ISSUES
: Sexuality and Gender
Chapter 2: Gender identity
18
worked to improve conditions in
military and civilian hospitals in South
Africa. He met Florence Nightingale
through his work, but the pair did not
get on. He began living as a man
around 1809, just before beginning his
medical training. It seems his
colleagues were unaware that he was
trans* until after his death.
Mary Mudge (1814–1889)
Mary was a very poor woman who
lived in a small village in Devon.
She never married and worked as a
dairymaid. She died in a workhouse
at the age of 85, and her trans*
status was only discovered after
her death. The discovery was then
widely reported in newspapers. Her
story tells us that trans* people may
be found in all walks of life, and that
many trans* people live normal lives
as members of their chosen gender.
People such as these must often go
unnoticed by their communities and
by future historians.
The Rebecca Riots (1839–1843)
The Rebecca Riots were a series of
riots in south- and mid-Wales,
protesting unfair taxation imposed by
the English Government, and related
poverty. Most participants in the riots
dressed in women’s clothing, and
although many donned such clothing
only during the riots, there is evidence
to suggest that some of the leaders
lived as women more widely.
Stella Boulton and Fanny Park (tried
in 1871)
Stella and Fanny were put on trial
in Victorian London, accused of
“Since 1999, on 20
November, trans*
people around the
world have gathered
to remember those
killed as a result of
transphobia, especially
those murdered in hate
crimes”
“The body should
be made to fit,
approximately at any
rate, to the mind”
“conspiring and inciting persons to
commit an unnatural offence”. This
charge shows the contemporary
attitude that trans* people were a
dangerous threat to the morality
of others. The prosecution was
unable to prove that any offence
had been committed, but Stella’s
partner, Lord Arthur Clinton, killed
himself during the trial. Stella had
lived as a girl since early childhood,
and Fanny began living as a woman
after meeting Stella as a teenager.
The pair worked as a theatrical
double act.
Drag Ball Riot, Hulme (1880)
A police raid led by detective Jerome
Caminada on what has been named
by historians as a “drag ball” in
Hulme, Manchester, resulted in a
riot in 1880. The subsequent trial
of the people involved was detailed
in newspapers at the time and
scandalised the Victorian middle
classes.
Michael Dillon/Sramanera Jivaka
(1915–1962)
Michael/Sramanera was a doctor,
author and the first trans* man in the
UK to undergo phalloplasty (penis
construction). His 1946 book,
Self: A
Study in Endocrinology and Ethics
,
made the case that trans* people
should be offered medical transition
rather than being treated for mental
illness. He fled to India after his
trans* status was discovered, where
he converted to Buddhism, changed
his name to Sramanera, and
published on Buddhist practices for
British children.
“The body should be made to fit,
approximately at any rate, to the
mind.” – Michael Dillion
Roberta Cowell (1918–2011)
Roberta was a racing driver who
competed in the 1939 Grand Prix.
She became a fighter pilot in
the Second World War, and was
captured and became a German
prisoner of war, suffering solitary
confinement
and
starvation.
She was liberated in 1945. Back
in England, she suffered from
PTSD and sought the help of a
psychiatrist. With his support she
began transition. She went on to
become the first trans* woman in
the UK to undergo vaginoplasty
(vagina construction). Her surgeries
were carried out both by the
surgeon who operated on Dillon,
and by Dillon himself. She was not
allowed to compete in the Grand
Prix again following her transition,
but she remained an active part of
UK motor racing.
