10 August, 2010, The Independent
- Public intolerance towards transsexualism continues to exist widely, but when a beautiful young transsexual such as Lea T – the world’s first transsexual supermodel – poses in Vanity Fair and French Vogue, it perhaps shows that progress is being made. Givenchy’s autumn/winter collection will feature Lea, once a personal assistant for the fashion brand.
- Lea, formerly Leandro, is the daughter of the former Brazilian footballer Toninho Cerezo. She has had a difficult journey from a Catholic childhood to going public and acknowledges that her problems are far from over, especially given intense media interest in her. She is currently undergoing hormone treatment to give her the body of a woman.
- The world’s first male-to-female sex operation was performed in Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld’s Institute for Sexual Research in Berlin in 1930, before the Nazis closed down the centre in 1933.
- In 1945, the London-based surgeon Sir Harold Gillies carried out the world’s first female-to-male sex change on Michael Dillon, formerly Laura, after the trial usage of testosterone gave Michael the appearance of a man.
- Gillies, known as “the father of plastic surgery”, monitored the effects of the hormone drug before opting to operate – an approach that is used today in the NHS Real Life Test. Transsexuals are expected to live as their preferred gender for at least a year and, while some cosmetic surgery is permitted, gender confirmation surgery is delayed during this period.
- A landmark 1999 Court of Appeal decision to uphold a High Court ruling that recognised Gender Dysphoria as a legitimate illness granted the right to sex change operations on the NHS. The Gender Recognition Act of 2004 then allowed transsexual people to obtain legal documentation stating their preferred gender, including a new birth certificate and passport, as well as the right to marry in their preferred sex.
Posted on August 11, 2010
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