Christine Jorgensen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The picture from the album cover for Christine Jorgensen Reveals (1958).

Christine Jorgensen (May 30, 1926 – May 3, 1989), a noted photographer, was born George William Jorgensen, Jr. in The Bronx, New York City, USA, and is famous for being one of the first persons to have sex reassignment surgery — in this case, male to female.

George Jorgensen had an unhappy childhood growing up in the Bronx, and later described himself as having been a "frail, tow-headed, introverted little boy who ran from fistfights and rough-and-tumble games."^[1] Jorgensen graduated from Christopher Columbus High School in 1945 and was drafted into the Army afterward. When he returned to New York after the Army, he heard about the possibility of sex reassignment surgery, and researched it thoroughly. He intended to go to Sweden, where he had found the only doctors in the world performing these type of surgeries at the time. At a stopover in Copenhagen to visit relatives, he by chance was pointed in the direction of Dr. Christian Hamburger. He ended up staying in Denmark, was allowed to begin hormone replacement therapy and eventually underwent a series of surgeries.

A media sensation was created on December 1, 1952 when the New York Daily News carried a front-page story (under the headline "Ex-GI Becomes Blonde Beauty") announcing that in Denmark Jorgensen had become the recipient of the first "sex change". This is not true, however. The type of surgery in question had actually been performed by pioneering German doctors in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Danish artist Lili Elbe and Dorchen, both patients of Dr Magnus Hirschfeld at the Institute of sexual science in Berlin, were known recipients of such operations in 1930-31. What was different this time, was the added prescription of artificial hormones. When Jorgensen returned to New York in February 1953, she became an instant celebrity.

Jorgensen chose the name Christine in honor of Dr. Hamburger, the Danish surgeon who performed her operations and who supervised her hormone therapy. Jorgensen became a willing spokesperson for transsexual and transgender people. It should be noted that Jorgensen in fact only had a castration and removal of the penis in Copenhagen. A Vaginoplasty followed several years later, when the procedure became available in the USA. There has been serious speculation that Jorgensen actually spilled her story to the press herself, thus claiming that she had "changed sex", but to her credit, she was able to hold on to her publicity and the advantages it brought her. It created a platform for Jorgensen, who used it well for a purpose beyond mere fame. New York radio host Barry Gray asked her if 1950s jokes such as "Christine Jorgensen went abroad, and came back a broad" bothered her, she laughed and said they did not at all. However, another notorious encounter demonstrated that Jorgensen could be offended by some queries: Jorgensen once appeared on The Dick Cavett Show. Cavett insulted her by asking about the status of her romantic life with her "wife", and she walked off the show; since she was the only guest scheduled, Cavett spent the rest of that show talking about how he had not meant to offend her.

Jorgensen is referred to in the 1994 movie Ed Wood as the original inspiration for the movie that became Glen or Glenda?. She is also the subject of a 1970s film The Christine Jorgensen Story. Jorgensen was also referred to on an episode of Quantum Leap when Sam has jumped into a female secretary in 1961 (all his prior "jumps" being into the bodies of men). When he reveals to a cocky boss that he is in fact Sam, the boss asks if he did something "like a Christine Jorgensen"?

During the 1970s and 1980s, Jorgensen toured university campuses and other venues to speak about her experiences. She was known for her directness and polished wit. In her later years, Jorgensen worked as an actress and nightclub entertainer. In summer stock, she played Madame Rosepettle in the play Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad. In her nightclub act, she sang several songs, including "I Enjoy Being a Girl" and at the end made a quick change into a Wonder Woman costume: as she later recalled in her act, Warner Communications demanded that she cease and desist from using the character, which she did, substituting a new character of her own invention, "Superwoman" which was marked by the inclusion of a large letter 'S' on her cape. Miss Jorgensen continued with her act until at least the Fall of 1982, when she performed twice in the Hollywood area, once at the now closed Backlot Theatre adjacent to the discotheque 'Studio One' and later at The Frog Pond restaurant, also now closed. This was recorded and has been made available as an album on iTunes. In 1984, Jorgensen returned to Copenhagen to perform her show, and also featured in Teit Ritzau's Danish transsexual documentary film "Paradiset ikke til salg" (Paradise not for sale).

Jorgensen's autobiography, U.S. paperback edition

Jorgensen said in 1989, the year of her death, that she'd given the sexual revolution "a good swift kick in the pants." She died of cancer at age 62.

In Christine Jorgensen Reveals, a stage performance at the 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Jorgensen is portrayed by Bradford Louryk. To great critical acclaim, Louryk dressed as Jorgensen and performed to a genuine recorded interview with her during the 1950s while video of Rob Grace as the comically inept interviewer, Mr. Russell, played on a nearby black and white television set. The show went on to win Best Aspect of Production at the 2006 Dublin Gay Theatre Festival. The LP was reissued on CD by Repeat The Beat Records in 2005