Trans Visibility

Christine Jorgenson

Christine Jorgenson (1926- 1989) is a famous trans woman who underwent gender reassignment surgery in 1954. She went public with her surgery and used one of the earliest forms of social media to do so: television. Jorgenson bravely took advantage of modern medicine to her advantage. It is important to remember that during the Native Indian and Native Hawaiian era, transgender women could not make their physical body match their gender identity. Nonetheless, they were transgender. Remember that our physical appearance does not determine the gender that we are. Jorgenson was the first American transgender woman to utilize digital social media platforms. Many Americans had never heard of a person identifying with a gender identity other than the one they were assigned at birth. Seeing Jorgenson on the television opened the door to new possibilities. Jorgenson went on to utilize the television to educate on transgender issues through out her life. These clips can be found on YouTube, but on this page you will view the historical first video clip of a courageous woman!

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