1 00:00:05,238 --> 00:00:07,294 _ 2 00:00:07,319 --> 00:00:09,209 _ 3 00:00:09,234 --> 00:00:11,129 _ 4 00:00:11,154 --> 00:00:13,155 _ 5 00:00:15,171 --> 00:00:18,171 There's a difference between transsexual and homosexual. 6 00:00:18,172 --> 00:00:21,762 There have been trans and gender-non-conforming people 7 00:00:21,787 --> 00:00:23,787 as long as there have been people. 8 00:00:23,788 --> 00:00:27,122 I put on the clothes I usually wear, which is girls' clothes. 9 00:00:27,147 --> 00:00:28,641 In retrospect, I can see 10 00:00:28,666 --> 00:00:30,666 the beginning of a sexual revolution. 11 00:00:30,667 --> 00:00:33,211 It wasn't too many years ago I got thrown into jail 12 00:00:33,236 --> 00:00:35,236 for being a female impersonator. 13 00:00:35,237 --> 00:00:39,236 Now, I've never felt as though I were impersonating a female. 14 00:00:39,237 --> 00:00:41,236 I'm... I am a female. 15 00:00:42,869 --> 00:00:44,869 Throughout history and around the world, 16 00:00:44,870 --> 00:00:48,869 some of us have always pushed the boundaries of gender. 17 00:00:49,227 --> 00:00:51,421 Didn't take long before everyone in town 18 00:00:51,446 --> 00:00:52,633 knew who Lucy was. 19 00:00:53,188 --> 00:00:57,188 I defy any doctor in the world to tell me that I'm not a woman. 20 00:00:57,915 --> 00:00:59,915 I've worked in the harvest fields of the Midwest, 21 00:01:00,221 --> 00:01:01,806 dealt blackjack in Tijuana, 22 00:01:01,831 --> 00:01:04,477 and run bootleg liquor across the Canadian border. 23 00:01:04,502 --> 00:01:06,821 -Are you a man or a woman? -Well, dear, first one 24 00:01:06,846 --> 00:01:09,846 has to determine what is a man and what is a woman. 25 00:01:09,847 --> 00:01:11,846 Meet three trans pioneers... 26 00:01:11,847 --> 00:01:17,368 Lucy Hicks Anderson, Jack Starr, and Christine Jorgensen. 27 00:01:17,393 --> 00:01:20,393 We're bringing them out of the shadows to shine. 28 00:01:20,394 --> 00:01:26,407 CREDITS 29 00:01:51,393 --> 00:01:55,393 The streets of San Francisco's Tenderloin District 30 00:01:55,394 --> 00:01:58,393 didn't look much different in 1966. 31 00:01:58,394 --> 00:02:01,393 It was a tough neighborhood then, too. 32 00:02:01,394 --> 00:02:03,393 But if you got kicked out of your home 33 00:02:03,394 --> 00:02:05,393 for being gay or trans, 34 00:02:05,394 --> 00:02:08,393 this was one of the only places you could be yourself, 35 00:02:08,394 --> 00:02:14,369 find any work, and sometimes find a new family. 36 00:02:15,229 --> 00:02:18,393 This neighborhood was for people messing with gender, 37 00:02:18,394 --> 00:02:22,393 the transsexuals, the drag queens. 38 00:02:22,860 --> 00:02:24,945 Different names were used back then. 39 00:02:24,970 --> 00:02:27,460 Some people called themselves hair fairies. 40 00:02:27,485 --> 00:02:29,976 Calling someone "queer" was an insult, 41 00:02:30,001 --> 00:02:32,001 and "transgender" wasn't in use yet. 42 00:02:32,002 --> 00:02:37,001 So don't get it twisted if you hear some outdated terms, okay? 43 00:02:37,314 --> 00:02:40,314 Over here in the Tenderloin, gender-non-conforming folks 44 00:02:40,315 --> 00:02:43,314 were constantly harassed by the cops, 45 00:02:44,212 --> 00:02:45,834 very often arrested... 46 00:02:54,074 --> 00:02:57,074 Until one night in 1966, 47 00:02:57,099 --> 00:03:00,967 when they got sick and tired of all this bullshit. 48 00:03:05,274 --> 00:03:06,750 This is where it happened... 49 00:03:07,274 --> 00:03:09,274 on the corner of Turk and Taylor. 50 00:03:10,084 --> 00:03:13,279 The place used to be called Compton's Cafeteria. 51 00:03:14,084 --> 00:03:17,084 Ohh, Compton's was our home. 52 00:03:17,267 --> 00:03:20,267 Cheap place to eat, open 24/7. 53 00:03:21,165 --> 00:03:23,859 This used to be the spot you would check in on your friends 54 00:03:23,884 --> 00:03:26,094 and make sure they made it through the night alive. 55 00:03:28,884 --> 00:03:31,884 Y'all probably heard about the Stonewall Riots. 56 00:03:33,884 --> 00:03:36,884 But that won't happen for another three years. 57 00:03:37,321 --> 00:03:40,296 Even still, the anger at injustice here tonight 58 00:03:40,321 --> 00:03:42,321 at Compton's is simmering. 59 00:03:42,852 --> 00:03:45,852 The whole Tenderloin is simmering. 60 00:03:47,376 --> 00:03:50,376 The police come into Compton's and start harassing us, 61 00:03:50,377 --> 00:03:51,376 like they always do. 62 00:03:51,962 --> 00:03:54,962 With the permission of management, of course. 63 00:03:55,354 --> 00:03:58,087 A cop grabbed Holly and tried to haul her to the paddy wagon 64 00:03:58,112 --> 00:03:59,408 they had parked outside. 65 00:04:00,073 --> 00:04:02,602 But that queen is finally fed up. 66 00:04:02,627 --> 00:04:03,627 They're all fed up. 67 00:04:03,628 --> 00:04:05,862 We are all fed up. 68 00:04:06,627 --> 00:04:08,283 It's 1966. 69 00:04:08,308 --> 00:04:09,588 A war is raging in Vietnam. 70 00:04:09,613 --> 00:04:11,613 People are protesting in the streets. 71 00:04:11,614 --> 00:04:13,613 Can you feel it? 72 00:04:16,420 --> 00:04:19,420 Race riots, Stokely Carmichael's preaching "black power"... 73 00:04:19,421 --> 00:04:21,941 And we gonna say to the whole damn government... 74 00:04:21,966 --> 00:04:23,299 I said can you feel it? 75 00:04:23,324 --> 00:04:24,635 We come for what's ours. 76 00:04:24,660 --> 00:04:26,346 The cops are here to clean up the neighborhoods, 77 00:04:26,371 --> 00:04:29,002 but we are about to do the cleaning. 78 00:04:29,027 --> 00:04:31,027 Folks like us, we ain't supposed to fight back 79 00:04:31,028 --> 00:04:32,422 against the police. 80 00:04:32,447 --> 00:04:35,447 But tonight it's gonna happen for the first time... 81 00:04:35,448 --> 00:04:36,447 the first violent uprising by trans 82 00:04:36,448 --> 00:04:40,447 and gay people against the police, right here, tonight. 83 00:04:43,303 --> 00:04:44,303 Hold up, sweetie! 84 00:04:44,928 --> 00:04:47,303 Let's not get ahead of ourselves. 85 00:04:47,304 --> 00:04:49,303 As my sister said, 86 00:04:49,304 --> 00:04:53,303 Stonewall isn't where queer liberation started. 87 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:58,348 Trans and gender-non-conforming people appear 88 00:04:58,373 --> 00:05:01,373 in our oldest stories from all over the world 89 00:05:01,374 --> 00:05:04,373 but have been consistently erased. 90 00:05:04,374 --> 00:05:07,348 We either passed invisibly among society 91 00:05:07,373 --> 00:05:10,145 or were forced to live in the shadows when discovered. 92 00:05:11,373 --> 00:05:13,348 Gender ambiguity has always 93 00:05:13,373 --> 00:05:16,373 and will forever be a part of humanity. 94 00:05:16,374 --> 00:05:18,479 Sonia, you were born a male. 95 00:05:18,504 --> 00:05:20,510 When did you first notice these female tendencies? 96 00:05:20,535 --> 00:05:22,002 I was 13 years old. 97 00:05:22,027 --> 00:05:24,407 Each one of them is breaking the law. 98 00:05:25,361 --> 00:05:26,695 For its entire history, 99 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:29,453 the US government has used masquerade laws 100 00:05:29,478 --> 00:05:33,060 to morally police strict gender binary roles, 101 00:05:33,248 --> 00:05:35,098 arresting people wearing clothing 102 00:05:35,123 --> 00:05:38,543 that didn't conform to the sex assigned at birth. 103 00:05:38,568 --> 00:05:42,568 These laws often became known as 3 article rules... 104 00:05:42,569 --> 00:05:45,858 the commonly held belief that wearing three articles 105 00:05:45,883 --> 00:05:47,883 of appropriately gendered clothing 106 00:05:47,884 --> 00:05:50,373 could protect you from arrest 107 00:05:50,398 --> 00:05:54,398 because dressing inappropriately made you a criminal. 108 00:05:55,204 --> 00:05:58,204 We define anything that's different as deviant. 109 00:05:58,205 --> 00:06:03,641 I was arrested approximately 20 times on the 650.5 block. 110 00:06:03,666 --> 00:06:05,914 _ 111 00:06:05,939 --> 00:06:07,313 _ 112 00:06:07,571 --> 00:06:12,571 These individuals are condemned by most people in our society. 113 00:06:12,572 --> 00:06:14,571 They're made fun of. They're rejected. 114 00:06:14,572 --> 00:06:17,571 They're harassed because they're different. 115 00:06:17,572 --> 00:06:20,571 Though society keeps trying to tell us what our gender is, 116 00:06:20,572 --> 00:06:24,852 there's no stopping us from being who we truly are. 117 00:06:37,223 --> 00:06:39,437 _ 118 00:06:39,462 --> 00:06:43,437 By 1940, Lucy Hicks Anderson was one of the best known 119 00:06:43,462 --> 00:06:47,462 and most respected women in Oxnard, California. 120 00:06:49,892 --> 00:06:53,482 They didn't know everything about Lucy, though. 121 00:06:53,507 --> 00:06:56,507 You see, Lucy was just being Lucy, 122 00:06:56,508 --> 00:06:59,507 but she was forced to keep a secret. 123 00:07:00,648 --> 00:07:02,461 _ 124 00:07:08,197 --> 00:07:09,720 Waddy, Kentucky. 125 00:07:10,596 --> 00:07:12,596 Born here in 1886. 126 00:07:12,597 --> 00:07:14,596 Almost looks the same as ever. 127 00:07:16,596 --> 00:07:18,596 Down that way in that grove of trees 128 00:07:18,597 --> 00:07:20,858 is where the doctor's office used to be. 129 00:07:22,257 --> 00:07:23,514 Mama took me to the doctor 130 00:07:23,539 --> 00:07:25,561 because I dressed like the girl I was. 131 00:07:26,539 --> 00:07:29,539 Guess she thought something might have been wrong with me. 132 00:07:29,540 --> 00:07:32,539 But the doctor said, "You're more of a girl than a boy. 133 00:07:33,221 --> 00:07:34,637 There's nothing to do about it." 134 00:07:35,083 --> 00:07:36,278 And that was that. 135 00:07:38,427 --> 00:07:40,979 From then on, I dressed like the girl I was, 136 00:07:41,261 --> 00:07:46,261 went to school as the girl I was, lived as the girl I was. 137 00:07:51,616 --> 00:07:54,616 Yep, I lived like the woman I was, 138 00:07:56,085 --> 00:07:59,849 made my way from Kentucky to Texas to Oklahoma, 139 00:07:59,874 --> 00:08:02,874 kept on going west till I couldn't go west no more 140 00:08:02,875 --> 00:08:06,541 and stopped in Oxnard, ight here by the sea, 141 00:08:06,566 --> 00:08:10,566 next to the Navy base on what they call the Silk Strand. 142 00:08:10,567 --> 00:08:13,566 Ah, them boys kept us busy. 143 00:08:14,023 --> 00:08:16,023 And they kept us in some silver, too. 144 00:08:16,024 --> 00:08:18,320 So did the sugar beet factory workers. 145 00:08:21,885 --> 00:08:24,626 It all started with my cooking. 146 00:08:24,651 --> 00:08:27,190 Got more and more popular, and, well, 147 00:08:27,268 --> 00:08:29,268 it just made more sense to open up shop. 148 00:08:30,268 --> 00:08:31,712 Yeah, I'd figure I'd supply the men 149 00:08:31,737 --> 00:08:33,737 with what they really wanted. 150 00:08:36,370 --> 00:08:39,370 We had the girls lined up at the top of the stairs, 151 00:08:39,371 --> 00:08:42,337 cop cars lined up outside for their morning coffee. 152 00:08:44,370 --> 00:08:48,370 Didn't take long before everyone in town knew who Lucy was. 153 00:08:48,371 --> 00:08:52,370 And if I do say so myself, they respected Lucy. 154 00:08:53,104 --> 00:08:54,877 I'd look after a couple of homes, you know, 155 00:08:54,902 --> 00:08:56,902 the fancy ones across town, 156 00:08:57,483 --> 00:09:01,483 and I admit business is good. 157 00:09:01,508 --> 00:09:03,483 It's good. 158 00:09:04,335 --> 00:09:06,708 And I return the favor. I do. I do. 159 00:09:06,733 --> 00:09:08,733 I'm donating to all the local charities. 160 00:09:09,296 --> 00:09:11,296 Just don't ask where the money come from. 161 00:09:14,922 --> 00:09:17,922 I bought the police department their very first airplane. 162 00:09:17,923 --> 00:09:19,922 Now, think about that for a moment. 163 00:09:20,219 --> 00:09:23,586 I bought the police an airplane. 164 00:09:24,946 --> 00:09:27,946 I racked up $50,000 worth of war bonds. 165 00:09:27,947 --> 00:09:29,946 And when the new parish priest came to town, 166 00:09:29,947 --> 00:09:32,602 I threw a big barbecue for the whole town. 167 00:09:32,946 --> 00:09:36,617 When FDR died, who did the paper come to for quotation? 168 00:09:36,642 --> 00:09:38,642 Me. 169 00:09:38,643 --> 00:09:40,642 I sure did love my community. 170 00:09:41,249 --> 00:09:43,249 And my community sure did love me. 171 00:09:44,038 --> 00:09:46,366 Only one person in town knew my secret, 172 00:09:47,038 --> 00:09:49,038 and that was my second husband, Reuben Anderson. 173 00:09:50,144 --> 00:09:54,338 In 1944, my secret could get you killed. 174 00:09:57,798 --> 00:09:59,798 I kept with a pretty rough crowd, 175 00:09:59,799 --> 00:10:03,798 so when Reuben wasn't in town, I had to be careful. 176 00:10:03,799 --> 00:10:06,798 Even if she don't admit it, every woman 177 00:10:06,799 --> 00:10:09,245 probably watches out not to get raped. 178 00:10:09,798 --> 00:10:14,798 But if you're like me, getting raped means getting killed. 179 00:10:14,799 --> 00:10:18,159 At the very least, getting your head bashed in. 180 00:10:20,612 --> 00:10:22,612 Oh, I'd get tossed in the big house 181 00:10:22,613 --> 00:10:25,612 every now and then for the business upstairs. 182 00:10:25,613 --> 00:10:28,612 You know, prohibition, prostitution. 183 00:10:29,204 --> 00:10:31,204 But that never did last too long. 184 00:10:36,204 --> 00:10:39,204 One time I got bailed out by the richest guy in town. 185 00:10:39,205 --> 00:10:40,204 Know why? 186 00:10:40,205 --> 00:10:42,540 'Cause he was throwing a party that night, 187 00:10:42,565 --> 00:10:44,175 and I was cooking. 188 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:45,596 _ 189 00:10:45,621 --> 00:10:48,581 No Lucy, no party. 190 00:10:49,486 --> 00:10:52,621 Every five minutes, five new cases of syphilis 191 00:10:52,622 --> 00:10:55,275 are contracted in the United States. 192 00:10:55,300 --> 00:10:59,300 Syphilis is spread by intimate contact, usually sexual. 193 00:10:59,301 --> 00:11:01,958 The cause of syphilis can be seen. 194 00:11:01,983 --> 00:11:05,661 Then one day, my life ran into a wall. 195 00:11:05,686 --> 00:11:08,505 If it hadn't been for that goddamn syphilis outbreak, 196 00:11:08,530 --> 00:11:11,530 I'd still be making coffee for the police every morning. 197 00:11:11,531 --> 00:11:14,530 And it had to start in our house, my home. 198 00:11:16,530 --> 00:11:20,530 Inspected my girls, then they inspected me. 199 00:11:27,530 --> 00:11:29,530 No! 200 00:11:30,197 --> 00:11:31,197 No! 201 00:11:39,952 --> 00:11:42,711 I knew from that moment on, 202 00:11:42,736 --> 00:11:44,736 the whole world would know my secret. 203 00:11:50,208 --> 00:11:51,528 No Lucy. 204 00:11:52,208 --> 00:11:53,388 No party. 205 00:11:55,138 --> 00:11:58,554 They arrested me after the syphilis examination. 206 00:11:58,579 --> 00:12:01,579 This time, I wasn't getting out. 207 00:12:01,580 --> 00:12:04,579 Said I committed perjury for saying 208 00:12:04,580 --> 00:12:07,579 I was female on my marriage license. 209 00:12:09,024 --> 00:12:13,741 And if that ain't bad enough, then the FBI comes down on me 210 00:12:13,766 --> 00:12:16,608 because I got Reuben's military pay allotments, 211 00:12:16,633 --> 00:12:18,335 just like any other wife. 212 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:19,719 Any other wife. 213 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:23,360 Said it was a federal fraud case. 214 00:12:24,032 --> 00:12:26,032 After the war, Reuben and me 215 00:12:26,033 --> 00:12:28,321 were gonna open up a bar and grill. 216 00:12:29,313 --> 00:12:32,313 But now all I got is perjury and fraud. 217 00:12:44,313 --> 00:12:46,313 Uh, Mr. John Doe, 218 00:12:46,314 --> 00:12:47,842 let us stop this masquerade. 219 00:12:48,014 --> 00:12:51,554 Tell us, are you a man or a woman? 220 00:12:51,579 --> 00:12:53,227 You can call me Lucy. 221 00:12:53,414 --> 00:12:54,820 I am a woman. 222 00:12:54,845 --> 00:12:58,845 - In what way are you a woman? -I am a woman internally. 223 00:12:58,846 --> 00:13:00,632 Thank you. 224 00:13:00,657 --> 00:13:04,657 Your Honor, as I was saying, the state will prove that 225 00:13:04,658 --> 00:13:07,402 Hicks has all the external organs of a male 226 00:13:07,427 --> 00:13:09,427 and cannot be termed "woman" 227 00:13:09,428 --> 00:13:12,427 either physically or by common sense. 228 00:13:14,427 --> 00:13:20,427 I defy any doctor in the world to tell me that I'm not a woman. 229 00:13:20,428 --> 00:13:28,427 I have lived, dressed, acted just what I am, a woman. 230 00:13:28,428 --> 00:13:32,427 It is only petty maliciousness 231 00:13:32,428 --> 00:13:36,427 that is trying to cause me heartache and harm. 232 00:13:36,428 --> 00:13:41,427 If they would devote the same amount of energies 233 00:13:41,428 --> 00:13:43,427 to the local problems that are hurting the community, 234 00:13:43,428 --> 00:13:45,427 that would be much better. 235 00:13:46,427 --> 00:13:51,427 I have lived as a good citizen for many years in this town, 236 00:13:51,428 --> 00:13:54,427 and I'm gonna die a good citizen, 237 00:13:54,428 --> 00:13:56,427 but I'm gonna die a woman. 238 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:28,080 At the trial, Lucy was found guilty of impersonation 239 00:14:28,307 --> 00:14:31,307 and perjury for falsifying her marriage certificate. 240 00:14:32,307 --> 00:14:35,158 She was sentenced to 10 years probation. 241 00:14:36,307 --> 00:14:39,307 But federal courts were even worse. 242 00:14:39,308 --> 00:14:42,307 Both Lucy and her husband, Reuben, 243 00:14:42,308 --> 00:14:44,022 were charged with felony fraud 244 00:14:44,047 --> 00:14:47,047 and then imprisoned for identifying 245 00:14:47,048 --> 00:14:48,553 as a heterosexual couple 246 00:14:48,578 --> 00:14:52,578 and receiving military spouse benefits. 247 00:14:53,290 --> 00:14:57,290 Lucy was sentenced to the all-male Leavenworth Prison. 248 00:14:57,291 --> 00:15:01,031 Her parole specified that she never return to Oxnard 249 00:15:01,056 --> 00:15:03,056 and no longer dress as a woman, 250 00:15:03,057 --> 00:15:07,056 which, of course, she continued to do. 251 00:15:07,057 --> 00:15:09,765 She and Reuben relocated to Los Angeles 252 00:15:09,790 --> 00:15:15,790 and lived a quiet life until she passed in 1954. 253 00:15:15,791 --> 00:15:17,790 She died a woman. 254 00:15:26,790 --> 00:15:29,790 Lucy might have thought she was the only one in her situation, 255 00:15:29,791 --> 00:15:32,790 but there were plenty of others like her. 256 00:15:32,791 --> 00:15:37,790 If only she had heard the story of Jack Starr. 257 00:15:47,432 --> 00:15:49,213 _ 258 00:15:49,260 --> 00:15:50,995 _ 259 00:15:51,883 --> 00:15:53,726 _ 260 00:15:56,133 --> 00:15:59,133 Jack Starr... born in the South Seas, 261 00:15:59,134 --> 00:16:03,133 moonshiner, rum runner, 262 00:16:04,887 --> 00:16:09,007 virtuoso piano player, detective. 263 00:16:09,032 --> 00:16:11,351 I've worked in the harvest fields of the Midwest, 264 00:16:11,812 --> 00:16:16,358 bartended in San Francisco, dealt blackjack in Tijuana, 265 00:16:16,383 --> 00:16:19,383 and run bootleg liquor across the Canadian border. 266 00:16:22,383 --> 00:16:24,383 It's illegal to be me. 267 00:16:24,384 --> 00:16:26,383 They call me a gender deviant. 268 00:16:26,384 --> 00:16:29,035 But I have to make a living, legal or otherwise, 269 00:16:29,060 --> 00:16:31,060 in order to survive. 270 00:16:31,294 --> 00:16:33,145 _ 271 00:16:33,505 --> 00:16:37,160 To get busted for bootlegging, dangerous. 272 00:16:38,505 --> 00:16:40,844 But to get busted not living as the sex listed 273 00:16:40,869 --> 00:16:44,869 on my birth certificate, even worse. 274 00:16:44,870 --> 00:16:47,869 Remember those masquerade laws? 275 00:16:47,870 --> 00:16:49,869 In the early 1900s, 276 00:16:49,870 --> 00:16:53,751 police started using them to target queer people. 277 00:16:54,697 --> 00:16:58,697 The laws originated in the 1800s to prohibit farmers from 278 00:16:58,698 --> 00:17:02,137 dressing like Native Americans to avoid paying taxes. 279 00:17:02,528 --> 00:17:05,697 It was a crime to have your face painted, discolored, 280 00:17:05,698 --> 00:17:09,697 covered, or concealed or be otherwise disguised 281 00:17:09,698 --> 00:17:13,441 while on the road or public highway. 282 00:17:13,466 --> 00:17:16,387 These deliberately vague laws were re-purposed 283 00:17:16,466 --> 00:17:19,466 by local officials to target gender fraud, 284 00:17:19,467 --> 00:17:23,791 gender deviants, and sexual deviants. 285 00:17:25,466 --> 00:17:27,466 So, the government was morally policing 286 00:17:27,467 --> 00:17:29,466 cross dressing and homosexuality. 287 00:17:29,491 --> 00:17:33,600 On top of that, they were punishing self-identifying women 288 00:17:33,625 --> 00:17:36,074 who lived as men in order to gain 289 00:17:36,099 --> 00:17:40,099 more legal rights or opportunities for work. 290 00:17:40,271 --> 00:17:43,137 Jack may not be the biggest mover and shaker 291 00:17:43,162 --> 00:17:46,162 in the movement towards LGBTQ equality, 292 00:17:46,427 --> 00:17:51,535 but maverick masqueraders were juicy tabloid fodder back then, 293 00:17:51,567 --> 00:17:56,195 outlawed by society and sensationalized in the press. 294 00:17:56,560 --> 00:17:57,560 Read on. 295 00:17:57,561 --> 00:17:59,890 "Guests at a Central Avenue hotel, 296 00:17:59,915 --> 00:18:01,702 who, for the last month have listened 297 00:18:01,727 --> 00:18:04,255 to strains of Chopin and Wagner coming from the room 298 00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:08,280 of a slim, nattily dressed, retiring young man did not know 299 00:18:08,281 --> 00:18:10,280 until Friday morning that their entertainer 300 00:18:10,281 --> 00:18:11,850 was not a young man at all, 301 00:18:11,875 --> 00:18:15,875 and then only when she came under suspicion 302 00:18:15,876 --> 00:18:16,875 with Sheriff Bob Gordon 303 00:18:16,876 --> 00:18:19,634 because of her habit of never leaving her room. 304 00:18:20,532 --> 00:18:22,532 She was taken into custody 305 00:18:22,533 --> 00:18:25,532 and is held at the county jail for investigation. 306 00:18:25,533 --> 00:18:28,532 Further than describing some of her... 307 00:18:28,533 --> 00:18:31,532 his wanderings, he declined outright 308 00:18:31,533 --> 00:18:33,532 to say anything concerning himself. 309 00:18:38,038 --> 00:18:41,038 The girl who refuses to give any name other 310 00:18:41,039 --> 00:18:45,262 than Jacques Moret was arrested last week and fined $50. 311 00:18:45,287 --> 00:18:47,223 The fine was suspended on condition 312 00:18:47,248 --> 00:18:51,709 that he doff the male attire and put on skirts. 313 00:18:51,734 --> 00:18:54,734 He refused to comply and was re-arrested Sunday 314 00:18:54,735 --> 00:18:56,734 in his room in a downtown hotel, 315 00:18:56,735 --> 00:18:59,734 in company with a 19-year-old girl..." 316 00:19:01,734 --> 00:19:03,734 "Pearl." 317 00:19:05,734 --> 00:19:08,734 If it weren't for Pearl, I'd be all alone. 318 00:19:08,735 --> 00:19:12,381 At times, it feels like I'm the only person like me, 319 00:19:12,406 --> 00:19:17,984 but I... there's just no way I'm the only one like me. 320 00:19:19,406 --> 00:19:26,140 Alice Lovejoy, arrested in Toledo, dressed as a boy. 321 00:19:27,406 --> 00:19:31,984 Barbara Ann Malpass, 20, who has been masquerading 322 00:19:32,009 --> 00:19:34,009 for several months as a homeless boy. 323 00:19:34,010 --> 00:19:36,009 Police found her in Times Square. 324 00:19:36,010 --> 00:19:40,307 Richard Orlando, masqueraded as a man for 14 years 325 00:19:40,332 --> 00:19:43,332 working as a film studio carpenter. 326 00:19:47,864 --> 00:19:49,864 They just wanted to be together. 327 00:19:57,889 --> 00:19:59,889 Pearl, you know me. 328 00:19:59,890 --> 00:20:01,889 I'm tired of hiding. 329 00:20:01,890 --> 00:20:05,017 I'm sick of only seeing you in hotel rooms like this one. 330 00:20:05,889 --> 00:20:08,666 The world wants to trap me. 331 00:20:10,670 --> 00:20:12,670 I won't let it. 332 00:20:12,671 --> 00:20:15,670 Not this time. 333 00:20:15,671 --> 00:20:19,670 And I will do as I please until the day I die. 334 00:20:25,152 --> 00:20:26,403 Just try and stop me. 335 00:20:35,177 --> 00:20:37,152 Jack lived as he pleased, 336 00:20:37,177 --> 00:20:41,177 with fewer appearances in the headlines as time went on. 337 00:20:41,178 --> 00:20:43,959 But decades later, he was arrested again 338 00:20:43,984 --> 00:20:46,139 for not having a draft card. 339 00:20:47,699 --> 00:20:50,699 Just like so many other people like Jack, 340 00:20:50,700 --> 00:20:52,699 when your life is criminalized, 341 00:20:52,700 --> 00:20:57,698 sometimes a criminal life is the only option you have. 342 00:20:58,362 --> 00:21:00,362 The only way he could survive 343 00:21:00,363 --> 00:21:04,362 was by drifting back into anonymity. 344 00:21:04,363 --> 00:21:07,628 Nobody knows what happened to him at the end of his life. 345 00:21:08,362 --> 00:21:13,362 History may have forgotten Jack Starr, but we won't. 346 00:21:19,004 --> 00:21:21,004 There's some growing medical opinion, 347 00:21:21,168 --> 00:21:22,753 particularly in recent years, 348 00:21:22,778 --> 00:21:24,778 that the body can and in some cases 349 00:21:24,779 --> 00:21:27,778 should be changed to conform to the demands of the mind 350 00:21:27,779 --> 00:21:29,589 and perhaps the emotions. 351 00:21:29,614 --> 00:21:33,292 Such operations are called sex change or sex reassignment. 352 00:21:33,317 --> 00:21:35,317 When did you first discover that you were effeminate? 353 00:21:36,083 --> 00:21:38,083 Well, I think we ought to clear up what's feminine 354 00:21:38,108 --> 00:21:39,181 and what's gay. 355 00:21:39,206 --> 00:21:41,689 - Well, what's the difference? - Well, a gay person is a boy 356 00:21:41,714 --> 00:21:43,714 that is attracted to another boy 357 00:21:43,715 --> 00:21:45,714 or a girl that's attracted to another girl. 358 00:21:45,715 --> 00:21:48,414 And feminine... anybody can be feminine. 359 00:21:48,439 --> 00:21:49,843 Before you were reassigned, 360 00:21:49,868 --> 00:21:51,868 did you used to frequent these gay bars? 361 00:21:51,869 --> 00:21:54,368 Uh, no, I never, uh, actually, 362 00:21:54,393 --> 00:21:59,134 uh, considered myself homosexual. 363 00:21:59,159 --> 00:22:02,729 My body was a man, but my mind was that of a woman. 364 00:22:02,754 --> 00:22:04,754 And now you feel complete as a woman? 365 00:22:04,755 --> 00:22:06,754 Oh, yes, definitely. Yes. 366 00:22:06,755 --> 00:22:09,235 - Are you happy? - Oh, yes, I am. 367 00:22:09,260 --> 00:22:10,754 What would make you even more happy? 368 00:22:10,755 --> 00:22:13,095 If I'd be able to have a change. 369 00:22:13,364 --> 00:22:16,776 The first, the best-known of sex change operations 370 00:22:16,801 --> 00:22:18,801 was one performed on a young ex-GI 371 00:22:18,802 --> 00:22:20,801 named George Jorgensen, 372 00:22:20,802 --> 00:22:23,518 who went to Copenhagen and came back as Christine. 373 00:22:23,543 --> 00:22:25,831 Hello, I'm Christine Jorgensen. 374 00:22:27,384 --> 00:22:31,862 _ 375 00:22:33,959 --> 00:22:36,959 A 26-year-old ex-GI arrives home from Denmark 376 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:38,959 where doctors converted him into a woman. 377 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:41,244 Two years ago, the name was George Jorgensen. 378 00:22:41,279 --> 00:22:42,279 Today it's Christine. 379 00:22:56,415 --> 00:23:01,727 By 1953, everyone had read about Christine Jorgensen. 380 00:23:01,752 --> 00:23:04,752 There's no place for people who've been suddenly made, 381 00:23:04,753 --> 00:23:06,752 uh, very famous in the eyes of the world. 382 00:23:13,199 --> 00:23:16,714 My dearest Mom, Dad, Dolly, and Bill, 383 00:23:17,925 --> 00:23:21,925 I am now faced with the problem of writing a letter, 384 00:23:21,926 --> 00:23:25,646 one which for two years has been on my mind. 385 00:23:25,671 --> 00:23:27,021 The task is a great one, 386 00:23:27,046 --> 00:23:31,046 and the two years of thought haven't made it any easier. 387 00:23:31,047 --> 00:23:34,512 To begin with, I want you to know that I am happier 388 00:23:34,537 --> 00:23:37,537 and healthier than ever before in my life. 389 00:23:37,538 --> 00:23:40,908 I have changed, changed very much, 390 00:23:40,933 --> 00:23:42,909 as my photos will show. 391 00:23:43,933 --> 00:23:47,933 Even as I write these words, I have not yet told you 392 00:23:47,934 --> 00:23:53,933 the final outcome of the tests and an operation last September. 393 00:23:55,908 --> 00:23:59,333 At the time, I had no idea what the future held, 394 00:23:59,358 --> 00:24:01,358 but when I walked down the steps on the plane, 395 00:24:02,358 --> 00:24:05,358 I was descending into an alien world. 396 00:24:05,359 --> 00:24:08,358 My life would change forever. 397 00:24:10,786 --> 00:24:12,786 Over the years, Christine Jorgensen has been 398 00:24:12,787 --> 00:24:14,786 one of the most talked-about personalities 399 00:24:14,787 --> 00:24:15,786 on the public scene. 400 00:24:15,787 --> 00:24:17,786 She's helped to write a new chapter 401 00:24:17,787 --> 00:24:19,786 in the history of medical science. 402 00:24:19,787 --> 00:24:22,464 And that's a considerable burden for a shy youngster 403 00:24:22,489 --> 00:24:24,489 from the Bronx to carry. 404 00:24:24,490 --> 00:24:26,489 What kind of a child were you, Christine? 405 00:24:26,490 --> 00:24:29,218 How did you think of yourself... as a boy or as a girl? 406 00:24:29,695 --> 00:24:32,922 How did I think of myself? I don't really know. 407 00:24:32,947 --> 00:24:35,947 All I knew is that I was unhappy. 408 00:24:35,948 --> 00:24:39,947 I wasn't like other children. 409 00:24:39,948 --> 00:24:41,947 As a child, I was often asked 410 00:24:41,948 --> 00:24:46,203 if I was a girl in boy's clothing and called a "sissy." 411 00:24:46,228 --> 00:24:50,128 As a little boy, did you ever envy the little girls 412 00:24:50,153 --> 00:24:52,405 because of their clothes and their way of life? 413 00:24:52,430 --> 00:24:53,740 I wouldn't say envied. 414 00:24:53,765 --> 00:24:58,765 I just didn't understand why I wasn't that way, too, you see. 415 00:24:58,766 --> 00:25:01,765 Did you prefer dolls and rolling hoops to... 416 00:25:01,766 --> 00:25:03,765 to electric trains or playing baseball? 417 00:25:03,766 --> 00:25:06,765 Well, I always... I liked to, of course, to play with dolls. 418 00:25:06,766 --> 00:25:08,335 I still have a big collection now. 419 00:25:08,360 --> 00:25:11,360 Too many things in my mind were confused. 420 00:25:11,361 --> 00:25:14,554 For example, certain things were for little boys 421 00:25:14,579 --> 00:25:15,780 and certain things were for little girls, 422 00:25:15,805 --> 00:25:18,805 and I never understood why they should be. 423 00:25:18,806 --> 00:25:21,805 I knew I was different and the best way to protect myself 424 00:25:21,806 --> 00:25:25,805 was to stay under the radar, to be invisible. 425 00:25:25,806 --> 00:25:28,805 I could never do the things other people could do. 426 00:25:28,806 --> 00:25:32,351 When I went into the service, I weighed 98 pounds. 427 00:25:32,376 --> 00:25:34,737 I was very, very shy. I sat in corners. 428 00:25:34,762 --> 00:25:36,376 I didn't mix and join. 429 00:25:36,377 --> 00:25:39,211 - You never dated? - Never dated, no. 430 00:25:39,236 --> 00:25:40,782 I knew something was wrong. 431 00:25:40,807 --> 00:25:42,586 And I knew something had to be done, 432 00:25:42,611 --> 00:25:45,968 otherwise I could not continue to exist as I was. 433 00:25:46,611 --> 00:25:49,611 The military garb only underscored my feelings 434 00:25:49,612 --> 00:25:51,230 of otherness, 435 00:25:51,255 --> 00:25:53,996 and for years, I looked for a solution, 436 00:25:54,021 --> 00:25:58,443 a step toward living the life my heart and mind had intended, 437 00:25:58,468 --> 00:26:01,084 and made the decision, out of desperation, 438 00:26:01,109 --> 00:26:04,109 to experiment with the female hormone estrogen 439 00:26:04,249 --> 00:26:07,249 using falsified pharmacy prescriptions. 440 00:26:07,250 --> 00:26:09,953 I prayed and took the estrogen pills. 441 00:26:10,249 --> 00:26:14,249 I asked God for forgiveness if I had done wrong. 442 00:26:14,250 --> 00:26:18,249 I hadn't taken the pills with any hope of death, 443 00:26:18,250 --> 00:26:22,888 but rather hoped this would be the start of a life of freedom. 444 00:26:23,249 --> 00:26:25,814 You were still quite young when you went to Denmark, 445 00:26:25,839 --> 00:26:27,839 and it must have been a tremendous decision. 446 00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:31,314 I was 26. 447 00:26:31,339 --> 00:26:33,339 On the 1st of May 1950, 448 00:26:33,340 --> 00:26:36,339 I sailed for Europe on the Stockholm. 449 00:26:36,340 --> 00:26:38,339 When I said I was going to Denmark, 450 00:26:38,340 --> 00:26:40,883 I knew I was going to a new horizon. 451 00:26:40,908 --> 00:26:42,908 I mean, the... the fates were with me. 452 00:26:43,730 --> 00:26:46,730 And the first doctor I encountered in Europe 453 00:26:46,731 --> 00:26:49,089 ended up being the right doctor for me. 454 00:26:50,144 --> 00:26:53,144 And that began a three-year research. 455 00:26:53,145 --> 00:26:55,973 People always refer to the surgery. 456 00:26:55,998 --> 00:26:57,998 The surgery is sort of an anti-climax. 457 00:26:57,999 --> 00:27:00,395 It's done after all the other things. 458 00:27:00,420 --> 00:27:03,794 That's the hard part is finding out who the other person is. 459 00:27:03,819 --> 00:27:05,470 The surgery's easy. 460 00:27:05,495 --> 00:27:08,495 I had no fear of dying, and I-I strongly believed 461 00:27:08,496 --> 00:27:10,079 that I would have committed suicide. 462 00:27:10,104 --> 00:27:12,642 I don't say it tragically. I think at that time, 463 00:27:12,667 --> 00:27:15,667 I-I felt that it was my only escape, my only out, 464 00:27:15,668 --> 00:27:18,893 and that seems a tragic out for anyone at 26 years old. 465 00:27:18,918 --> 00:27:22,918 - Indeed. - Now that I look back. 466 00:27:22,919 --> 00:27:26,331 And then, as you might say, all hell broke loose. 467 00:27:26,356 --> 00:27:28,807 Christine Jorgensen, who used to answer to George, 468 00:27:28,832 --> 00:27:30,832 creates quite a stir as she returns home 469 00:27:30,833 --> 00:27:32,832 to New York from Copenhagen. 470 00:27:32,833 --> 00:27:33,832 Christine hit the headlines. 471 00:27:33,833 --> 00:27:37,313 The story of my life became the world. 472 00:27:37,338 --> 00:27:40,338 They owned it. They began to own me. 473 00:27:40,339 --> 00:27:43,033 And all of these intimate details of my life 474 00:27:43,058 --> 00:27:46,058 suddenly were spread across the newspapers of the world. 475 00:27:56,318 --> 00:27:58,646 _ 476 00:27:58,841 --> 00:27:59,841 Yes, of course. 477 00:27:59,842 --> 00:28:02,841 My first reaction in December was, 478 00:28:02,842 --> 00:28:06,841 of course, great, great shock and surprise that, actually, 479 00:28:06,842 --> 00:28:10,966 any one was very much interested in what had happened in my life. 480 00:28:12,794 --> 00:28:15,083 I don't have any plans at the moment, 481 00:28:15,108 --> 00:28:17,240 and I thank you all for coming. 482 00:28:17,265 --> 00:28:18,670 But I think it's too much. 483 00:28:18,968 --> 00:28:20,583 Fine. Thank you very much. 484 00:28:20,608 --> 00:28:24,608 But as time went on, I realized that this was sort of 485 00:28:24,609 --> 00:28:27,635 an important step in the eyes of the world. 486 00:28:29,180 --> 00:28:31,376 Christine, do you think the time will ever come 487 00:28:31,401 --> 00:28:33,157 when your complete past, 488 00:28:33,182 --> 00:28:35,792 or at least this episode in your life, will disappear, 489 00:28:35,817 --> 00:28:38,817 and people will think of you as Christine Jorgensen, 490 00:28:38,818 --> 00:28:40,817 photographer, or Christine Jorgensen, actress, 491 00:28:40,818 --> 00:28:43,518 or whatever your pursuit might be at that time 492 00:28:43,543 --> 00:28:47,543 and not as Christine Jorgensen, woman, formerly man? 493 00:28:47,544 --> 00:28:48,543 No, Mr. Russell, 494 00:28:48,544 --> 00:28:51,543 I don't think the time will ever really come, 495 00:28:51,544 --> 00:28:55,518 when the past, as I... as you say, Christine Jorgensen, 496 00:28:55,543 --> 00:28:58,543 formerly a man, will ever be forgotten. 497 00:28:58,544 --> 00:29:02,543 After enduring a nightmarish onslaught of press, 498 00:29:02,544 --> 00:29:05,007 I quickly learned how to make use of the media 499 00:29:05,032 --> 00:29:08,250 to tell my story in the most accurate way, 500 00:29:08,275 --> 00:29:10,275 starting with a $20,000 deal 501 00:29:10,276 --> 00:29:12,275 with American Weekly Sunday Magazine, 502 00:29:12,300 --> 00:29:14,860 that would offer me financial stability 503 00:29:14,885 --> 00:29:17,885 and eventually led to a career as an entertainer. 504 00:29:18,315 --> 00:29:22,243 I like performing from the stage and going through the room, 505 00:29:22,268 --> 00:29:24,493 but I don't like sitting and just having people press... 506 00:29:24,549 --> 00:29:26,837 - I don't like to be handled. - You like performing. 507 00:29:26,862 --> 00:29:28,862 Yes, very much. 508 00:29:32,734 --> 00:29:35,734 There's a sense of exhibition of yourself. 509 00:29:35,735 --> 00:29:38,734 It's an exhibition of what you feel and what you think, 510 00:29:38,735 --> 00:29:42,301 and I do and say things which I think are important 511 00:29:42,326 --> 00:29:44,785 to be said by me or by someone else. 512 00:29:44,810 --> 00:29:48,346 It's only my feelings and my opinions. 513 00:29:48,371 --> 00:29:50,276 People say, "Why did you go into nightclubs?" 514 00:29:50,301 --> 00:29:53,301 Well, for a very pure, economic reason. 515 00:29:53,302 --> 00:29:54,752 What does one live on? 516 00:29:54,777 --> 00:29:56,777 Fame is not satisfactory. 517 00:29:56,778 --> 00:29:57,777 I couldn't go anywhere or do anything. 518 00:29:57,778 --> 00:30:01,597 But at a considerable price in... in exhibition of yourself. 519 00:30:01,622 --> 00:30:04,370 -I think every human being is, in a form, 520 00:30:04,395 --> 00:30:06,395 exhibition of themselves. -Mm-hmm. 521 00:30:06,396 --> 00:30:08,847 Also, the question comes up whether it's... 522 00:30:08,872 --> 00:30:11,445 what one would call morbid curiosity. 523 00:30:11,470 --> 00:30:14,470 I think curiosity is healthy. 524 00:30:14,471 --> 00:30:18,250 And for years, I continued to capture national headlines. 525 00:30:20,101 --> 00:30:25,101 But audiences were more drawn to the pulp fiction and tabloids 526 00:30:25,102 --> 00:30:29,889 inspired by me than my own performances or activism. 527 00:30:31,101 --> 00:30:33,060 The spotlight was on me, 528 00:30:33,085 --> 00:30:36,085 as though I were a sideshow attraction. 529 00:30:36,086 --> 00:30:39,085 The media turned me into a curiosity 530 00:30:39,086 --> 00:30:42,085 and then ridiculed me for being a curiosity. 531 00:30:42,904 --> 00:30:45,904 They invaded the most personal of spaces. 532 00:30:45,905 --> 00:30:49,904 I wonder who else's life can be peered into as closely as mine, 533 00:30:49,905 --> 00:30:53,613 and they would still have a sense of humor themselves. 534 00:30:53,638 --> 00:30:55,638 - Are you a woman? - Yes. 535 00:30:55,639 --> 00:30:58,033 - You are a woman? - In my mind 536 00:30:58,058 --> 00:31:00,058 and in my medical doctors' minds. 537 00:31:00,152 --> 00:31:02,775 - Are you a man or a woman? - Well, dear, first one 538 00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:05,377 has to determine what a man and what is a woman. 539 00:31:05,402 --> 00:31:08,635 Are you, as a female, capable of having sexual relations? 540 00:31:08,660 --> 00:31:10,049 Oh, yes, definitely. 541 00:31:10,074 --> 00:31:12,510 Let me ask you this question. Can you have sex, Christine? 542 00:31:12,535 --> 00:31:15,535 - Of course. - Alright, do you enjoy it? 543 00:31:15,536 --> 00:31:16,535 Yes. 544 00:31:16,536 --> 00:31:19,535 But a lot of people wonder, does Christine? 545 00:31:19,536 --> 00:31:20,879 Does she do it or does she don't? 546 00:31:20,904 --> 00:31:21,904 - Yeah. - She does it. 547 00:31:22,044 --> 00:31:22,997 Good. 548 00:31:23,521 --> 00:31:27,521 What was it like the first time a man ever made love to you? 549 00:31:27,522 --> 00:31:30,521 It was nervous, but it was alright. 550 00:31:32,850 --> 00:31:34,825 - Forgive me, but I mean... - Most men... 551 00:31:34,850 --> 00:31:35,850 - I just want to know that... - Most... 552 00:31:35,851 --> 00:31:36,850 Many men are not very good lovers. 553 00:31:36,851 --> 00:31:37,850 You know that? 554 00:31:40,850 --> 00:31:41,850 It's true. 555 00:31:41,851 --> 00:31:43,850 Do you have any recurring problems 556 00:31:43,851 --> 00:31:45,511 that you have to handle? 557 00:31:45,536 --> 00:31:47,536 Not in my private life. 558 00:31:47,537 --> 00:31:49,536 Do you mind the wave of Christine jokes 559 00:31:49,537 --> 00:31:51,536 that are starting all over again? 560 00:31:51,537 --> 00:31:54,290 Well, you know, it... they do hurt. 561 00:31:55,536 --> 00:31:58,054 Christine Jorgensen was planning an early marriage 562 00:31:58,079 --> 00:32:00,593 with Howard Knox of Chicago, Illinois. 563 00:32:00,618 --> 00:32:02,618 The New York City Hall License Bureau 564 00:32:02,619 --> 00:32:05,861 has temporarily denied issuance of a license. 565 00:32:06,197 --> 00:32:09,197 With all this publicity and all, that... 566 00:32:09,198 --> 00:32:10,197 that started all over again, 567 00:32:10,222 --> 00:32:13,533 and I did not want this publicity, believe me. 568 00:32:13,558 --> 00:32:14,916 And everything has just mushroomed 569 00:32:14,941 --> 00:32:18,549 into something fantastic, and I find it so difficult. 570 00:32:18,574 --> 00:32:20,574 There are a lot more important things in the world 571 00:32:20,575 --> 00:32:21,574 than... than me. 572 00:32:21,575 --> 00:32:23,354 Yes, but don't you know that as long as you live, 573 00:32:23,379 --> 00:32:24,885 whether your name is Christine Jorgensen 574 00:32:24,910 --> 00:32:26,910 or Christine Knox, 575 00:32:26,911 --> 00:32:28,910 you're gonna be a news story? -Really? 576 00:32:29,471 --> 00:32:32,471 People would naturally be curious and inquisitive. 577 00:32:32,472 --> 00:32:35,471 I must get used to being stared at and studied. 578 00:32:35,472 --> 00:32:37,471 If I were to function in the world, 579 00:32:37,472 --> 00:32:41,471 I needed to accept that as logical and address it as so. 580 00:32:41,472 --> 00:32:45,471 But be that as it may, I don't need anyone's opinion. 581 00:32:45,472 --> 00:32:47,471 I've got my own. 582 00:32:54,471 --> 00:32:57,212 I do hope that I have built the letter properly 583 00:32:57,237 --> 00:33:00,329 so you already know what I am going to say now. 584 00:33:00,354 --> 00:33:04,354 I want you to know that I am an extremely happy person 585 00:33:04,355 --> 00:33:09,322 and that the real me has not changed. 586 00:33:10,635 --> 00:33:14,354 But nature made a mistake, which I have corrected, 587 00:33:14,355 --> 00:33:17,931 and I am now your daughter. 588 00:33:19,017 --> 00:33:22,618 Christine Jorgensen faced unprecedented challenges 589 00:33:22,643 --> 00:33:25,643 and criticism as an openly trans woman, 590 00:33:25,644 --> 00:33:29,643 but weathered it all to become a major catalyst for change. 591 00:33:29,644 --> 00:33:33,643 Dear Christine, I've had your same problem, but in reverse. 592 00:33:33,644 --> 00:33:36,256 When things get low, I can say to myself that here 593 00:33:36,281 --> 00:33:39,595 is a human being who pioneered in what I am trying to do. 594 00:33:39,620 --> 00:33:41,314 Jorgensen became my idol. 595 00:33:41,339 --> 00:33:43,946 She always stayed with me, like a goal. 596 00:33:43,971 --> 00:33:45,971 When I got to where I wanted to give up, 597 00:33:45,972 --> 00:33:49,971 I would say to myself, "She did it. That's proof." 598 00:33:49,972 --> 00:33:52,971 Right up until she died in 1989, 599 00:33:52,972 --> 00:33:57,569 Christine used her celebrity status to establish nonprofits, 600 00:33:57,594 --> 00:34:00,594 activist groups, and publications. 601 00:34:00,595 --> 00:34:03,594 She continued to do interviews and college tours, 602 00:34:03,595 --> 00:34:06,594 answering the most ignorant of questions 603 00:34:06,595 --> 00:34:09,267 with her high spirit and wit. 604 00:34:09,292 --> 00:34:10,502 _ 605 00:34:10,527 --> 00:34:11,697 _ 606 00:34:11,817 --> 00:34:12,803 _ 607 00:34:12,828 --> 00:34:13,943 _ 608 00:34:14,945 --> 00:34:16,935 _ 609 00:34:33,946 --> 00:34:37,946 We arrested around 3,000 homosexuals. 610 00:34:37,947 --> 00:34:41,270 The police department knows they're sex deviants. 611 00:34:42,946 --> 00:34:46,539 They treat us as common criminals and sex deviants, 612 00:34:46,564 --> 00:34:48,564 - somebody to spit at. - Preverts. 613 00:34:48,565 --> 00:34:50,765 Preverts, something that should be locked up. 614 00:34:50,790 --> 00:34:52,187 Every time I was arrested, 615 00:34:52,212 --> 00:34:54,212 it would result in the loss of my job. 616 00:34:54,213 --> 00:34:57,212 This is not a crime. 617 00:35:00,212 --> 00:35:02,686 Now, I hope you didn't forget about my sister. 618 00:35:02,711 --> 00:35:05,313 Or forget about that riot we started on that August night 619 00:35:05,338 --> 00:35:08,283 in 1966 here at Compton's Cafeteria. 620 00:35:12,338 --> 00:35:14,896 As soon as a bunch of us started throwing cups and plates, 621 00:35:14,921 --> 00:35:16,200 forks and knives, 622 00:35:16,225 --> 00:35:19,200 the cops retreated outside until reinforcements arrived. 623 00:35:19,225 --> 00:35:22,025 And Compton management ordered the place closed. 624 00:35:22,050 --> 00:35:26,050 And with that, the gays began breaking out every window 625 00:35:26,051 --> 00:35:28,050 in the place. 626 00:35:28,051 --> 00:35:30,709 And as they ran outside to escape the breaking glass, 627 00:35:30,734 --> 00:35:32,734 the police tried to grab them 628 00:35:32,735 --> 00:35:34,734 and throw them into the paddy wagon. 629 00:35:34,735 --> 00:35:37,734 But they found this no easy task, 630 00:35:37,735 --> 00:35:40,734 for the gays began hitting them below the belt, 631 00:35:40,735 --> 00:35:43,734 and drag queens smashing them in the face 632 00:35:43,735 --> 00:35:46,734 with their extremely heavy purses. 633 00:35:46,735 --> 00:35:49,734 A police car had every window broken. 634 00:35:49,735 --> 00:35:52,734 A newspaper shack outside the cafeteria 635 00:35:52,735 --> 00:35:54,734 was burned to the ground. 636 00:35:54,735 --> 00:35:59,329 Later, drag queens, hair fairies, conservative gays, 637 00:35:59,354 --> 00:36:02,712 and hustlers joined in a picket of the cafeteria, 638 00:36:02,737 --> 00:36:05,737 which would not allow the drags back in again. 639 00:36:05,738 --> 00:36:09,299 It ended with the newly installed glass windows 640 00:36:09,324 --> 00:36:11,964 once more being smashed. 641 00:36:18,989 --> 00:36:21,989 After the Compton's Riot, the City of San Francisco 642 00:36:21,990 --> 00:36:25,311 and their police department finally started to support 643 00:36:25,336 --> 00:36:28,311 the trans community with social programs. 644 00:36:28,336 --> 00:36:32,336 I'd like to present Mr. Sandy Adkins, human being. 645 00:36:32,337 --> 00:36:35,813 I know there are more girls who would like to change over, 646 00:36:35,838 --> 00:36:39,521 but they are unsure of what would happen 647 00:36:39,546 --> 00:36:41,546 and how they would be accepted in this world. 648 00:36:42,241 --> 00:36:43,951 Each of us is a different person 649 00:36:43,976 --> 00:36:47,976 and requires somewhat different handling and counsel. 650 00:36:47,977 --> 00:36:49,275 We do want to work 651 00:36:49,300 --> 00:36:51,823 and be self-supporting members of society. 652 00:36:52,134 --> 00:36:53,454 As far as I can remember, 653 00:36:53,479 --> 00:36:56,806 I have always desired to be of the opposite sex. 654 00:36:56,831 --> 00:37:01,264 Finally, Christine came around, and I realized it was possible. 655 00:37:01,289 --> 00:37:03,289 I will attain it if I live. 656 00:37:03,290 --> 00:37:06,899 If we're allowed to be people and not things, 657 00:37:06,924 --> 00:37:08,924 we can accomplish our goals 658 00:37:08,925 --> 00:37:11,603 without infringing on anybody at all. 659 00:37:11,628 --> 00:37:14,628 It has taken Christine Jorgensen 15 years 660 00:37:14,629 --> 00:37:17,628 to feel that she is now accepted as a human being, 661 00:37:17,629 --> 00:37:19,656 rather than a freak of nature. 662 00:37:20,234 --> 00:37:22,628 No one is a freak. 663 00:37:22,629 --> 00:37:25,349 We are all human beings. 664 00:37:25,374 --> 00:37:27,374 Persons with a transsexual condition 665 00:37:27,375 --> 00:37:30,374 merely want to be themselves. 666 00:37:30,375 --> 00:37:32,374 Thank you. 667 00:37:32,729 --> 00:37:36,729 Though they didn't know each other, Christine, Jack, 668 00:37:36,730 --> 00:37:40,305 and Lucy stood on the shoulders of one another. 669 00:37:40,330 --> 00:37:42,803 Their individual courage lit fires 670 00:37:42,828 --> 00:37:45,219 that ignited the Compton's Riot 671 00:37:45,244 --> 00:37:49,828 and inspired future leaders and activists. 672 00:37:49,829 --> 00:37:53,828 Support for trans rights gained visibility and momentum, 673 00:37:53,829 --> 00:37:58,828 enabling social, legal, and medical advancements. 674 00:37:58,829 --> 00:38:02,828 But the movement is not yet fulfilled. 675 00:38:02,829 --> 00:38:06,828 Trans and gender-non-conforming folks have had some wins... 676 00:38:06,829 --> 00:38:10,244 Until today, you could be fired in half the states in the US 677 00:38:10,269 --> 00:38:12,971 just for being gay or transgender. 678 00:38:12,996 --> 00:38:14,307 But are still the victims 679 00:38:14,332 --> 00:38:18,332 of violence, discrimination, and criminalization, 680 00:38:18,333 --> 00:38:23,332 sometimes even within the queer movement itself. 681 00:38:23,333 --> 00:38:26,307 Transgender rights are human rights! 682 00:38:27,332 --> 00:38:31,332 But marginalized groups that stick together are strong. 683 00:38:31,333 --> 00:38:33,307 I believe in our power! 684 00:38:33,332 --> 00:38:36,332 I believe in our power! 685 00:38:36,333 --> 00:38:37,863 No matter the opposition, 686 00:38:37,888 --> 00:38:40,888 no matter how much they criminalize our lives, 687 00:38:40,889 --> 00:38:45,888 we will not back down until we are all equal. 688 00:38:49,228 --> 00:38:53,371 CREDITS