male-to-female changes: female-to-male subjects have normally shunned publicity, but some intriguing cases are here brought to light)."
She also contributes to many publications abroad, is a regular broadcaster on radio and has written or co-authored five previous books, the most recent being the bestselling Sex is Not Compulsory: giving up sex for better health and greater happiness, also published by Columbus. Educated at Huntingdon Grammar School and Durham University, she turned to journalism after a short career as a schoolteacher in the north-east. She lives in Richmond, Surrey, with her husband and two teenage sons."
Liz Hodgkinson (born 1945) is a British author and journalist who has written more than 50 books. In 2024, I interviewed her for my blog Heroines of My Life and I asked her about the social revolution in the way transgender women are perceived today: "I am very glad that trans people have been able to take their place in the world as the women (or men) they always felt themselves to be. It has been a long hard struggle. The only area where I feel that trans women should not be included as women is in competitive sport. I feel very strongly about this as an athlete who has gone through male puberty will still have the strength and muscle mass of a man, and as such, likely to win competitions in swimming, cycling, weightlifting and other sports where male strength and height is a distinct advantage.But when it comes to chess competitions or quiz shows on television, I can’t see any reason why a trans woman cannot compete as a woman. Biologically of course, trans people will always have the chromosomes of their original gender and will not be able to reproduce in their desired gender. But then – not all biological men and women can reproduce, either, so I don’t think there is much mileage in banging on about this. Here, we have had a lot of heated discussion about trans women using women’s toilets and here I would say that I often went into female toilets with Roberta, Judy Cousins and others and nobody took the slightest bit of notice. All they wanted to do, like anybody else, was to go to the toilet, wash their hands and leave. Most trans people just want to get on quietly with their lives and not bother anybody else."
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Photo via Heroines of My Life.
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