The latest target of the conservative right is the transgender community, specifically trans kids. Since they noticed that past objects of their wrath like women, POC, and gay folks can vote, trans youth seem like an easy target. I have to wonder how many members of this vocal minority have even met a trans person, since they seem to think every school in the country has a few, all of them plotting to initiate their own little snowflakes into their “lifestyle” and snatch trophies from the hands of young athletes who were born female.
I honestly hadn’t thought much about transgenderism before I moved to WeHo in 1971, since it wasn’t a subject frequently covered by the media. Those who were born this way kept it to themselves since cross-dressing was illegal in many places and New York City even had laws on how many “female” garments a male could wear out in public without getting arrested.
Then one day I was working behind the counter at Schwab’s when an attractive, well-dressed, forty-ish lady walked in. With her blonde hair and perfectly applied makeup, she could have been any Beverly Hills matron until she gave me a check for her purchase with the name Christine Jorgensen and an address on Laurel Avenue, right around the corner from the store.
I instantly recognized the name since Jorgensen was the first person to undergo male-to-female surgery and go public about it. Back in the 1950s, there weren’t many doctors performing this surgery, unlike today when Cedars-Sinai has an entire department devoted to this specialty. I was impressed with how well Jorgensen could blend in with “regular” people, which was probably just what she wanted. She enjoyed a successful career in entertainment before her death from cancer at the age of 62.
A few months later, Andy Warhol “superstar” Candy Darling came into the store when she was in town for a film festival. Unlike Jorgensen, Darling identified as a woman but had not had any surgery, and it showed. She looked very glamorous from a few feet away but up close, her heavy beard peeked through her thick makeup.
These days, her wit and charm would get Candy Darling her own reality show, but in the seventies there just wasn’t a place for her in the entertainment industry so her final years were rather bleak. She faded from sight as Warhol moved on to fresher faces and I was sad when I heard that she died from cancer at 29. I felt even sadder when I heard that the probable cause of the cancer was the black market hormones she had been taking attempting to transition on her own. Maybe if Darling had been young today, she could have been able to get surgery safely and would have had a longer, happier life.
After all these years, society should be ready to accept all of us as human beings but things seem to be going in the opposite direction. While many of us felt out of place growing up, we could just pack up and move to greener pastures but a trans teen trapped in a small town full of holy-rollers who won’t allow them to be themselves doesn’t have a lot of positive choices. I just hope that they won’t be driven to negative ones. Maybe the example of Christine Jorgensen will give hope to those who need it most by blazing a trail in such a courageous, gracious and glamorous way.
Linda, I’ve always enjoyed your creative writing style exhibited here in Wehoville. That is, until today when you exposed yourself as a “woke” leftist. Some things are better off when left to wonder.
Signed, a fan no longer
It took you two years to notice that?
I have no idea what a trans people is. But I saw a middle aged guy…..dressed as a woman….covered in dirt and smelling of feces at the Pavillions today.
it’s hard to get that horrible image out of my head.
The late flamboyant local gay entertainer Rudy De La Mor was a close friend of hers.
Linda, although relatively off topic, what can you say about the HOLLYWOOD TEMPLE BETH EL at Fountain & Crescent Heights, The Hollywood Temple of the Stars. Established by the congregation who included the Warner Brothers, Carl Laemmle, Edward G. Robinson, Max Factor and others.
Its head is virtually on the chopping block, can you illuminate or provide an additional article? The hearing of its fate is scheduled on Monday, July 17, before City Council.
One can certainly advocate for the rights and safety of transgender individuals without endorsing the medicalized transition of adolescents. Many countries in the Western world have already taken this stance. Moreover, for some members of the transgender community, looking back at old transgender icons reminds us of how disconnected modern gender ideology has become from the practical realities of our everyday lives.
You are certainly correct. In past years it was respectful wherein not it appears to have become public spectacle of repulsive behavior.
It seems to have gone too far. Much of the push back is warranted .