1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:06,920 Speaker 1: Hello, everybody, Welcome back to Ridiculous Romance. Hello, we're your hosts. 2 00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:09,840 Speaker 1: I'm Eli, I'm Diana, and we're very excited that you're 3 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:13,000 Speaker 1: here to hear part two of the Lily Elbe and 4 00:00:13,039 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 1: go to Regnar story. Yeah, um, I hope everybody listening. 5 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 1: How a chance to listen to part one? If you 6 00:00:19,079 --> 00:00:23,239 Speaker 1: didn't pause this right, go back into your app cycle 7 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:26,160 Speaker 1: one episode back and give that a listen first. Yeah, 8 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:29,560 Speaker 1: you may be a little lost. Yeah, it'd be like, 9 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:32,760 Speaker 1: I don't know, be like stepping into someone's life when 10 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:36,120 Speaker 1: they're you know, middle aged and uh and and just 11 00:00:36,159 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 1: taking the story from there and you have no idea 12 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:41,279 Speaker 1: who they are, what their whole thing is. You know, 13 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:43,519 Speaker 1: nobody wants that. That's why we stopped making friends in 14 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 1: our childhood friends only. Well, how's everybody doing. It's Friday. 15 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:54,240 Speaker 1: That's exciting for some I know right for this we 16 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:56,279 Speaker 1: we used to have brunch job, so Friday was just 17 00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:02,520 Speaker 1: like Friday. Yeah, the threat of coming work weekend, horrible 18 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:08,000 Speaker 1: horrible weekend. Those were there was a great job and 19 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:11,000 Speaker 1: a horrible job at the same time. Anybody who ever 20 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:13,760 Speaker 1: weighted tables knows what I'm talking about. I feel like 21 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:16,520 Speaker 1: a lot of jobs could fit into that category. However, Well, 22 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 1: the thing about serving is the flexibility and the freedom 23 00:01:20,319 --> 00:01:23,000 Speaker 1: and the early you know, if you're doing brunch, the 24 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:25,760 Speaker 1: early out time, so by you know, to three o'clock, 25 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:27,240 Speaker 1: I've got the whole rest of the day ahead of me. 26 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:30,600 Speaker 1: Except I'm I'm a zombie because I woke up at 27 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:36,319 Speaker 1: five am, right, and then ran around doing crazy tasks. 28 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:38,399 Speaker 1: All that was the best shape of my life was 29 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:40,399 Speaker 1: when I was so true I had to carry that 30 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:44,600 Speaker 1: those ice buckets was great. You had guns carrying those 31 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:47,680 Speaker 1: ice buckets, I know, right. Well, plus I had that 32 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:51,000 Speaker 1: thing where you know they'll be like, well, i'll get it. 33 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:52,760 Speaker 1: You know, it's too heavy for you, And I was like, 34 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:58,559 Speaker 1: watch this show you. I'll show you it's too heavy, 35 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 1: you know, And then I come up like, is kind 36 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:04,760 Speaker 1: of too heavy? Should My friend Mike used to be like, 37 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:09,200 Speaker 1: your veins in your neck they're so prominent. But I'd 38 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:12,320 Speaker 1: be like, move, I can do it. But of course 39 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:15,919 Speaker 1: we're not here today to talk about waiting tables. We're 40 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 1: here today talk about uh, We're here today to talk 41 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:23,440 Speaker 1: about waiting for a better world. Yeah, waiting for society 42 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 1: to catch the funk up. So if you caught part one, 43 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:31,880 Speaker 1: and I hope you did, you know we're talking about 44 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:34,799 Speaker 1: Lily Elbe and Gerda Beginer and I say that we 45 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:36,480 Speaker 1: just go ahead and jump right into the second part 46 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 1: of our lives here and not waste any more time. 47 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:42,520 Speaker 1: You're ready, Yeah, let's do it. Hey, their friends come listen. Well, 48 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:46,559 Speaker 1: Elia and Diana got some stories to tell. There's no matchmaking, 49 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:51,119 Speaker 1: no romantic tips. It's just about ridiculous relationships. I love. 50 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:53,520 Speaker 1: It might be any type of person at all, and 51 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:57,120 Speaker 1: abstract cons and a concrete wall. But if there's a story, 52 00:02:57,120 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 1: we went the second plans we show its Agilus well 53 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:05,400 Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. And just to reiterate, 54 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:08,919 Speaker 1: as we're telling this story again, normally, you know, we 55 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:11,240 Speaker 1: don't want to dead name people or talk about their 56 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 1: old pronouns. But in this particular version of the story, 57 00:03:14,639 --> 00:03:19,919 Speaker 1: which we did Paul from Lily's own memoirs, she distinctly 58 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:25,040 Speaker 1: talks about in are and Lily as two very separate people. Um, 59 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 1: this is a very different time. Uh. You know, we've 60 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:32,239 Speaker 1: we talked a lot about how the language has evolved. Um, 61 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:35,600 Speaker 1: the science has evolved, the understanding of the situations evolved. Um. 62 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:37,720 Speaker 1: But we're going to tell the story like she did, 63 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:40,720 Speaker 1: um and sort of refer to both of them individually 64 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:44,200 Speaker 1: at different times. Yeah. When we left off last time 65 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 1: Ininar was heading to the Magnus Hirschfield Institute for Sexual 66 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:52,280 Speaker 1: Research for his very first operation. This place, this, remember 67 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:55,200 Speaker 1: this incredible place that existed in the late twenties early 68 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:59,320 Speaker 1: thirties in Germany that was immagical in terms of how 69 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:04,080 Speaker 1: they were researching and appreciating and progressing the idea of 70 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 1: what it meant to be gay or transgender. Yeah, amazing place. 71 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:10,440 Speaker 1: Just blew my mind to this place existed, and it 72 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:13,480 Speaker 1: made me very angry that it was then destroyed by 73 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:17,280 Speaker 1: the Nazis and and reset the whole damn conversation they 74 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:20,880 Speaker 1: were having back then, it did and throwing this additional 75 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:24,440 Speaker 1: quick fling, I guess, but discovered too that the Nazis 76 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:29,040 Speaker 1: not only completely destroyed this hospital all its records, its library, 77 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:31,960 Speaker 1: everything that it had built, but it also of course 78 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:34,520 Speaker 1: had a list of patients, and sadly, the Nazis did 79 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:37,680 Speaker 1: sees that list and used it to round up a 80 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:41,520 Speaker 1: bunch of people and kill them and exterminate them for 81 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:45,080 Speaker 1: being different and so but at this point in our story, 82 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:49,360 Speaker 1: the Magnus Hirshfield Institute is still awesome, going strong and 83 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 1: is kind of providing like the one ray of hope 84 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:56,520 Speaker 1: in inners life at this point. UM. So he's heading 85 00:04:56,560 --> 00:05:00,800 Speaker 1: off for his first operation, and you know, he knew 86 00:05:00,839 --> 00:05:03,960 Speaker 1: that he had decided to end his life on May one, 87 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:07,520 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty because of all this torment that he was 88 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:12,320 Speaker 1: going through. UM, and he was kind of in this 89 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:15,919 Speaker 1: mind space that like, you know, if this operation is successful, 90 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:18,599 Speaker 1: Lily gets to live. And that was kind of the 91 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:21,680 Speaker 1: best case scenario because because no matter what happened in 92 00:05:21,839 --> 00:05:25,040 Speaker 1: Are was was done. You know, we're done with in Are. 93 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:28,640 Speaker 1: So full of hope and also a lot of fear. 94 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:32,760 Speaker 1: Inar traveled to the institute alone to undertake this this 95 00:05:32,839 --> 00:05:37,080 Speaker 1: first operation. The doctor at the institute told him that 96 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:43,040 Speaker 1: during the operation, which was to remove inars testicles um, 97 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:46,720 Speaker 1: the doctor had indeed discovered a shriveled pair of ovaries 98 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:49,440 Speaker 1: that had not been able to fully develop. So it's 99 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:53,760 Speaker 1: possible that Inar was intersex, although that is disputed by 100 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:56,839 Speaker 1: several of the sources. I'm not sure exactly why. If 101 00:05:56,880 --> 00:05:58,760 Speaker 1: it's just that, you know, maybe they didn't have a 102 00:05:58,839 --> 00:06:02,160 Speaker 1: very good understanding of being intersexed at that point, and 103 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:05,320 Speaker 1: so now we wouldn't necessarily call it that or you 104 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:09,040 Speaker 1: know whatever, but Iinar definitely wrote, you know, they found ovaries. 105 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:11,240 Speaker 1: They're pretty sure that I was meant to develop as 106 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:15,680 Speaker 1: a woman and just didn't because I had both sexual organs. 107 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:18,880 Speaker 1: And after the operation, they had told Iar that this 108 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:22,240 Speaker 1: was a very minor operation that he was going to undergo. 109 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:24,840 Speaker 1: But of course it took nearly two hours and for 110 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:29,680 Speaker 1: days afterward, she was in terrible, terrible pain. Um, but 111 00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:33,360 Speaker 1: nurses and doctors were congratulating her on her fine soprano 112 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:36,479 Speaker 1: voice that she had. Now Um, she wrote like a 113 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:39,000 Speaker 1: scribbled a note to a nurse and they were like, 114 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:41,279 Speaker 1: no man could have written this. It's a woman's script, 115 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:44,279 Speaker 1: you know, which I thought was kind of funny. Sim 116 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:46,920 Speaker 1: In's handwriting and men's handwriting being so different. Well, they've 117 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:51,360 Speaker 1: got to they have this uh practice of affirmation. I 118 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 1: think this hospital sounds like let's just things that make 119 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:59,039 Speaker 1: her feel good, that which is true and and and uh. 120 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:01,120 Speaker 1: She even said that doctor came in and kissed her 121 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:04,400 Speaker 1: hand and called her madam, and it the title rang 122 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:07,599 Speaker 1: in her ears, like this beautiful you know, so that 123 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:10,040 Speaker 1: that really said a lot to me that the title madam, 124 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:13,040 Speaker 1: being called ma'am for the first time was just so 125 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:17,640 Speaker 1: like powerful of such a big moment for her. Um. 126 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:22,560 Speaker 1: And of course Claude Provost uh Lily's bo I guess 127 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:26,320 Speaker 1: you could call um. He sent a bouquet of flowers 128 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:28,960 Speaker 1: and said each bloom was a greeting from him to Lily. 129 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:33,120 Speaker 1: And then Gerda came to join Lily and they had 130 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 1: some kind of comical awkward times trying to explain about 131 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:40,240 Speaker 1: her wife. I think because maybe in this hospital it 132 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:43,560 Speaker 1: was pretty unusual for their patients to either be married 133 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:46,840 Speaker 1: already or for their spouse to be like still with 134 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:50,640 Speaker 1: them at this point. Um. But it was pretty it 135 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:54,000 Speaker 1: was a pretty funny story where Lily's like feels so 136 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:56,800 Speaker 1: weird being like, this is my wife. I guess is 137 00:07:56,840 --> 00:07:59,000 Speaker 1: that the best way because I'm a woman now women 138 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:01,960 Speaker 1: don't have wives, you know, And so she's like, this 139 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:06,080 Speaker 1: is my wife, and the doctors like, oh, yes, I know, 140 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:09,920 Speaker 1: and kisses Gerda's hand and it's like men are such deceivers, 141 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:14,120 Speaker 1: which is amazing. So I think you're right. It was 142 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:16,840 Speaker 1: probably a practice of like, hey, you're you know, we're 143 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:21,240 Speaker 1: we're helping you transition also in your mind right, right, 144 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:24,720 Speaker 1: well as in your body right. Lily was recovering from 145 00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:27,360 Speaker 1: her operation and now she was trying to go out more, 146 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:30,280 Speaker 1: but she was pretty nervous that people were going to 147 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:32,760 Speaker 1: laugh at her or you know, call her a man 148 00:08:32,920 --> 00:08:36,240 Speaker 1: when she was out. So Gerda and some other friends 149 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:39,040 Speaker 1: their's took Lily out to meet a Danish friend of theirs. 150 00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:43,160 Speaker 1: And this Danish friend didn't recognize Lily as Einar, and 151 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:46,599 Speaker 1: Gerda thought that would make Lily happy because, as we 152 00:08:46,679 --> 00:08:49,480 Speaker 1: sort of said in part one, this idea of passing 153 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:52,840 Speaker 1: quotes as a woman, as we've seen, was like very 154 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 1: important to Lily. It clearly made her feel more valid, 155 00:08:56,960 --> 00:08:59,520 Speaker 1: and she was really terrified that people would say she 156 00:08:59,559 --> 00:09:01,520 Speaker 1: was a man and when she was out in the world. 157 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:04,040 Speaker 1: So you know, Gerta's thinking, well, this will make her 158 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:07,480 Speaker 1: feel better. This girl didn't even recognize her, but it 159 00:09:07,559 --> 00:09:10,920 Speaker 1: actually made Lily sad because she was starting to worry 160 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:13,960 Speaker 1: that Lily didn't have any friends out there in the world. 161 00:09:14,400 --> 00:09:16,520 Speaker 1: You know, if people didn't recognize that she was in 162 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:20,240 Speaker 1: are she kind of had to start over socially, Yeah, 163 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:23,920 Speaker 1: which I think is so interesting because it's like, you know, 164 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:27,160 Speaker 1: in the hospital, the worst fear is that anyone would go, hey, 165 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:30,439 Speaker 1: aren't you in are you know? But then once she's 166 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:33,520 Speaker 1: out and she's feeling really lonely, like she's you know, 167 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:36,079 Speaker 1: she does recognize her Danish friends, and she wants to 168 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:38,600 Speaker 1: talk to her Danish friend and she's like, but she 169 00:09:38,679 --> 00:09:43,000 Speaker 1: doesn't know me, So now I'm like a baby. So 170 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:47,680 Speaker 1: now it's time for the big operation with her doctor 171 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:51,360 Speaker 1: Kurt Varna Cross, and so she went on to his hospital, 172 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:54,520 Speaker 1: which was the Women's hospital in Berlin, and on the 173 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:57,640 Speaker 1: journey in the train, she realized that she's kind of 174 00:09:57,720 --> 00:10:00,360 Speaker 1: noticing the landscape with a painter's eye, is she was 175 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:03,640 Speaker 1: picking up color and detail and stuff like that, and 176 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:06,440 Speaker 1: it really upset her because she started to feel like 177 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:08,720 Speaker 1: I Are was kind of still within her. She's like, 178 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:10,040 Speaker 1: when am I going to be free of in are 179 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:13,520 Speaker 1: Innars the painter, you know what I mean. And before 180 00:10:13,559 --> 00:10:17,199 Speaker 1: her operation, Ininar and Gerda had both talked about in 181 00:10:17,440 --> 00:10:22,959 Speaker 1: Are stealing Lily's youth by practicing this deception upon her, 182 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:27,160 Speaker 1: as you know, of being a man for about thirty years. 183 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:31,480 Speaker 1: So now Lily is like rejecting everything to do with Einar. 184 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:33,920 Speaker 1: She's like in Aar is a different is a man 185 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:36,400 Speaker 1: and a different person. I'm a woman, and that means 186 00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:40,080 Speaker 1: nothing to do with in R can can be part 187 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:43,839 Speaker 1: of my personality anymore. Um. For example, she had an 188 00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:46,800 Speaker 1: immediate distaste for smoking, Like as soon as she woke 189 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:50,840 Speaker 1: up from her operation, she was like, smoking grows, Throw 190 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:54,600 Speaker 1: all that away, even though I had smoked for years, Like, 191 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:58,160 Speaker 1: throw that ship out. And she stopped painting because she 192 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:02,719 Speaker 1: thought in Ours masculinity came out when he painted. He 193 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:06,000 Speaker 1: was entirely a man when he painted, and so she 194 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:09,199 Speaker 1: thought she wouldn't be any good at it because she 195 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:12,559 Speaker 1: didn't have any of that masculine energy I guess left 196 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:16,200 Speaker 1: in her perhaps or she also talked a lot about 197 00:11:16,480 --> 00:11:19,040 Speaker 1: being really scared that she would paint something as lily 198 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:21,320 Speaker 1: and then people would compare it to a painting of 199 00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:24,480 Speaker 1: inn Ours and say she wasn't as talented as I. 200 00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:28,480 Speaker 1: In R was fascinating. It's it's very yeah again, just 201 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:30,880 Speaker 1: just you've got to keep this in mind that it's 202 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:34,440 Speaker 1: not just changing your appearance and your name. There's so 203 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:36,480 Speaker 1: much more to it. And this is someone who's very 204 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:41,160 Speaker 1: clearly having a real crisis. Of identity, who is so 205 00:11:42,559 --> 00:11:45,360 Speaker 1: having such a difficult time dealing with it that she 206 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:48,760 Speaker 1: wants to, you know, erase whole parts of herself just 207 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:53,800 Speaker 1: for being associated with her past life. That's I mean, man, 208 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:55,600 Speaker 1: if you don't have empathy for that, I just I 209 00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:59,640 Speaker 1: just don't understand. Really, what a what a challenge? Yeah, 210 00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:03,440 Speaker 1: and how much even more lonely would you be? You 211 00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:06,920 Speaker 1: don't even get your past to comfort you. Right, you're 212 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:10,240 Speaker 1: just literally like a newborn right in the world, but 213 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:13,960 Speaker 1: you're in a grown body walking around being like, I 214 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:17,199 Speaker 1: should know people, I should have a career, I should 215 00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:19,880 Speaker 1: have things already that I don't. I feel I don't 216 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:23,439 Speaker 1: have anymore because there's no conversation around it. There's no 217 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:28,480 Speaker 1: you know, mental health care equivalent. There's there's no process 218 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:32,440 Speaker 1: for helping someone through this. And that's clearly so necessary 219 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:36,280 Speaker 1: because it's it sucks that she felt like she needed 220 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:40,920 Speaker 1: to disconnect from this entire past when that was that 221 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:44,320 Speaker 1: was still a really cool skill that she had. You know, yeah, 222 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:47,200 Speaker 1: I would. I wouldn't say. You know, she's worried about 223 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:51,000 Speaker 1: being less talented than I are. It's like, well, maybe 224 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:54,559 Speaker 1: you're more talented, right, Maybe maybe it's the same. It 225 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:56,520 Speaker 1: doesn't really matter. It's just like this is this is 226 00:12:56,520 --> 00:12:58,960 Speaker 1: still part of You can change your identity and still 227 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:01,760 Speaker 1: retain your skills and these sort of little things that 228 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:04,280 Speaker 1: sort of make you who you are underneath all that. 229 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:08,880 Speaker 1: But she felt like doing anything that Einar did just 230 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:12,000 Speaker 1: made her in Are instead of Lily, So she was 231 00:13:12,040 --> 00:13:15,760 Speaker 1: just like, forget that. At the women's hospital, Lily realized 232 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:18,840 Speaker 1: that her personality had undergone another shift when she saw 233 00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:22,480 Speaker 1: Kurt Verner Cross again. As i Are, she'd had no 234 00:13:22,559 --> 00:13:26,480 Speaker 1: problem talking to the doctor, but as Lily, she suddenly 235 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:30,600 Speaker 1: felt breathless and fluttery and nervous and like submissive and 236 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:33,800 Speaker 1: afraid to ask questions. It's kind of like that time 237 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:36,839 Speaker 1: when Ininar was doing the ballet. We sort of run 238 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:39,800 Speaker 1: against some of the gender stuff here again, Like she 239 00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:42,600 Speaker 1: wonders if the doctor is treating her differently than he 240 00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:45,120 Speaker 1: had treated in Are, so that she would get accustomed 241 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:48,520 Speaker 1: to living as a woman. So is this another situation 242 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:51,240 Speaker 1: where it's like, well, men are supposed to be this 243 00:13:51,559 --> 00:13:53,760 Speaker 1: and women are supposed to be this. So now that 244 00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:57,800 Speaker 1: I'm Lily, I I should be fluttery and submissive and 245 00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:00,800 Speaker 1: not know what questions to ask and and it kind 246 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:04,120 Speaker 1: of just adds in. Now there's a layer of sexism. 247 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:07,160 Speaker 1: Women are supposed to be this thing, and now I 248 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:09,000 Speaker 1: have to be that thing too, now that you know, 249 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:13,680 Speaker 1: I've realized that I'm a woman. Yeah, it's it was 250 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:17,240 Speaker 1: you know, you know me, I'm not very submissive. So 251 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:20,920 Speaker 1: certainly reading some of that, I was like, come on, now, Lily, 252 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:24,000 Speaker 1: you don't have to be like that or whatever, but 253 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:26,640 Speaker 1: you can you can read it, you know, as you 254 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:32,200 Speaker 1: can see how desperate she was to disconnect from inn are. 255 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:35,320 Speaker 1: I mean, she was willing to give up entire talents 256 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:41,000 Speaker 1: that she had, so she so anything even if she knew, well, 257 00:14:41,080 --> 00:14:43,760 Speaker 1: you know not not all women are like that or whatever. 258 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:46,400 Speaker 1: She just needed to get us far away from the 259 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:50,240 Speaker 1: idea of being you know, anything like inn or anything 260 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:54,080 Speaker 1: like masculine. That she wanted to be the complete stereotype 261 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:57,320 Speaker 1: of of a woman, right because it was like almost 262 00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:04,920 Speaker 1: like more uh not validating, but like real, Like it 263 00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:07,920 Speaker 1: made it more real for you the observer than he 264 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:09,880 Speaker 1: even did for her, even though I think it did 265 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:12,960 Speaker 1: help her validate to herself, you know what I mean, 266 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:15,400 Speaker 1: Because she had this idea of what a woman was, 267 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:18,240 Speaker 1: and the idea was what she grew up learning in 268 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:20,920 Speaker 1: this time period. I wonder if the doctor really was 269 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:23,200 Speaker 1: talking to her differently, or if the doctor was like 270 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:25,240 Speaker 1: I was legit talking to all the same way, but 271 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:28,720 Speaker 1: you you just took it differently because you feel different. 272 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:32,080 Speaker 1: It's hard to say, I mean speculation station, I would 273 00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:34,800 Speaker 1: say he might have done that because he might have 274 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:38,840 Speaker 1: had the same binary idea of well, you're a woman now, 275 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:41,480 Speaker 1: so I better treat you like I would treat a woman, 276 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:46,320 Speaker 1: which is asking questions, you know what to talk about. 277 00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:50,040 Speaker 1: Think your head is full of nonsense. Isn't that validating 278 00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:52,680 Speaker 1: for you? You know? Or he just does it intrinsically 279 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:56,480 Speaker 1: because that's again just his nature. And I wonder that too, 280 00:15:56,640 --> 00:15:59,080 Speaker 1: Like one, if you transition from male to female, do 281 00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:02,560 Speaker 1: you start to see people and I'm sure you do 282 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:07,080 Speaker 1: unconsciously talk to you differently or treat you differently, you 283 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:08,960 Speaker 1: know what I mean? Not like a conscious thing from 284 00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:11,480 Speaker 1: this doctor, like I'm going to treat you differently so 285 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:15,880 Speaker 1: you'll feel more affirmed, but rather like when I saw you, 286 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:18,600 Speaker 1: as I know, I saw a man, and I unconsciously 287 00:16:18,680 --> 00:16:21,120 Speaker 1: spoke to that BASI in differently than I speak to 288 00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:24,520 Speaker 1: this woman. Now that I'm seeing right, and you gotta wonder, 289 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:26,960 Speaker 1: you know, if there's if there is a validation there. 290 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:31,840 Speaker 1: You're like, ah, right, I'm experiencing sexism. This this person 291 00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:39,880 Speaker 1: you know, recognizes my my gender. Now, wow, weird world. 292 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:41,840 Speaker 1: So part of the surgery that she was going to 293 00:16:41,920 --> 00:16:46,400 Speaker 1: be getting with Dr Kurt Warner Cross was an implant 294 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:49,880 Speaker 1: of ovaries from a donor, and she was told that 295 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:52,320 Speaker 1: because these ovaries were coming from a twenty seven year 296 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:55,320 Speaker 1: old woman, that they would give her new youth and vitality. 297 00:16:56,360 --> 00:16:59,200 Speaker 1: And Lily would actually go on to protest that she 298 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:02,040 Speaker 1: should have a differ birthday from ein Art because she 299 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:07,000 Speaker 1: was younger biologically, and weirdly, the science here actually kind 300 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 1: of checks out. In Japan, scientists successfully transplanted ovaries from 301 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:15,880 Speaker 1: young mice into old mice, and the old mice started 302 00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:19,960 Speaker 1: behaving more like younger mice and even living longer because 303 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:23,919 Speaker 1: of the hormone functions from their new ovaries. That is 304 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:27,160 Speaker 1: so strange to me. So ovaries could be the fountain 305 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:30,040 Speaker 1: of youth. I mean, I'll get some put in if 306 00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:35,760 Speaker 1: it's gonna make me younger, So sounds great. So yeah. 307 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:38,359 Speaker 1: At the hospital in Berlin, she underwent the surgery to 308 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:42,719 Speaker 1: have these ovaries implanted, and Gerda obviously had to keep 309 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:45,800 Speaker 1: the record of this period because Lily is sedated and 310 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:48,480 Speaker 1: out of it and stuff. Right, we didn't get any 311 00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:52,040 Speaker 1: Lily under you know, sedation journal entries or she's like, 312 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:55,280 Speaker 1: I'm in the bubble gum factories today and the pepper 313 00:17:55,480 --> 00:17:59,680 Speaker 1: trees told me I wish, Yeah, where's Lily's morphine diary? 314 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:06,080 Speaker 1: That's the movie I'd like to see um. But yeah, 315 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:09,840 Speaker 1: but Gerda's feelings about Lily's transformation, I think our best 316 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:13,399 Speaker 1: left to her own words. She wrote in a letter, quote, 317 00:18:14,359 --> 00:18:17,280 Speaker 1: a human being who was born a man, who was 318 00:18:17,359 --> 00:18:21,840 Speaker 1: my husband, my friend, my comrade, has now become a woman, 319 00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:26,120 Speaker 1: a complete woman, and this human being was never intended 320 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:29,560 Speaker 1: to be anything but a woman. Nothing more is left, 321 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:32,760 Speaker 1: not a particle is left of my life's comrade and 322 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:36,480 Speaker 1: fellow wayfarer inn Are. He is the dead brother of 323 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:42,800 Speaker 1: Lily who now lives interesting. I mean, I think it's 324 00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:46,920 Speaker 1: cool that she's so clearly like this was always how 325 00:18:46,960 --> 00:18:50,280 Speaker 1: it was meant to be. But she's still really sad 326 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:53,160 Speaker 1: that she lost someone she really cared about. Sure, sure, 327 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:56,640 Speaker 1: that's understandable. It's a it's a little archaic. I mean 328 00:18:56,720 --> 00:18:59,399 Speaker 1: some of it in terms of, well, now she's a 329 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:03,720 Speaker 1: complete you know, it's like, well that's not you know, 330 00:19:03,800 --> 00:19:07,640 Speaker 1: we know now that's not what difference between a woman. 331 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:11,679 Speaker 1: But but it definitely you can you can kind of 332 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:15,720 Speaker 1: see her working through it here in her own kind 333 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:20,000 Speaker 1: of way. Yeah, and yeah, she was definitely having a 334 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:22,239 Speaker 1: lot of questions were coming up for Gerda, you know, 335 00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:25,680 Speaker 1: much like Lily, wondering kind of how the outside world 336 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:29,800 Speaker 1: would react, how they're old friends and family would react, um, 337 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:32,840 Speaker 1: if they would accept Lily, if they you know all that. 338 00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:35,360 Speaker 1: She also kind of wondered like, well, now my husband 339 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:39,320 Speaker 1: doesn't exist. There's a woman here. Now, how am I married? 340 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:43,399 Speaker 1: How do we get divorced? You know, like, what's what's 341 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:47,639 Speaker 1: going on? How does this work? And she also wrote 342 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:51,000 Speaker 1: quote I cannot help thinking of the one person who 343 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:53,600 Speaker 1: never really believed in ein are but only in Lily. 344 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:57,880 Speaker 1: Lily's most intimate friend, Claude Provost. What will he think 345 00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:01,760 Speaker 1: when he sees her again? Interest So, like we all 346 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:04,679 Speaker 1: know Claude is coming brought back for Lily. He's like, 347 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:08,800 Speaker 1: I've been waiting for this. It's kind of easy to 348 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:11,760 Speaker 1: lose Gerda in this story a little bit because Lily's 349 00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:14,679 Speaker 1: transformation obviously is so huge and and the you know, 350 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:17,720 Speaker 1: really the anchor point of the reason we're telling this story. 351 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:22,040 Speaker 1: But Gerda was super fascinating in her own right. Some 352 00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:25,800 Speaker 1: people speculated that Gerda was maybe possibly a lesbian or 353 00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:29,560 Speaker 1: at least bisexual, because her artwork often showed scenes of 354 00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:33,800 Speaker 1: lesbian erotica, but others think that maybe that's just how 355 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:37,320 Speaker 1: she herself was seeing their sex life after Einar started 356 00:20:37,359 --> 00:20:41,879 Speaker 1: living as Lily. But one art historian, Andrea rig Carberg 357 00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:45,040 Speaker 1: in Copenhagen, thinks that Gerda was just as much of 358 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:49,200 Speaker 1: a pioneer as Lily. Andrea says that Gerda basically revolutionized 359 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:52,440 Speaker 1: the way women are being portrayed in art, because typically 360 00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:55,720 Speaker 1: women were painted by men, and therefore, you know, seen 361 00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:59,080 Speaker 1: through the male gaze, being presented as men see women 362 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:03,119 Speaker 1: instead of as how women see themselves. So Andrea says, 363 00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:08,040 Speaker 1: quote she painted strong, beautiful women with admiration and identification 364 00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:13,919 Speaker 1: as conscious subjects rather than objects. Gerda's women were rarely 365 00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:17,600 Speaker 1: passively laying around in these paintings, but usually engaged in 366 00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:22,080 Speaker 1: performance or in play, or in seduction or sex. Even 367 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:26,240 Speaker 1: more impressive about Gerda, Andrea says, quote, she got ahead 368 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:28,880 Speaker 1: without trying to be more like the men to do it. 369 00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:32,600 Speaker 1: She loved makeup and fashion and didn't see why embracing 370 00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:36,199 Speaker 1: these traditionally feminine things should make her any less strong. 371 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:41,720 Speaker 1: She wanted it all, So Gerda's pretty awesome. Yeah and yeah, 372 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:44,400 Speaker 1: and Andrea was kind of like she was really interested 373 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:48,320 Speaker 1: in the performance of gender even before inn Are was 374 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:52,960 Speaker 1: starting to struggle with with her identity, because she, I mean, 375 00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:55,640 Speaker 1: right here she's saying it, she loved makeup and fashion, 376 00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:58,160 Speaker 1: and she was like, why should I perform more male 377 00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:01,520 Speaker 1: to be successful in a man's world. I should be 378 00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:04,760 Speaker 1: able to be a woman and do whatever the funk 379 00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:08,520 Speaker 1: I want. And I really think that's so interesting that 380 00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:10,879 Speaker 1: she was already thinking a lot about like, oh, we 381 00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:13,119 Speaker 1: put on these clothes, and we put on this makeup, 382 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:17,159 Speaker 1: and it's this one thing, but there's this whole world inside, 383 00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:20,800 Speaker 1: you know what I mean that doesn't adhere to any 384 00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:24,960 Speaker 1: kind of binary and yeah, and the astonishment from Lily's 385 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:27,840 Speaker 1: doctors when Gerda comes to see her, I think speaks 386 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:33,199 Speaker 1: volumes of her character as well, because you know, speculation station, 387 00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:35,879 Speaker 1: we already kind of pulled into this. But we wondered 388 00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:39,119 Speaker 1: if the patients were had never married, or if usually 389 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:41,760 Speaker 1: their spouses had left them or you know, it's like 390 00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:45,159 Speaker 1: you're freak, I'm leaving you kind of thing. Um. And 391 00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:48,320 Speaker 1: so that's why they were so like, oh, your wife's here, Okay, 392 00:22:48,359 --> 00:22:52,040 Speaker 1: well let's goal like extend her on up or whatever. Um. 393 00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:55,000 Speaker 1: But yeah, Gerda was cool. I mean she could tell 394 00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:58,080 Speaker 1: that this was not some delusion or like mental health 395 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:01,200 Speaker 1: break or something like that. She's like, what I see 396 00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:03,440 Speaker 1: is someone I love in pain, and I don't want 397 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:06,040 Speaker 1: them to be in pain anymore. And that's it. That's 398 00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:10,760 Speaker 1: kind of the thing that mattered to her. But yeah, 399 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:13,960 Speaker 1: their relationship did change. You know, they had a very 400 00:23:14,119 --> 00:23:17,440 Speaker 1: We spoke a lot in Part one about their very 401 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:20,600 Speaker 1: deep connection that they had when they got married and 402 00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:23,280 Speaker 1: for the many years that they were together. Um. But 403 00:23:23,359 --> 00:23:28,560 Speaker 1: after this operation, their relationship did change form somewhat. Um. 404 00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:32,120 Speaker 1: When Lily woke up from her surgery, you know, she's 405 00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:34,200 Speaker 1: out of it. She's in pain, like we are when 406 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:38,480 Speaker 1: we're undergo some big medical operation. And Gerda wrote in 407 00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:40,919 Speaker 1: her letter that she held her quote like a little 408 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:44,639 Speaker 1: sister in my arms. And later Lily also described the 409 00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:47,479 Speaker 1: two of them walking through town quote arm in arm 410 00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:51,640 Speaker 1: like affectionate sisters. So they're still really devoted to each other, 411 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:56,320 Speaker 1: but clearly there's no there's no romance there anymore. It's 412 00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:59,480 Speaker 1: not the same kind of connection or not in love. 413 00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:02,880 Speaker 1: I mean, I I wonder, I'll pall into speculation station 414 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:05,760 Speaker 1: here real quick. I wonder how much of that is 415 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:10,520 Speaker 1: involved from Lily's perspective of I'm trying to leave everything 416 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:13,640 Speaker 1: about in Are behind and one of those things. I mean, 417 00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:17,800 Speaker 1: if she's ditching the whole career, why not you know, 418 00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:21,240 Speaker 1: his marriage makes sense to me too. I mean, this 419 00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:23,800 Speaker 1: is someone I care about, but I aer was married 420 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:27,200 Speaker 1: to Gerda. Lily is best friends with Gerda, and that's 421 00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:31,480 Speaker 1: kind of how it always was in their earlier years. Yeah, 422 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:34,320 Speaker 1: Lily came out to hang and Gerda was like, oh man, 423 00:24:34,359 --> 00:24:38,440 Speaker 1: I feel so good when you're around another maybe because 424 00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:44,040 Speaker 1: also in Are uh described himself as kind of condescending 425 00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:48,160 Speaker 1: and like overly like masculine. Like I wonder if Gerda 426 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:51,280 Speaker 1: wasn't just like, boy, I'm so glad that asshole like 427 00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:53,560 Speaker 1: a break for a while, and let's let me hang 428 00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:56,720 Speaker 1: out with Lily. It's like you know, the the same person, 429 00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:00,359 Speaker 1: but this one's nice right. Well, and I think too 430 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:03,280 Speaker 1: that there's the kind of the homophobia we talked about 431 00:25:03,280 --> 00:25:05,160 Speaker 1: a little bit. Part one is that it's like, well, 432 00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:08,760 Speaker 1: women don't they don't sleep with women, they don't marry women, 433 00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:11,080 Speaker 1: they're not in love with women. I'm a woman, so 434 00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:14,359 Speaker 1: therefore there's nothing there. And maybe Gerda had some of 435 00:25:14,359 --> 00:25:16,560 Speaker 1: that too, was she's sort of like, well, you're a 436 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:19,960 Speaker 1: woman now, so this doesn't work the same way. Yeah, 437 00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:22,800 Speaker 1: I don't know. That's why it's interesting that she did 438 00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:25,560 Speaker 1: paint lesbian erotica. I think a lot of her more 439 00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:31,640 Speaker 1: graphics scenes she painted for a memoir of Casanova's memoirs, 440 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:37,199 Speaker 1: So we need to get to Cassanova. Um. So you know, Uh, 441 00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:39,880 Speaker 1: Sometimes I'm like, maybe the subject matter was just there 442 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:43,160 Speaker 1: and she's just painting what was written, which was two 443 00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:47,119 Speaker 1: ladies doing it. Um. Or if yeah, again, if she 444 00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:50,880 Speaker 1: was sort of like, oh, now that Willy's here, when 445 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:53,160 Speaker 1: when I and Aar and I are doing it, it's 446 00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:56,280 Speaker 1: almost as if, you know what I mean, there's some 447 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,720 Speaker 1: kind of connection there. She just wanted to explore that 448 00:25:59,880 --> 00:26:02,159 Speaker 1: or something like that. But I don't know that she 449 00:26:02,359 --> 00:26:06,359 Speaker 1: herself had any same sex tendencies. Well, she was definitely 450 00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:11,640 Speaker 1: someone who was at the very least mentally exploring this 451 00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:15,160 Speaker 1: whole idea of gender, you know, in a very interesting way. 452 00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:17,800 Speaker 1: That seems again it's hard to say, I want, I 453 00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:19,440 Speaker 1: want to say it seems ahead of its time, but 454 00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:22,159 Speaker 1: then you learn things about like this institute, and you're like, 455 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:27,000 Speaker 1: maybe maybe back then it was not quite as ahead 456 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:29,560 Speaker 1: of its time as we thought it was, and all 457 00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:34,119 Speaker 1: that ship just got reset so that we're we're, you know, 458 00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:38,640 Speaker 1: we've been more catching up to that time at any rate. 459 00:26:39,520 --> 00:26:44,240 Speaker 1: So one day Lily received some mail and inside was 460 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:48,800 Speaker 1: her new Danish passport with her new legal name, Lily 461 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:53,320 Speaker 1: ils Elvinez. Elbe was her pseudonym, which she chose because 462 00:26:53,359 --> 00:26:57,000 Speaker 1: the hospital was situated near the river Elbe. Now this 463 00:26:57,080 --> 00:27:01,680 Speaker 1: was only two days before May one of nineteen, which 464 00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:05,359 Speaker 1: remember is when Lily had said, you know, if I 465 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:07,639 Speaker 1: don't figure this out, I'm going to kill myself because 466 00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:11,720 Speaker 1: either Inar goes or we both go. But she wrote 467 00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:15,720 Speaker 1: quote Innar kept his promise. He was dead and she 468 00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:19,240 Speaker 1: was alive, Lily Elbe. This is just a big moment 469 00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:23,000 Speaker 1: for her to get her her passport with her name 470 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:27,520 Speaker 1: on it, her picture changed like it was a really 471 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:31,680 Speaker 1: big deal, a really big deal. Also, excuse me, it's 472 00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:35,240 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty and they're allowing people to get new passports 473 00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:38,760 Speaker 1: with their legal name and their correct gender on them. 474 00:27:38,960 --> 00:27:43,120 Speaker 1: Hello again, Hello, we were already there were we were 475 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:47,800 Speaker 1: so close to getting there in and I'm so oh 476 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:51,639 Speaker 1: this story makes me angry. I'm really like I've gotten 477 00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:59,320 Speaker 1: hot reading this because I cannot believe. Yeah, and they 478 00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:00,840 Speaker 1: were fully well mean to be. Oh, well, you're a 479 00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:03,000 Speaker 1: woman now, so obviously you need a new passport with 480 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:06,359 Speaker 1: your new name and you look and everything like and 481 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:09,200 Speaker 1: I don't know, you know in Denmark if that's changed 482 00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:11,960 Speaker 1: since then, or you know, they've kept that process the 483 00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:14,600 Speaker 1: same there. I only know what it is in America, 484 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:20,560 Speaker 1: which has been very difficult to make changes there. It's 485 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:25,680 Speaker 1: a good point, Like it's so mad. So at this point, 486 00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:28,080 Speaker 1: Gerda had to go back to Paris for work, so 487 00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:31,120 Speaker 1: she would leave Lily to continue to recover as well 488 00:28:31,119 --> 00:28:33,760 Speaker 1: as to prepare for her final surgery, which was to 489 00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:37,639 Speaker 1: remove her penis and scrotum. So they exchanged tons of 490 00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:41,520 Speaker 1: letters throughout this time, and in June she was fully 491 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:43,840 Speaker 1: recovered from this last surgery and she was ready to 492 00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:46,960 Speaker 1: leave the hospital. Gerda came to pick her up, and 493 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:50,200 Speaker 1: Lily had a really hard time. The hospital was like 494 00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:54,080 Speaker 1: this oasis, like everyone there knew her, they knew about her, 495 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:56,560 Speaker 1: they knew how to talk to her. But now she 496 00:28:56,680 --> 00:28:58,720 Speaker 1: was going to go back into the you know, the 497 00:28:58,720 --> 00:29:01,600 Speaker 1: big wide world, and she'd have to face her old 498 00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:04,920 Speaker 1: circles again as this new person. She thought about never 499 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:07,880 Speaker 1: returning to Denmark and never seeing her family again because 500 00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:11,840 Speaker 1: she was just so afraid of rejection. That this sounds 501 00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:16,720 Speaker 1: very familiar. I think, um and uh and definitely again, 502 00:29:16,840 --> 00:29:21,240 Speaker 1: just the it's it's so much more than than just 503 00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:25,520 Speaker 1: you know, representing yourself. They're they're all these existing connections 504 00:29:25,520 --> 00:29:27,719 Speaker 1: that you kind of have to deal with in one 505 00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:31,000 Speaker 1: way or another, right right, and and and lonely and 506 00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:34,280 Speaker 1: just feel her so alone, even with Gerda next to 507 00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:37,920 Speaker 1: her any friends, it really feels like she feels completely 508 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:42,560 Speaker 1: like this island and she's so so scared that that people. 509 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:47,520 Speaker 1: You know, she's thinking about everyone like her sister, her brother, 510 00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:52,400 Speaker 1: you know, friends from Danmark art dealers, you know, career 511 00:29:52,520 --> 00:29:56,000 Speaker 1: colleagues as well as dear friends and just sort of 512 00:29:57,840 --> 00:30:02,080 Speaker 1: I'm just have crazy scenarios play out in her head. 513 00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:05,320 Speaker 1: I'm sure about horrible things they could say or lovely 514 00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:08,440 Speaker 1: things they could say, and each of them being really terrifying, right, 515 00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:11,160 Speaker 1: And I mean, you know, just to I like to 516 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:14,080 Speaker 1: try and find something relatable to myself because obviously I 517 00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:18,280 Speaker 1: can't relate directly to this experience. But like, I hate 518 00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:20,960 Speaker 1: being the new kid. Yeah, I hated it when I 519 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:22,880 Speaker 1: was the new kid when I was a kid, and 520 00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:24,400 Speaker 1: I hate it now. I hate going to a new job, 521 00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:26,000 Speaker 1: and like I don't know anyone, and I've got to 522 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:28,760 Speaker 1: like some people are into that. I can't stand it, 523 00:30:28,800 --> 00:30:31,400 Speaker 1: and it takes me a while to feel comfortable in 524 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:33,160 Speaker 1: any setting with a bunch of people. I don't know. 525 00:30:34,080 --> 00:30:37,040 Speaker 1: Add on top of that everything that you just mentioned. 526 00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:40,240 Speaker 1: But she's going through, I can't imagine, you know, can 527 00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:43,240 Speaker 1: only begin to kind of try and understand what that 528 00:30:43,320 --> 00:30:47,800 Speaker 1: felt like. But it sounds like a real challenge, if 529 00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:51,600 Speaker 1: if not an all out nightmare internally, you know, because 530 00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:54,200 Speaker 1: no matter how it goes, you know, it might go great, 531 00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:58,600 Speaker 1: it might be totally fine and awesome, but uh, you know, 532 00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:01,800 Speaker 1: even still you're dealing with that storm in your head. 533 00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:04,640 Speaker 1: I think, yeah, for sure, And that that's what so 534 00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:08,760 Speaker 1: much of this story is about an internal storm, internal torment, 535 00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:14,120 Speaker 1: Like everyone outside doesn't know necessarily what's happening. But again, 536 00:31:14,200 --> 00:31:17,360 Speaker 1: this person was so tormented internally that they were willing 537 00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:20,160 Speaker 1: to kill their outside body, do you know what I mean? 538 00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:22,480 Speaker 1: Like they're like, I'm going to die now because I 539 00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:25,520 Speaker 1: just cannot deal with everything going on inside. People don't 540 00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:29,400 Speaker 1: even know. So yeah, Lily was kind of thinking about 541 00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:32,440 Speaker 1: all these different people from inn ours past that she 542 00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:35,720 Speaker 1: would want to see again or was afraid to see again, 543 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:37,960 Speaker 1: or was wondering like how are they going to react 544 00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:40,280 Speaker 1: to me? Or are they going to still love me? 545 00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:43,320 Speaker 1: Are they still going to accept me? And she realized 546 00:31:43,360 --> 00:31:46,680 Speaker 1: that two faces just kept coming up for her, and 547 00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:49,840 Speaker 1: one of them was her Claude. Her Claude proposed our 548 00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:52,560 Speaker 1: dealer who would send flowers and was always so sweet 549 00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:58,440 Speaker 1: to her. And also Gerda's friend Fernando Porta, who we 550 00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:01,400 Speaker 1: talked about in the first episode, being this Italian guy 551 00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:04,360 Speaker 1: that they knew, and when they went to stay with him, 552 00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:07,240 Speaker 1: Lily had realized that Gerda was they were really vibing, 553 00:32:07,320 --> 00:32:09,640 Speaker 1: you know what I mean. So she's like, oh uh, 554 00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:14,360 Speaker 1: there might be something there, so Not long after she's 555 00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:17,680 Speaker 1: realizing this, Gerda wakes up from a short nap and 556 00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:21,000 Speaker 1: she saw, I had this beautiful dream you, Lily. You 557 00:32:21,040 --> 00:32:24,200 Speaker 1: and I were in Rome, And Lily asked Fernando was 558 00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:27,959 Speaker 1: with us, wasn't he, and put her arm around around Gerda, 559 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:30,280 Speaker 1: and they both just realized that they weren't in love 560 00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:32,360 Speaker 1: with each other anymore, that they were maybe in love 561 00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:34,560 Speaker 1: with other people, or at the very least, that their 562 00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:37,360 Speaker 1: paths were not parallel anymore. They would be going off 563 00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:41,520 Speaker 1: in different directions soon. And that morning, Lily sent a 564 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:45,560 Speaker 1: short note to Fernando saying, quote, dear friend, I will 565 00:32:45,560 --> 00:32:48,280 Speaker 1: only tell you that inn Aar is dead. I know 566 00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:50,680 Speaker 1: that Gerda has not yet told you anything about it. 567 00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:55,480 Speaker 1: Write her and do not neglect her, Lily. And then 568 00:32:55,480 --> 00:32:59,360 Speaker 1: they both went back to Denmark. A friend a girlfriend 569 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:03,960 Speaker 1: right there like hello, asked my friend out. Finally, I 570 00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:06,160 Speaker 1: know she's not gonna say anything about this, so you 571 00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:10,640 Speaker 1: better come in and ask her because she's waiting. I mean, 572 00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:12,800 Speaker 1: that's great, and that's I think that just shows like 573 00:33:12,880 --> 00:33:16,200 Speaker 1: they're they maintained they do still love each other, you know, 574 00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:19,840 Speaker 1: they maintained this closeness. Obviously they'd spent most of their 575 00:33:19,840 --> 00:33:24,280 Speaker 1: lives together. At this point, they were there incredibly close friends. Yes, 576 00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:26,760 Speaker 1: and Gerda had even said, oh, I wonder what Claude's 577 00:33:26,760 --> 00:33:29,360 Speaker 1: going to think now that she's had her operation. And 578 00:33:29,480 --> 00:33:33,280 Speaker 1: now Lily's like, hey, Fernando, like ask out my friends. 579 00:33:33,760 --> 00:33:35,920 Speaker 1: So they clearly want the other one to be happy, 580 00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:38,520 Speaker 1: even if it's not with them. Yeah. Yeah, And they 581 00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:42,000 Speaker 1: both recognized that they would each themselves be happier with 582 00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:46,360 Speaker 1: someone else. Frantically. That's such love to me, Like what 583 00:33:46,360 --> 00:33:51,840 Speaker 1: what deep love and connection? I mean? Yeah, every once 584 00:33:51,840 --> 00:33:54,520 Speaker 1: in a while, I'm like, man, you know what I 585 00:33:54,560 --> 00:33:56,160 Speaker 1: need to I need to write to that guy and 586 00:33:56,160 --> 00:34:00,720 Speaker 1: tell him he's going to ask you out, because that's 587 00:34:00,720 --> 00:34:02,760 Speaker 1: how much I love you, I know, Right, Sometimes I 588 00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:04,720 Speaker 1: want to go up to these girls that talk to 589 00:34:04,760 --> 00:34:07,120 Speaker 1: you randomly in the grocery store, just ask him out 590 00:34:07,120 --> 00:34:08,960 Speaker 1: and make him feel so good. Don't make me feel 591 00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:13,200 Speaker 1: so good. They never do, but they're always like excuse me, 592 00:34:13,239 --> 00:34:16,759 Speaker 1: can you move your cart please? Or like, hey, that 593 00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:21,560 Speaker 1: was my last banana. You know I'm taking the last banana. 594 00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:26,480 Speaker 1: What kind of apocalyptic Kroger are you going to? Oh? 595 00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:33,279 Speaker 1: These days? By James All the Bananas all right, Well, 596 00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:36,600 Speaker 1: we're gonna go grab some bananas real quick and we'll 597 00:34:36,640 --> 00:34:47,760 Speaker 1: be right back out to this brief commercial break. Welcome 598 00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:50,000 Speaker 1: back to the show everyone. I hope you all got 599 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:57,880 Speaker 1: a banana to eat, all right. So I Aar had 600 00:34:57,920 --> 00:35:01,120 Speaker 1: been really well known in Copenhay again, so Lily was 601 00:35:01,280 --> 00:35:04,439 Speaker 1: really extra nervous to be there. She was afraid people 602 00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:07,439 Speaker 1: would recognize her, and she was afraid people wouldn't recognize her. 603 00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:09,839 Speaker 1: She was worried what her sister would say when they 604 00:35:09,840 --> 00:35:14,239 Speaker 1: met again. But chief among her concerns was figuring out 605 00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:18,279 Speaker 1: how to divorce Gerda. In Denmark, it was required that 606 00:35:18,320 --> 00:35:21,960 Speaker 1: you had a year of separation before a legal divorce 607 00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:24,920 Speaker 1: would be granted, and then an additional year afterwards to 608 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:29,480 Speaker 1: make an official which reminds me of our Lucy and 609 00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:34,800 Speaker 1: Desi episode when Lucy went ahead and divorced Desi Arnaz 610 00:35:35,040 --> 00:35:38,640 Speaker 1: one morning after they went out that night. Uh, just 611 00:35:38,800 --> 00:35:40,839 Speaker 1: to just to stick it to him, knowing full well 612 00:35:40,880 --> 00:35:43,319 Speaker 1: that when she saw him the next day went back 613 00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:46,600 Speaker 1: to his house, it would nullify the divorces. But she's like, 614 00:35:46,760 --> 00:35:50,000 Speaker 1: I didn't put all that paperwork together for nothing, she said, 615 00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:52,160 Speaker 1: I didn't want to waste all the legal fees that 616 00:35:54,480 --> 00:35:57,319 Speaker 1: so anyway, this was what was required in Denmark, and 617 00:35:57,360 --> 00:36:01,160 Speaker 1: Lily was determined not to have quote Gerda swindled out 618 00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:04,200 Speaker 1: of two years of her life. Um. And also they 619 00:36:04,239 --> 00:36:06,319 Speaker 1: didn't want to separate, they didn't want to not see 620 00:36:06,320 --> 00:36:09,520 Speaker 1: each other for two years. So a lawyer suggested that 621 00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:15,600 Speaker 1: they petitioned the King Christian the tent. So they had 622 00:36:15,600 --> 00:36:18,279 Speaker 1: a secret meeting with the King, which took less than 623 00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:20,480 Speaker 1: an hour, and by the end of it in October 624 00:36:20,480 --> 00:36:25,279 Speaker 1: of their marriage was dissolved. So even the king, I 625 00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:28,000 Speaker 1: mean even the King of Denmark is like, yeah, this 626 00:36:28,080 --> 00:36:32,160 Speaker 1: makes sense to me. I'm so mad well, and they 627 00:36:32,160 --> 00:36:35,279 Speaker 1: were even like two ladies presented themselves to the king. 628 00:36:35,920 --> 00:36:38,360 Speaker 1: So of course the king is like, well, obviously you 629 00:36:38,400 --> 00:36:43,799 Speaker 1: can't be married to a woman. What is this? So 630 00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:47,040 Speaker 1: Lily encouraged Gerda to head to Italy as soon as 631 00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:49,839 Speaker 1: possible to hook up with Fernando. She's like, get get 632 00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:53,080 Speaker 1: out there, you know, get you that Italian sausage. I 633 00:36:53,120 --> 00:36:56,640 Speaker 1: know you want it, go get it. But Gerda did 634 00:36:56,680 --> 00:37:00,400 Speaker 1: not leave just yet, because, like we said, she knew 635 00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:04,359 Speaker 1: that Lily was incredibly nervous to be in Copenhagen, so 636 00:37:04,560 --> 00:37:07,040 Speaker 1: she made sure to bring more and more of their 637 00:37:07,080 --> 00:37:11,400 Speaker 1: like old friends and acquaintances into their trusted circle of 638 00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:15,200 Speaker 1: people that knew about Lily, um, so that Lily wouldn't 639 00:37:15,200 --> 00:37:17,480 Speaker 1: be all alone, you know, when Gerda went off to Italy. 640 00:37:18,239 --> 00:37:21,719 Speaker 1: But while pretty much all of their women friends accepted 641 00:37:21,760 --> 00:37:24,480 Speaker 1: Lily and was like, cool, we'll we'll come by tomorrow 642 00:37:24,520 --> 00:37:27,480 Speaker 1: for a drink and see how you doing. Um, both 643 00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:30,520 Speaker 1: of them were really heartbroken because I in ours male 644 00:37:30,680 --> 00:37:36,600 Speaker 1: friends completely refused to associate with Lily. Lily wrote that 645 00:37:36,680 --> 00:37:40,920 Speaker 1: they kind of told Gerda or Lily that they felt 646 00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:43,680 Speaker 1: they'd be betraying inn Are by accepting Lily, that they 647 00:37:43,800 --> 00:37:47,560 Speaker 1: respected iin are too much to be kind to Lily. 648 00:37:47,960 --> 00:37:50,200 Speaker 1: Oh God, see this is that and this is that 649 00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:54,919 Speaker 1: sensitivity that you know. Fragility is really the word where 650 00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:57,759 Speaker 1: it all starts to break down, you know, where it 651 00:37:57,800 --> 00:38:00,040 Speaker 1: seems like everything's fine, and then some guys come in 652 00:38:00,120 --> 00:38:04,080 Speaker 1: and they're like, whoa, WHOA. I can't do that. I'm 653 00:38:04,120 --> 00:38:07,000 Speaker 1: not willing to change. I'm not willing to think differently 654 00:38:07,040 --> 00:38:10,120 Speaker 1: about something. I have an established thought pattern, an established relationship, 655 00:38:10,560 --> 00:38:12,359 Speaker 1: and by god, I'm a man and I'm not about 656 00:38:12,400 --> 00:38:16,080 Speaker 1: to change that right, And it's so it's so weird 657 00:38:16,200 --> 00:38:19,240 Speaker 1: because one of the things that makes her so nervous 658 00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:22,120 Speaker 1: to see her family and friends is that she feels 659 00:38:22,200 --> 00:38:24,840 Speaker 1: like in our she's afraid they're going to see Lily 660 00:38:25,080 --> 00:38:28,200 Speaker 1: as in and ours murderer. Um. And so this kind 661 00:38:28,239 --> 00:38:32,399 Speaker 1: of I feel backs up that notion for her that 662 00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:35,520 Speaker 1: these male friends are like, you killed my friend. Basically 663 00:38:35,640 --> 00:38:38,560 Speaker 1: he's not here because of you, instead of being able 664 00:38:38,600 --> 00:38:42,279 Speaker 1: to see that they're the same person, which I mean, 665 00:38:42,480 --> 00:38:47,200 Speaker 1: you know, Lily herself has put it that way to 666 00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:49,759 Speaker 1: some degree. Definitely, this is a you know, in our 667 00:38:49,920 --> 00:38:52,520 Speaker 1: is dead, in has gone and I have taken the 668 00:38:52,560 --> 00:38:58,360 Speaker 1: body now. Um. But but it just shows the complicated 669 00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:02,480 Speaker 1: nature of the of the whole transition, and I don't know, 670 00:39:02,680 --> 00:39:08,200 Speaker 1: just that unwillingness to to to transition with her. You know, 671 00:39:08,719 --> 00:39:12,840 Speaker 1: you're like, okay, well cool, now Lily's here, Now Lily's 672 00:39:12,880 --> 00:39:17,319 Speaker 1: my friend. Sure that's you know, no one was murdered. Yeah. Well, 673 00:39:17,320 --> 00:39:19,200 Speaker 1: and it was interesting to me too to see that 674 00:39:19,280 --> 00:39:23,000 Speaker 1: because of course, now you know, we're seeing a lot 675 00:39:23,080 --> 00:39:27,200 Speaker 1: of women coming out as turfs where they're kind of 676 00:39:27,239 --> 00:39:33,120 Speaker 1: like a trans woman invalidates me. Biological cis woman somehow. 677 00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:36,880 Speaker 1: I once had a conversation with somebody where I was like, 678 00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:38,880 Speaker 1: this makes me feel like shipped to say, but I 679 00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:41,279 Speaker 1: got really mad when Caitlyn Jenner was named the woman 680 00:39:41,280 --> 00:39:43,359 Speaker 1: of the Year for Like Times Woman of the Year. 681 00:39:43,440 --> 00:39:45,919 Speaker 1: This was a few years ago. I got really mad 682 00:39:45,920 --> 00:39:48,880 Speaker 1: about it, and I was like, maybe I'm like trans 683 00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:51,560 Speaker 1: exclusionary and some kind of bitch or something, because I'm like, 684 00:39:51,880 --> 00:39:55,359 Speaker 1: you don't deserve that, m But my and I told 685 00:39:55,440 --> 00:39:57,360 Speaker 1: my friend about this because we were having a conversation 686 00:39:57,400 --> 00:40:01,000 Speaker 1: at work about this kind of situous actuality and stuff 687 00:40:01,040 --> 00:40:03,439 Speaker 1: like that, and I was like, I feel like shit 688 00:40:03,680 --> 00:40:06,319 Speaker 1: that I just so mad about this. I don't know 689 00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:09,160 Speaker 1: why it's upsetting me, but it felt like wrong to 690 00:40:09,200 --> 00:40:13,480 Speaker 1: give it to her, and she she said, um, well, 691 00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:16,200 Speaker 1: what if it had been Laverne Cox And I was like, oh, 692 00:40:16,200 --> 00:40:19,719 Speaker 1: that'd be fine. And I realized, just because Caitlyn Jenner sucks, 693 00:40:19,719 --> 00:40:22,160 Speaker 1: not not because Caitlyn Jenner is not a woman, it's 694 00:40:22,160 --> 00:40:25,239 Speaker 1: just that she's terrible. So it made me feel a 695 00:40:25,239 --> 00:40:29,719 Speaker 1: lot better. Thank you to my friend for helping me 696 00:40:29,719 --> 00:40:33,600 Speaker 1: feel better. So then Lily went to go see her 697 00:40:33,600 --> 00:40:35,960 Speaker 1: sister for a few days, which of course caused her 698 00:40:35,960 --> 00:40:40,279 Speaker 1: a lot of turmoil, and she says her sister was 699 00:40:40,400 --> 00:40:44,080 Speaker 1: kind but did struggle to accept her um like she had. 700 00:40:44,640 --> 00:40:47,400 Speaker 1: The sister had put in ours paintings all over her house. 701 00:40:47,480 --> 00:40:50,520 Speaker 1: Lily called it a museum to in our and she 702 00:40:50,560 --> 00:40:52,319 Speaker 1: would kind of be like, don't you see what we've 703 00:40:52,360 --> 00:40:55,879 Speaker 1: lost now that in ars gone talent? You know, don't 704 00:40:55,920 --> 00:40:58,000 Speaker 1: be mad if I can't call you Lily right away, 705 00:40:58,400 --> 00:41:01,360 Speaker 1: and you know, like stuff like that. And so she 706 00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:04,480 Speaker 1: she writes about being very calm and as patient as 707 00:41:04,480 --> 00:41:07,839 Speaker 1: possible for a few days while her sister's kind of 708 00:41:07,880 --> 00:41:12,879 Speaker 1: working through her own very complicated emotions UM. At one point, 709 00:41:12,880 --> 00:41:15,360 Speaker 1: her sister did call her inn are and Lily wrote, 710 00:41:15,360 --> 00:41:18,600 Speaker 1: I felt then as if I ought to die. So 711 00:41:18,719 --> 00:41:22,000 Speaker 1: just again, when we talk about something being triggering, it's 712 00:41:22,040 --> 00:41:30,120 Speaker 1: not like some simple laughable feeling. It really is sometimes 713 00:41:30,160 --> 00:41:32,719 Speaker 1: like I would love to jump out a window because 714 00:41:32,760 --> 00:41:35,200 Speaker 1: you just said that, I mean something triggering is this 715 00:41:35,239 --> 00:41:38,360 Speaker 1: is a psychological term that's been like really grossly co 716 00:41:38,480 --> 00:41:42,640 Speaker 1: opted and overused because being triggered or something being triggering, 717 00:41:42,680 --> 00:41:46,920 Speaker 1: it's not about being upset. It's about having an instance, 718 00:41:47,680 --> 00:41:51,680 Speaker 1: you know, in your past or in yourself that one 719 00:41:51,800 --> 00:41:58,799 Speaker 1: thing can bring up a very serious psychological struggle. Uh. 720 00:41:58,880 --> 00:42:04,279 Speaker 1: And and it's and it's not disrupt everything about your day. 721 00:42:04,280 --> 00:42:05,759 Speaker 1: It's not. Just like I was pissed about that for 722 00:42:05,760 --> 00:42:08,040 Speaker 1: about fifteen minutes and then I moved on, like that's 723 00:42:08,120 --> 00:42:11,640 Speaker 1: not it. And again we're talking about somebody who's like 724 00:42:12,680 --> 00:42:18,439 Speaker 1: especially feeling like totally invalidated as a woman if you say, hey, 725 00:42:18,560 --> 00:42:22,360 Speaker 1: mr or something, you know, and so you're you're basically 726 00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:25,960 Speaker 1: saying she doesn't exist. And so she's like, well, then 727 00:42:26,000 --> 00:42:27,960 Speaker 1: I'll go jump out of a window so that I 728 00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:29,600 Speaker 1: really want to exist, you know what I mean. Like, 729 00:42:30,200 --> 00:42:33,360 Speaker 1: it's just really hard for her to hear her sister 730 00:42:34,080 --> 00:42:38,640 Speaker 1: not quite co and with her on it right away. Um. 731 00:42:38,719 --> 00:42:40,600 Speaker 1: And she admitted that she did not make it easy 732 00:42:40,640 --> 00:42:43,080 Speaker 1: on her sister because her sister was really longing for 733 00:42:43,080 --> 00:42:45,600 Speaker 1: her brother. You know, she's talking a lot about childhood 734 00:42:45,640 --> 00:42:48,279 Speaker 1: memories with I R And everything they used to do 735 00:42:48,320 --> 00:42:52,320 Speaker 1: together and all this stuff, and so she was looking, 736 00:42:52,680 --> 00:42:55,000 Speaker 1: you know, Lily is like I can see her looking 737 00:42:55,040 --> 00:42:59,120 Speaker 1: at me, searching for I are. And she wrote, quote, 738 00:42:59,239 --> 00:43:02,279 Speaker 1: whenever I show myself by my character and by the 739 00:43:02,320 --> 00:43:05,000 Speaker 1: way in which I spoke, in which I moved in 740 00:43:05,080 --> 00:43:09,239 Speaker 1: which I thought I veiled completely the character of ein Are. 741 00:43:09,239 --> 00:43:14,440 Speaker 1: He was ingenious, sagacious and interested in everything, a reflective 742 00:43:14,480 --> 00:43:18,960 Speaker 1: and thoughtful man, and I was quite superficial, deliberately so 743 00:43:19,520 --> 00:43:21,840 Speaker 1: for I had to demonstrate every day that I was 744 00:43:21,880 --> 00:43:24,840 Speaker 1: a different creature from him, that I was a woman, 745 00:43:25,440 --> 00:43:30,320 Speaker 1: a thoughtless, flighty, very superficially minded woman, fond of dress 746 00:43:30,360 --> 00:43:34,400 Speaker 1: and fond of enjoyment. Yes, I believe, even childish. And 747 00:43:34,480 --> 00:43:37,400 Speaker 1: I can say it calmly now. All this was certainly 748 00:43:37,440 --> 00:43:45,360 Speaker 1: not merely farcical acting. It was really my character, untroubled, carefree, illogical, capricious. 749 00:43:47,280 --> 00:43:51,279 Speaker 1: That's so, that's so interesting, And you know, I think 750 00:43:51,320 --> 00:43:56,320 Speaker 1: about the more current discourse, which is, you know, again 751 00:43:56,400 --> 00:43:59,440 Speaker 1: not that I was a man and now I am 752 00:43:59,480 --> 00:44:02,400 Speaker 1: a woman in r and Lily kind of seemed to 753 00:44:02,400 --> 00:44:05,560 Speaker 1: go through. But I have always been a woman my 754 00:44:05,640 --> 00:44:09,920 Speaker 1: whole life. All I'm changing is my presentation, and that 755 00:44:10,120 --> 00:44:12,719 Speaker 1: seems so much healthier than what Lily is going through here, 756 00:44:12,760 --> 00:44:16,520 Speaker 1: which is, you know, I have to I have to 757 00:44:16,560 --> 00:44:20,080 Speaker 1: bury everything that was inn Are so that I can 758 00:44:20,120 --> 00:44:23,200 Speaker 1: be this new person now. And you can see the 759 00:44:23,200 --> 00:44:26,040 Speaker 1: struggle there with her sister too, saying, you know, yeah, 760 00:44:26,120 --> 00:44:28,520 Speaker 1: I really miss who you were. That was the person 761 00:44:28,600 --> 00:44:30,640 Speaker 1: I grew to love my whole life that I grew 762 00:44:30,719 --> 00:44:34,200 Speaker 1: up with. UM. And you know, so you don't want 763 00:44:34,200 --> 00:44:39,239 Speaker 1: to invalidate her feelings the sister because that that that's difficult. 764 00:44:39,600 --> 00:44:41,040 Speaker 1: You know, you can't just say why don't you just 765 00:44:41,080 --> 00:44:43,719 Speaker 1: smile and go with it, because she's got her own 766 00:44:43,719 --> 00:44:46,759 Speaker 1: process to work through. How she goes through that process 767 00:44:46,920 --> 00:44:50,920 Speaker 1: and how, you know, recognizing what's affecting Lily is important. 768 00:44:51,880 --> 00:44:54,600 Speaker 1: And eventually by the end of her trip there after 769 00:44:54,800 --> 00:44:56,680 Speaker 1: she spent like a few days with her sister and 770 00:44:56,680 --> 00:45:00,239 Speaker 1: by the end her sister was like, I'm with it now. 771 00:45:00,480 --> 00:45:03,920 Speaker 1: I accept you. You're my sister, you know. They she 772 00:45:04,080 --> 00:45:06,759 Speaker 1: was cool, but it was a hard few days for 773 00:45:06,920 --> 00:45:10,279 Speaker 1: Lily and her sister to kind of talk. I think 774 00:45:10,280 --> 00:45:14,280 Speaker 1: they had one big fight where her sister's like, well, 775 00:45:14,320 --> 00:45:17,800 Speaker 1: you've you know, fucked everything up and inn ores better, 776 00:45:17,880 --> 00:45:20,080 Speaker 1: you know, like she was really having a just a 777 00:45:20,160 --> 00:45:22,200 Speaker 1: really hard time. That's when she called her inn are 778 00:45:22,280 --> 00:45:23,880 Speaker 1: and that's when Lily was like, I felt like I 779 00:45:23,920 --> 00:45:27,480 Speaker 1: ought to die because they probably because of multiple triggers 780 00:45:27,560 --> 00:45:31,480 Speaker 1: in that conversation. UM. But fortunately by the end, the 781 00:45:31,600 --> 00:45:34,480 Speaker 1: sister was like, we're good, good, I love you. You're 782 00:45:34,480 --> 00:45:36,319 Speaker 1: still in my family and I want to be in 783 00:45:36,360 --> 00:45:42,440 Speaker 1: your family, so that that is nice, right, She's feeling 784 00:45:42,440 --> 00:45:45,600 Speaker 1: a little more comfortable probably at this point. And then 785 00:45:45,840 --> 00:45:49,319 Speaker 1: right around this time an article was published outing the 786 00:45:49,360 --> 00:45:53,320 Speaker 1: truth about in R and Lily, and now Lily obviously 787 00:45:53,360 --> 00:45:57,040 Speaker 1: did not feel safe in Copenhagen anymore. She wanted to 788 00:45:57,080 --> 00:45:59,719 Speaker 1: go back to Germany, but her brother invited her to 789 00:45:59,719 --> 00:46:03,200 Speaker 1: stay with him in Judeland, so Lily traveled to her 790 00:46:03,200 --> 00:46:07,400 Speaker 1: brother's home and Gerda left for Italy and Fernando Porta, 791 00:46:08,480 --> 00:46:11,839 Speaker 1: Lily's brother and sister in law treated her lovingly and 792 00:46:11,960 --> 00:46:15,600 Speaker 1: pampered her so that she regained a sense of safety 793 00:46:15,800 --> 00:46:18,600 Speaker 1: and well being, and after a month or so, she 794 00:46:18,680 --> 00:46:22,400 Speaker 1: returned to Copenhagen. That's when her friend and the editor 795 00:46:22,480 --> 00:46:26,640 Speaker 1: of her memoir, Ernst Heartburn, started collecting her letters and 796 00:46:26,680 --> 00:46:30,480 Speaker 1: diary entries to turn into this book, and Gerda came 797 00:46:30,520 --> 00:46:35,000 Speaker 1: back from Italy radiantly happy, all set to Mary. Fernando 798 00:46:35,080 --> 00:46:37,800 Speaker 1: Porta and told Lily that her new home in Italy 799 00:46:37,840 --> 00:46:40,400 Speaker 1: would always be Lily's home as well, and that she 800 00:46:40,520 --> 00:46:43,279 Speaker 1: felt that Lily was both her sister and kind of 801 00:46:43,280 --> 00:46:47,080 Speaker 1: her grown up daughter, and that Fernando would welcome her 802 00:46:47,120 --> 00:46:50,800 Speaker 1: as his daughter too, And Lily wrote, quote how happy 803 00:46:50,920 --> 00:46:55,640 Speaker 1: these words made me. I mean again, just real love, 804 00:46:56,120 --> 00:46:59,120 Speaker 1: real love right there. And She's like and I can 805 00:46:59,200 --> 00:47:01,240 Speaker 1: totally see why she kind of saw as a daughter. 806 00:47:01,280 --> 00:47:03,880 Speaker 1: A lot of people talk about Lily being and she 807 00:47:04,000 --> 00:47:07,600 Speaker 1: herself said she is a bit childish because she was new, 808 00:47:07,920 --> 00:47:09,600 Speaker 1: you know, she felt like a new person. So she 809 00:47:09,640 --> 00:47:11,520 Speaker 1: just didn't really know how to go about the world. 810 00:47:11,560 --> 00:47:13,200 Speaker 1: She didn't how to be a woman in the world, 811 00:47:13,280 --> 00:47:17,080 Speaker 1: I guess, or or whatever. So she she seemed very 812 00:47:17,120 --> 00:47:20,200 Speaker 1: innocent and naive about a lot of things, which I mean, 813 00:47:20,280 --> 00:47:23,040 Speaker 1: you know, being a woman in the world. I mean, 814 00:47:23,080 --> 00:47:26,040 Speaker 1: I'm sure as much now in that time period, uh 815 00:47:26,239 --> 00:47:29,239 Speaker 1: is something that, as I understand it, you learned to do, yeah, 816 00:47:29,400 --> 00:47:31,800 Speaker 1: in a lot of ways. So she's kind of starting fresh. 817 00:47:31,960 --> 00:47:34,840 Speaker 1: Makes sense, It's true, And and being naive is not 818 00:47:35,000 --> 00:47:37,719 Speaker 1: a bad quality for a woman, I guess in this 819 00:47:37,760 --> 00:47:42,080 Speaker 1: particular time period, it does inspire a man to want 820 00:47:42,120 --> 00:47:48,919 Speaker 1: to protect you. Don't go learn in maths who will 821 00:47:48,960 --> 00:47:52,200 Speaker 1: marry you? Then? I like that Gerda goes to Italy 822 00:47:52,800 --> 00:47:56,840 Speaker 1: and comes back glowing. She's like, oh sure, I'll go 823 00:47:56,920 --> 00:47:58,840 Speaker 1: down and spend a couple of weeks in Sorrento with 824 00:47:58,920 --> 00:48:03,440 Speaker 1: Fernando Parte. Oh wow, Gerda, you're glowing. You look as 825 00:48:03,480 --> 00:48:07,439 Speaker 1: if you've been on a sexual adventure across a son 826 00:48:07,480 --> 00:48:13,040 Speaker 1: and sex soaked sojourn to testing. Yeah. But Lily, at 827 00:48:13,040 --> 00:48:15,719 Speaker 1: this point she needs money, right she everybody needs money, 828 00:48:16,320 --> 00:48:19,839 Speaker 1: income money. Oh yeah, money, it's sort of about that part. 829 00:48:21,320 --> 00:48:24,480 Speaker 1: So an art dealer friend arranged an exhibition of some 830 00:48:24,560 --> 00:48:27,759 Speaker 1: of in Oars paintings which were in storage. Okay, and 831 00:48:27,800 --> 00:48:30,600 Speaker 1: this wasn't unusual because I R and Gerda Again, these 832 00:48:30,600 --> 00:48:34,200 Speaker 1: are famous artists, so they were frequently exhibited. But this 833 00:48:34,280 --> 00:48:36,880 Speaker 1: time they put out a story that they were exhibiting 834 00:48:36,920 --> 00:48:39,399 Speaker 1: these works to raise funds to pay for in Oars 835 00:48:39,480 --> 00:48:42,360 Speaker 1: hospital bills, because he had been languishing in a hospital 836 00:48:42,400 --> 00:48:44,840 Speaker 1: in Germany for a long time with this big illness. 837 00:48:45,280 --> 00:48:47,319 Speaker 1: That's kind of how they were explaining the fact that 838 00:48:47,360 --> 00:48:50,440 Speaker 1: no one was seeing in Ar anymore. But you know, 839 00:48:50,600 --> 00:48:54,360 Speaker 1: this this article had come out that was kind of like, hey, 840 00:48:54,400 --> 00:48:57,080 Speaker 1: this is what we think the sources say, blah blah blah, 841 00:48:57,120 --> 00:49:01,799 Speaker 1: And it was really probably a TMZ type snarky, sort 842 00:49:01,800 --> 00:49:06,120 Speaker 1: of sarcastic article. So it caused all those old rumors 843 00:49:06,120 --> 00:49:10,719 Speaker 1: from like nineteen twelve to fly around again about Gerda's 844 00:49:10,760 --> 00:49:13,040 Speaker 1: model being her husband in a dress and who's this 845 00:49:13,160 --> 00:49:16,640 Speaker 1: lady and just all this kind of hurtful ship and 846 00:49:16,760 --> 00:49:20,920 Speaker 1: so nobody bought a single picture at this exhibition, and 847 00:49:21,000 --> 00:49:24,160 Speaker 1: Lily is really upset because she needs income. She knew 848 00:49:24,160 --> 00:49:26,120 Speaker 1: she had friends and family who would support her, but 849 00:49:26,160 --> 00:49:27,840 Speaker 1: she didn't want to be dependent on them. You know, 850 00:49:27,960 --> 00:49:30,000 Speaker 1: She's like, I need to fucking I'm a grown woman 851 00:49:30,120 --> 00:49:31,760 Speaker 1: and I gotta be out here handle in my business. 852 00:49:33,000 --> 00:49:35,399 Speaker 1: So like one of her friends was like, hey, why 853 00:49:35,440 --> 00:49:37,200 Speaker 1: don't you just dress up like in R and show 854 00:49:37,320 --> 00:49:39,640 Speaker 1: up and then you'll, you know, put paid to all 855 00:49:39,680 --> 00:49:43,440 Speaker 1: these rumors or whatever. But Lily and Gerda were horrified 856 00:49:43,440 --> 00:49:46,080 Speaker 1: by this suggestion, which I think goes to show you, 857 00:49:46,120 --> 00:49:49,600 Speaker 1: like Einar could dress like Lily and not feel gross 858 00:49:49,680 --> 00:49:51,640 Speaker 1: in those clothes. I guess it is a better is 859 00:49:51,680 --> 00:49:54,440 Speaker 1: the best word I can think of. But Lily putting 860 00:49:54,440 --> 00:49:59,080 Speaker 1: on in are was like, no, absolutely not, yeah, because 861 00:49:59,120 --> 00:50:01,440 Speaker 1: Lily is who she is, right and to put in 862 00:50:01,640 --> 00:50:03,840 Speaker 1: are on I think would almost be like a regression 863 00:50:03,880 --> 00:50:06,160 Speaker 1: for it. She'd be like going back and undoing all 864 00:50:06,200 --> 00:50:09,480 Speaker 1: this surgery she'd undergone and everything. And it's like saying 865 00:50:09,520 --> 00:50:13,840 Speaker 1: that either that that Lily is a costume to yes, totally, 866 00:50:14,280 --> 00:50:17,000 Speaker 1: whichever person I dress up as, that's the person I am. 867 00:50:17,040 --> 00:50:22,920 Speaker 1: And that's not the case. Yeah, absolutely So. Then another 868 00:50:23,000 --> 00:50:25,160 Speaker 1: friend of theirs, who was an editor at a newspaper, 869 00:50:25,960 --> 00:50:28,839 Speaker 1: was like, Lily, let me write an article about you, 870 00:50:28,960 --> 00:50:34,520 Speaker 1: a real article, your own words, describing your tormented existence 871 00:50:34,560 --> 00:50:37,080 Speaker 1: as inn are and what you went through in these 872 00:50:37,120 --> 00:50:40,200 Speaker 1: German hospitals. Let me put it in. Let you tell 873 00:50:40,280 --> 00:50:42,719 Speaker 1: your own story, don't let this article tell it for you. 874 00:50:43,520 --> 00:50:46,360 Speaker 1: And at first Lily was really terrified to give this 875 00:50:46,360 --> 00:50:48,960 Speaker 1: account of her life. But her friend told her that 876 00:50:49,000 --> 00:50:52,000 Speaker 1: a well known painter like in r couldn't just disappear. 877 00:50:52,560 --> 00:50:54,600 Speaker 1: It was time for the public to know the truth. 878 00:50:55,080 --> 00:50:58,040 Speaker 1: And more than that, this German doctor had achieved a 879 00:50:58,120 --> 00:51:02,480 Speaker 1: real medical miracle. Shouldn't everyone know what he'd accomplished. That 880 00:51:02,560 --> 00:51:05,200 Speaker 1: was smart because Lily was like super obsessed with Kurt 881 00:51:05,280 --> 00:51:07,360 Speaker 1: barn Across, and she was like, I I am the 882 00:51:07,360 --> 00:51:09,960 Speaker 1: embodiment of his life's work, you know what I mean. 883 00:51:10,480 --> 00:51:12,600 Speaker 1: So that was that was probably really what got her 884 00:51:12,600 --> 00:51:15,239 Speaker 1: to do it, and it did. She consented and the 885 00:51:15,320 --> 00:51:19,200 Speaker 1: article was published at the beginning of March. And now 886 00:51:19,280 --> 00:51:21,640 Speaker 1: Lily was afraid to go out because she thought everyone 887 00:51:21,680 --> 00:51:25,600 Speaker 1: would recognize her and that everyone would know like she 888 00:51:25,800 --> 00:51:28,560 Speaker 1: was scared to be called an impersonator or afraid people 889 00:51:28,600 --> 00:51:30,520 Speaker 1: would call attention to her or shout her name in 890 00:51:30,560 --> 00:51:33,960 Speaker 1: the street. Being mis gendered wasn't just about feeling triggered 891 00:51:34,000 --> 00:51:36,719 Speaker 1: by her old pronouns. She felt that it invalidated her 892 00:51:36,760 --> 00:51:39,759 Speaker 1: as a woman. As we've talked about. She wrote, quote, 893 00:51:39,800 --> 00:51:44,240 Speaker 1: other women could be ugly, could commit every possible crime. I, however, 894 00:51:44,520 --> 00:51:48,440 Speaker 1: must be beautiful, must be immaculate, else I lost every 895 00:51:48,520 --> 00:51:52,000 Speaker 1: right to be a woman. Yes, as you said earlier, 896 00:51:52,280 --> 00:51:55,200 Speaker 1: it's almost as if she's like, I need to go 897 00:51:55,360 --> 00:52:01,200 Speaker 1: from to a complete one eight as womanly as I 898 00:52:01,239 --> 00:52:05,680 Speaker 1: can possibly get, as stereotypically womanly as I can possibly get, 899 00:52:05,960 --> 00:52:11,520 Speaker 1: or else it doesn't mean anything. But she realized no 900 00:52:11,520 --> 00:52:14,400 Speaker 1: one recognized her, no one was calling her out in 901 00:52:14,440 --> 00:52:18,239 Speaker 1: the street and or running after her. Any of these 902 00:52:18,280 --> 00:52:20,399 Speaker 1: horrible fears she had. None of that was happening. When 903 00:52:20,400 --> 00:52:23,839 Speaker 1: she went out. She even bought the paper that had 904 00:52:23,840 --> 00:52:25,960 Speaker 1: the article in it and then sat on the tram 905 00:52:26,000 --> 00:52:29,359 Speaker 1: and read it, and no one realized that it was her, 906 00:52:29,520 --> 00:52:31,439 Speaker 1: even though she was wearing the same coat and hat 907 00:52:31,560 --> 00:52:33,200 Speaker 1: that she was wearing in the picture in the article 908 00:52:33,280 --> 00:52:36,239 Speaker 1: of her. So after that she was really reassured. She 909 00:52:36,320 --> 00:52:38,560 Speaker 1: was like, Okay, I'm safe. I feel good, and she 910 00:52:38,600 --> 00:52:41,240 Speaker 1: started kind of enjoy going out and kind of getting 911 00:52:41,239 --> 00:52:45,000 Speaker 1: a kick out of people not knowing who she was. Um, 912 00:52:45,080 --> 00:52:47,520 Speaker 1: she started going to the gallery where in ars pictures 913 00:52:47,520 --> 00:52:50,680 Speaker 1: were hanging every day, and after this article came out, 914 00:52:50,719 --> 00:52:53,200 Speaker 1: they were like crowds of people going to the to 915 00:52:53,320 --> 00:52:56,160 Speaker 1: this exhibition hoping to catch a glimpse of Lily, like 916 00:52:56,160 --> 00:52:58,840 Speaker 1: they were hoping she'd come out and and show herself, 917 00:52:58,840 --> 00:53:02,399 Speaker 1: I guess, And so she went to So Lily went 918 00:53:02,440 --> 00:53:04,120 Speaker 1: to kind of see that and was sort of getting 919 00:53:04,280 --> 00:53:06,399 Speaker 1: getting a kick out of that because she was there, 920 00:53:06,480 --> 00:53:09,360 Speaker 1: but no one knew it. And one lady even whispered 921 00:53:09,360 --> 00:53:11,880 Speaker 1: to her, tell me, miss, don't you think that the 922 00:53:11,960 --> 00:53:14,759 Speaker 1: lady over there with the large feet and the necktie 923 00:53:14,760 --> 00:53:20,200 Speaker 1: who looks like a man is Lily Elbe And Lily replied, yes, 924 00:53:20,320 --> 00:53:28,520 Speaker 1: most decidedly, that is she, And every picture sold amazing 925 00:53:28,840 --> 00:53:31,000 Speaker 1: which I think is so interesting that an article came 926 00:53:31,040 --> 00:53:35,799 Speaker 1: out being like, hey, guess what Lily il might be 927 00:53:35,840 --> 00:53:39,040 Speaker 1: in our an address or whatever is so gross and rude, 928 00:53:39,520 --> 00:53:41,560 Speaker 1: and people were like afraid to buy the pictures. They 929 00:53:41,560 --> 00:53:43,719 Speaker 1: were like controversial. But as soon as she came out 930 00:53:43,760 --> 00:53:45,880 Speaker 1: with her own story and was like, this is the 931 00:53:45,920 --> 00:53:49,440 Speaker 1: real situation, people were like, Oh, I better go buy 932 00:53:49,480 --> 00:53:54,040 Speaker 1: that painting. You're telling me that an article in the 933 00:53:54,160 --> 00:54:01,520 Speaker 1: media can influence people's ideas of social issues. It's almost 934 00:54:01,560 --> 00:54:04,160 Speaker 1: as if the framing of the story really matters to 935 00:54:04,200 --> 00:54:08,760 Speaker 1: how you see it yourself. What weird? Right? Huh? Somebody 936 00:54:08,760 --> 00:54:11,560 Speaker 1: ought to put that to good use or evil use? 937 00:54:11,680 --> 00:54:14,080 Speaker 1: I suppose they could do. But who would do that? 938 00:54:14,160 --> 00:54:16,160 Speaker 1: Probably not I know. But who would do that? Who 939 00:54:16,200 --> 00:54:19,120 Speaker 1: would do that? Who would deliberately put harm into the 940 00:54:19,160 --> 00:54:22,279 Speaker 1: world for their own profit? Speaking of we have a 941 00:54:22,280 --> 00:54:28,280 Speaker 1: commercial break, Yes we do, so we will be right back. 942 00:54:30,719 --> 00:54:34,760 Speaker 1: Welcome back to the show everyone. So now Lily's paintings 943 00:54:34,760 --> 00:54:37,480 Speaker 1: are selling and she's feeling good about her place in 944 00:54:37,520 --> 00:54:41,640 Speaker 1: the world. She's comfortable, she's established, and Gerda is like, okay, 945 00:54:41,760 --> 00:54:45,120 Speaker 1: you're good here, girlfriend, I got you. I'm glad you're feeling, 946 00:54:45,160 --> 00:54:47,840 Speaker 1: all right, come visit me anytime. I'm going back to 947 00:54:47,880 --> 00:54:51,360 Speaker 1: Italy and Fernando, because of course I'm going back to 948 00:54:51,400 --> 00:54:54,040 Speaker 1: Italy and Fernando to first chance. All right, I'm gonna 949 00:54:54,080 --> 00:54:58,360 Speaker 1: go sleep with my hot Italian man. And so Lily's 950 00:54:58,360 --> 00:55:01,240 Speaker 1: regular doctor told her that she was healthier and healthier 951 00:55:01,480 --> 00:55:05,000 Speaker 1: and she could probably start painting again. But this really 952 00:55:05,080 --> 00:55:08,080 Speaker 1: upset Lily. She was like, don't you see in in 953 00:55:08,239 --> 00:55:11,120 Speaker 1: R is the painter, not me, Like Lily doesn't paint. 954 00:55:12,080 --> 00:55:15,120 Speaker 1: So her friend and editor Ernst told her that she 955 00:55:15,160 --> 00:55:19,239 Speaker 1: didn't have to renounce everything about in Are to be herself. 956 00:55:19,640 --> 00:55:23,200 Speaker 1: He told her, quote, you are a woman. Sometimes you 957 00:55:23,239 --> 00:55:26,320 Speaker 1: were afraid of saying that because it's completely naked and brutal, 958 00:55:26,640 --> 00:55:29,640 Speaker 1: But all truth, in fact is brutal. Much of it 959 00:55:29,680 --> 00:55:32,839 Speaker 1: is even shameless, and there are very few people who 960 00:55:32,840 --> 00:55:36,680 Speaker 1: can understand and endure the most intimate and perfect shame. 961 00:55:37,160 --> 00:55:40,719 Speaker 1: That is the shame of shamelessness. Yeah, which I think 962 00:55:40,880 --> 00:55:43,319 Speaker 1: is kind of like we were just talking about that 963 00:55:43,400 --> 00:55:47,960 Speaker 1: she doesn't have to give up anything about herself. It's 964 00:55:47,960 --> 00:55:50,960 Speaker 1: like Ernst understands even better than she does that she's 965 00:55:51,000 --> 00:55:54,080 Speaker 1: always been Lily, So whatever in in are was Lily 966 00:55:54,160 --> 00:55:57,920 Speaker 1: can also be because Lily has always been there. Yeah, exactly, 967 00:55:58,160 --> 00:56:02,759 Speaker 1: Like he's kind of telling her living unapologetically as your goal. 968 00:56:03,160 --> 00:56:06,480 Speaker 1: You're still apologizing to yourself, if not to anyone else, 969 00:56:07,040 --> 00:56:10,440 Speaker 1: for who you used to be. And you need to 970 00:56:10,440 --> 00:56:14,200 Speaker 1: be able to embrace your full self. You didn't necessarily 971 00:56:14,320 --> 00:56:18,080 Speaker 1: used to be someone different. No, yeah, he's like present differently. Yeah, 972 00:56:18,120 --> 00:56:21,680 Speaker 1: you belong to yourself. Everything you are belongs to you. 973 00:56:21,680 --> 00:56:24,000 Speaker 1: You can. You can use it or lose it however 974 00:56:24,120 --> 00:56:26,239 Speaker 1: you will. But don't lose it because you think it 975 00:56:26,320 --> 00:56:30,960 Speaker 1: means you're not you. He said. Quote this new country 976 00:56:31,000 --> 00:56:33,800 Speaker 1: of the soul is lying dormant within you, and whether 977 00:56:33,840 --> 00:56:36,560 Speaker 1: you like it or not, it will go on expanding. 978 00:56:37,520 --> 00:56:41,200 Speaker 1: And this advice worked. Lily takes on an art student 979 00:56:41,280 --> 00:56:44,480 Speaker 1: and begins to paint again. I think that's awesome that 980 00:56:44,640 --> 00:56:47,680 Speaker 1: she had such a good friend like be able to 981 00:56:47,680 --> 00:56:50,759 Speaker 1: say that to her. I mean, she's got an enormously 982 00:56:51,040 --> 00:56:56,239 Speaker 1: awesome support system here, really wonderful people who are totally accepting. 983 00:56:57,920 --> 00:57:02,800 Speaker 1: Man again feels at times it feels better than now 984 00:57:03,160 --> 00:57:07,440 Speaker 1: in some ways, just reading it and reading other things 985 00:57:07,480 --> 00:57:12,120 Speaker 1: and hearing stories from people I know. Now you know 986 00:57:12,680 --> 00:57:15,440 Speaker 1: it's very frustrating, it is, but it's sort of that 987 00:57:15,480 --> 00:57:18,880 Speaker 1: thing about progression where the pendulum sort of swings, Yeah, 988 00:57:19,160 --> 00:57:22,960 Speaker 1: the pendulum, I know, but you can kind of see like, oh, 989 00:57:23,000 --> 00:57:26,720 Speaker 1: this was such a new thing, people are like, oh, yeah, okay, sure, 990 00:57:26,760 --> 00:57:29,320 Speaker 1: I mean, what it's new whatever. And then if if 991 00:57:29,840 --> 00:57:33,520 Speaker 1: kind of like now more and more people are feeling 992 00:57:33,560 --> 00:57:37,080 Speaker 1: comfortable to say I'm non binary or I'm transgender, and 993 00:57:37,120 --> 00:57:40,080 Speaker 1: it's making some people think because of the Internet, that 994 00:57:40,200 --> 00:57:42,960 Speaker 1: oh everyone's transgender now and it's not cool to be 995 00:57:43,080 --> 00:57:45,440 Speaker 1: siss anymore. And oh my god, were like a second 996 00:57:45,480 --> 00:57:47,440 Speaker 1: class you know what I mean, And so you swing 997 00:57:47,520 --> 00:57:50,720 Speaker 1: back to being more intolerant than you might have been 998 00:57:50,760 --> 00:57:55,000 Speaker 1: if it felt like a smaller population. Well, yeah, we 999 00:57:55,040 --> 00:57:58,160 Speaker 1: talked about it that in Part one, about how transitioning 1000 00:57:58,200 --> 00:58:00,440 Speaker 1: back then when you've got to worry about all thirty 1001 00:58:00,480 --> 00:58:03,320 Speaker 1: people that you know, versus now where it's like I've 1002 00:58:03,360 --> 00:58:05,960 Speaker 1: got eleven Facebook friends and I have to deal with 1003 00:58:06,000 --> 00:58:10,280 Speaker 1: all those relationships, um and and yeah, similarly, like we're 1004 00:58:10,280 --> 00:58:15,120 Speaker 1: talking about with the media, there's now there's people, there's 1005 00:58:15,200 --> 00:58:18,200 Speaker 1: people being outrageous about it that it's just like the 1006 00:58:18,600 --> 00:58:22,760 Speaker 1: downfall of society. Who will probably never encounter a transgender 1007 00:58:22,800 --> 00:58:25,400 Speaker 1: person in their lives, you know, and if they did, 1008 00:58:25,400 --> 00:58:29,160 Speaker 1: they probably wouldn't even know it. You know. It's just absurd, 1009 00:58:29,960 --> 00:58:34,200 Speaker 1: uh to see that pendulum swing back, because it's so unnecessary, 1010 00:58:35,080 --> 00:58:37,280 Speaker 1: and if they do meet a transgender person in their life, 1011 00:58:37,280 --> 00:58:39,840 Speaker 1: it won't affect them at all. Right, what's it going 1012 00:58:39,880 --> 00:58:47,320 Speaker 1: to do to you? Nothing anyway, anyway, the pendulum. So 1013 00:58:47,360 --> 00:58:51,440 Speaker 1: then Lily receives a letter from her friend Claude Provost, 1014 00:58:52,800 --> 00:58:58,200 Speaker 1: who's obsessed with Lily, I know, and he told her 1015 00:58:58,280 --> 00:59:00,280 Speaker 1: he was going to be in Copenhagen soon and he 1016 00:59:00,320 --> 00:59:02,960 Speaker 1: would love to see her, and so they spent a 1017 00:59:03,000 --> 00:59:06,480 Speaker 1: whole week together. She took him around Copenhagen and they 1018 00:59:06,520 --> 00:59:10,600 Speaker 1: talked about old times in France and memories they had together, 1019 00:59:10,720 --> 00:59:13,520 Speaker 1: and she was just so so happy with Claude. And 1020 00:59:13,560 --> 00:59:15,960 Speaker 1: Claude told her, you know, you're a grown woman, but 1021 00:59:16,400 --> 00:59:19,280 Speaker 1: I also see you as kind of childlike and innocent, 1022 00:59:19,480 --> 00:59:22,880 Speaker 1: sort of naive. You need someone to be your protector 1023 00:59:22,960 --> 00:59:25,160 Speaker 1: and take care of you. And she was like, oh, 1024 00:59:25,160 --> 00:59:27,240 Speaker 1: don't worry, I'm gonna go visit Gerda in Italy. And 1025 00:59:27,240 --> 00:59:28,920 Speaker 1: then I'm thinking I'm gonna go back to the women's 1026 00:59:28,960 --> 00:59:31,600 Speaker 1: hospital in Berlin for a few months, and just I 1027 00:59:31,640 --> 00:59:33,440 Speaker 1: was so comfortable there, you know, I'm just going to 1028 00:59:33,560 --> 00:59:36,880 Speaker 1: hang out there. But he offered her a different path. 1029 00:59:37,720 --> 00:59:41,040 Speaker 1: He was working as a diplomatic consular for some time 1030 00:59:41,120 --> 00:59:43,200 Speaker 1: at this point he was about to be transferred from 1031 00:59:43,240 --> 00:59:46,200 Speaker 1: Paris to Turkey, and he took Lily's hands and said, 1032 00:59:46,760 --> 00:59:49,680 Speaker 1: will you come with me? Will you marry me? Lily? 1033 00:59:50,120 --> 00:59:54,160 Speaker 1: Will you be my wife? And she instantly said yes, 1034 00:59:55,160 --> 00:59:57,480 Speaker 1: which she kind of describes as like she didn't realize 1035 00:59:57,520 --> 00:59:59,160 Speaker 1: she was going to say yes. It just came to 1036 00:59:59,280 --> 01:00:02,240 Speaker 1: her lips without thought. She was just like, of course 1037 01:00:02,280 --> 01:00:05,640 Speaker 1: I will. But all that emotion that was he was 1038 01:00:05,680 --> 01:00:09,320 Speaker 1: stirring up within her was really kind of freaking her out. Um, 1039 01:00:09,400 --> 01:00:11,200 Speaker 1: she didn't really know why, but she's like, I really 1040 01:00:11,240 --> 01:00:13,480 Speaker 1: feel like I have to go visit Dr Kurt von 1041 01:00:13,520 --> 01:00:16,600 Speaker 1: Across in Germany first. Before I can really say yes 1042 01:00:16,720 --> 01:00:19,680 Speaker 1: or no, I need to go see him. The way 1043 01:00:19,680 --> 01:00:22,160 Speaker 1: she wrote about it was that he he kind of 1044 01:00:22,200 --> 01:00:26,280 Speaker 1: birthed her. He's her creator, quote unquote, so only he 1045 01:00:26,360 --> 01:00:28,480 Speaker 1: has the right to dispose of me. Is sort of 1046 01:00:28,480 --> 01:00:31,080 Speaker 1: how she talked about it. Interesting, Um, which I think 1047 01:00:31,160 --> 01:00:33,760 Speaker 1: is interesting, But I think it's actually more that once 1048 01:00:33,840 --> 01:00:36,080 Speaker 1: she got there, she realized what she was really looking for, 1049 01:00:36,160 --> 01:00:39,800 Speaker 1: and it wasn't permission from Dr Kurt, right, because Lily 1050 01:00:39,800 --> 01:00:42,600 Speaker 1: didn't realize it until she got to the hospital and 1051 01:00:42,720 --> 01:00:45,160 Speaker 1: was standing right there in front of the doctor. But 1052 01:00:45,680 --> 01:00:48,320 Speaker 1: what she wanted was to be able to get pregnant. 1053 01:00:49,600 --> 01:00:53,080 Speaker 1: She had this belief that a quote real woman was 1054 01:00:53,200 --> 01:00:55,960 Speaker 1: able to give birth, and she got a little obsessed 1055 01:00:56,000 --> 01:00:59,880 Speaker 1: with the idea of becoming again another quote, a complete woman, 1056 01:01:00,600 --> 01:01:04,680 Speaker 1: which she had mentioned in those words before she wrote 1057 01:01:04,680 --> 01:01:07,760 Speaker 1: to her friend Ernst quote, it is not with my brain, 1058 01:01:08,120 --> 01:01:10,440 Speaker 1: not with my eyes, not with my hands that I 1059 01:01:10,480 --> 01:01:13,120 Speaker 1: want to be creative, but with my heart and with 1060 01:01:13,160 --> 01:01:16,600 Speaker 1: my blood. The fervent longing in my woman's life is 1061 01:01:16,640 --> 01:01:19,680 Speaker 1: to become the mother of a child. So Lily asked 1062 01:01:19,680 --> 01:01:22,320 Speaker 1: doctor Kurt if he would give her an operation that 1063 01:01:22,320 --> 01:01:26,280 Speaker 1: would enable her to have children. Only a few weeks before, 1064 01:01:26,640 --> 01:01:28,840 Speaker 1: Dora Richter, who we talked about an episode one, was 1065 01:01:28,880 --> 01:01:32,680 Speaker 1: the first woman to have a sexual confirmation surgery. She 1066 01:01:32,840 --> 01:01:36,160 Speaker 1: had successfully undergone since then a full vagin of plastic 1067 01:01:36,800 --> 01:01:40,560 Speaker 1: So doctor Kurt agreed to implant a uterus in Lily 1068 01:01:40,840 --> 01:01:44,440 Speaker 1: and construct a vaginal canal, and then she felt like 1069 01:01:44,520 --> 01:01:49,240 Speaker 1: she would be able to marry Claude, which once again 1070 01:01:49,280 --> 01:01:54,480 Speaker 1: we come back to some inherent sexism and and binary 1071 01:01:54,520 --> 01:01:56,800 Speaker 1: ideas of what makes a man what makes a woman. 1072 01:01:57,400 --> 01:02:01,440 Speaker 1: And Lily has, you know, probably her whole life, believe 1073 01:02:01,600 --> 01:02:05,720 Speaker 1: that a woman has babies that's what makes a woman, 1074 01:02:06,560 --> 01:02:11,200 Speaker 1: and wants to yeah. Yeah, And and and that she 1075 01:02:11,240 --> 01:02:14,920 Speaker 1: couldn't marry someone she loved unless she was capable of 1076 01:02:14,960 --> 01:02:19,840 Speaker 1: giving him children. And that's not to say that, you know, 1077 01:02:20,080 --> 01:02:23,680 Speaker 1: that's not valid, that that there are women who feel like, 1078 01:02:23,880 --> 01:02:26,000 Speaker 1: you know, what I need to do is give birth, 1079 01:02:26,600 --> 01:02:29,920 Speaker 1: you know, and and trans women to who think that's 1080 01:02:30,040 --> 01:02:34,400 Speaker 1: very important at this point, Uh, it's it's not been done. 1081 01:02:34,760 --> 01:02:38,480 Speaker 1: It's it's a very theoretical kind of concept. But she 1082 01:02:38,600 --> 01:02:41,640 Speaker 1: feels very strongly about it and is willing to take 1083 01:02:41,680 --> 01:02:46,960 Speaker 1: that risk. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. But unfortunately, what doctors did 1084 01:02:46,960 --> 01:02:49,840 Speaker 1: not realize at this time was that the immune system 1085 01:02:49,920 --> 01:02:52,880 Speaker 1: does not like strange objects or organs in the body. 1086 01:02:52,960 --> 01:02:57,560 Speaker 1: You have to really prepare your body to accept a 1087 01:02:57,640 --> 01:03:00,920 Speaker 1: new organ, and you have to have us more advanced 1088 01:03:01,000 --> 01:03:03,840 Speaker 1: medicine than they had at that time. An anti rejection 1089 01:03:03,880 --> 01:03:07,000 Speaker 1: medicine wasn't around until the nineteen seventies, and the first 1090 01:03:07,040 --> 01:03:11,400 Speaker 1: successful organ transplant would not happen until nineteen eighty, so 1091 01:03:11,440 --> 01:03:15,400 Speaker 1: this is obviously many years before that. Lily had her 1092 01:03:15,520 --> 01:03:19,320 Speaker 1: uterus implanted in June of ninety one, but her body 1093 01:03:19,360 --> 01:03:22,800 Speaker 1: rejected it, and she spent months in the hospital, growing 1094 01:03:22,840 --> 01:03:28,320 Speaker 1: weaker and weaker, um with infections and different things, and 1095 01:03:28,360 --> 01:03:32,880 Speaker 1: Gerda sent flowers every day. Claude sent letters telling her 1096 01:03:32,920 --> 01:03:35,440 Speaker 1: he was patiently waiting for her in Turkey whenever she 1097 01:03:35,480 --> 01:03:39,800 Speaker 1: could come join him. But in September, Lily's heart failed. 1098 01:03:40,640 --> 01:03:44,520 Speaker 1: She passed away on September at forty eight years old. 1099 01:03:45,480 --> 01:03:49,920 Speaker 1: In some of her last letters, she wrote that I, Lily, 1100 01:03:50,160 --> 01:03:52,720 Speaker 1: am vital and have a right to life. I have 1101 01:03:52,880 --> 01:03:56,479 Speaker 1: proved by living for fourteen months. It may be said 1102 01:03:56,520 --> 01:03:59,320 Speaker 1: that fourteen months is not much, but they seemed to 1103 01:03:59,360 --> 01:04:03,240 Speaker 1: me like a whole and happy human life. And near 1104 01:04:03,240 --> 01:04:06,080 Speaker 1: the end she sent a letter to her sister saying, 1105 01:04:06,560 --> 01:04:09,520 Speaker 1: now I know death is near. Last night I dreamt 1106 01:04:09,520 --> 01:04:12,440 Speaker 1: about mother. She took me in her arms and called 1107 01:04:12,480 --> 01:04:18,600 Speaker 1: me Lily, and father was also there, which is beautiful 1108 01:04:18,640 --> 01:04:21,640 Speaker 1: because her parents had already passed away by the time 1109 01:04:21,720 --> 01:04:23,960 Speaker 1: she was Lily, so she would never know how they 1110 01:04:23,960 --> 01:04:28,320 Speaker 1: would except or reject her. So I think it's lovely 1111 01:04:28,400 --> 01:04:32,280 Speaker 1: that she had a a dream that they they said 1112 01:04:32,280 --> 01:04:34,880 Speaker 1: they were her family. Yeah, I mean, whether you see 1113 01:04:34,920 --> 01:04:38,640 Speaker 1: that as you know, a real vision or just as 1114 01:04:38,680 --> 01:04:43,040 Speaker 1: her sort of like really accepting herself and believing that, 1115 01:04:43,520 --> 01:04:45,640 Speaker 1: you know, people who loved her would accept her true 1116 01:04:45,640 --> 01:04:49,880 Speaker 1: self too. Either way, it's it's beautiful. And when she 1117 01:04:49,920 --> 01:04:52,440 Speaker 1: stayed with her brother, she was there for like a month, 1118 01:04:52,480 --> 01:04:54,120 Speaker 1: and he was like, you know, you haven't gone to 1119 01:04:54,120 --> 01:04:57,560 Speaker 1: see our parents gravestones yet, do you want me to 1120 01:04:57,680 --> 01:05:00,720 Speaker 1: take you? And at that time she was like, I 1121 01:05:00,760 --> 01:05:03,960 Speaker 1: know that I don't really have any parents or family. 1122 01:05:04,720 --> 01:05:07,919 Speaker 1: They're all in ours family, and so I don't really 1123 01:05:07,920 --> 01:05:10,360 Speaker 1: have any parents. You know. The closest I've got is 1124 01:05:10,480 --> 01:05:13,440 Speaker 1: Dr Kurt barn Across, And so it's it was just 1125 01:05:13,560 --> 01:05:16,680 Speaker 1: interesting that at that point she didn't see her family 1126 01:05:16,720 --> 01:05:20,080 Speaker 1: as even hers, And so I'm just very glad that 1127 01:05:20,160 --> 01:05:22,800 Speaker 1: near the end she did kind of see it that way, 1128 01:05:23,000 --> 01:05:25,240 Speaker 1: like painting, like, you know, she felt like she had 1129 01:05:25,320 --> 01:05:28,200 Speaker 1: to get far away from anything that was in ours, 1130 01:05:28,280 --> 01:05:30,840 Speaker 1: not realizing that she was, you know, Lily all along 1131 01:05:31,720 --> 01:05:34,440 Speaker 1: and these things were important to her, yeah, or that 1132 01:05:34,600 --> 01:05:37,600 Speaker 1: she didn't feel like she had a right to anything 1133 01:05:37,680 --> 01:05:41,000 Speaker 1: whereinar had right. Um, I think it's part of it too. 1134 01:05:41,120 --> 01:05:43,280 Speaker 1: It's not only like I need to push it away, 1135 01:05:43,320 --> 01:05:48,160 Speaker 1: but also it's not mine. I that's not me. It 1136 01:05:48,200 --> 01:05:50,400 Speaker 1: doesn't belong to me, you know what I mean? Just 1137 01:05:50,800 --> 01:05:54,960 Speaker 1: very complicated stuff. And it's complicated too because I I 1138 01:05:56,280 --> 01:05:59,800 Speaker 1: part of me is like, well, it's amazing that she 1139 01:06:00,200 --> 01:06:02,520 Speaker 1: felt so strongly she was willing to take this risk, 1140 01:06:02,920 --> 01:06:06,120 Speaker 1: she accepted the results in a way that she wasn't 1141 01:06:06,120 --> 01:06:08,960 Speaker 1: going to live through it and felt like, you know what, 1142 01:06:09,000 --> 01:06:11,360 Speaker 1: but I lived the life I wanted to live, and 1143 01:06:11,400 --> 01:06:15,360 Speaker 1: that's really wonderful. I also feel like that her very 1144 01:06:15,440 --> 01:06:19,680 Speaker 1: strong belief that a woman to be a woman, a 1145 01:06:19,760 --> 01:06:22,200 Speaker 1: complete woman, as she said, you need to have a 1146 01:06:22,280 --> 01:06:25,360 Speaker 1: uterus and be able to give birth and that, you know, 1147 01:06:25,600 --> 01:06:27,680 Speaker 1: kind of archaic notion is sort of what killed her 1148 01:06:27,720 --> 01:06:30,760 Speaker 1: in a way too. Um, which is sad because it 1149 01:06:30,840 --> 01:06:36,160 Speaker 1: wasn't It was not her being a transwoman that led 1150 01:06:36,200 --> 01:06:39,680 Speaker 1: to her death. It was her rigid beliefs about what 1151 01:06:39,760 --> 01:06:43,120 Speaker 1: a woman needed to be. Yeah. When I wonder too, 1152 01:06:43,200 --> 01:06:45,200 Speaker 1: if it came up that She's like, I really I 1153 01:06:45,240 --> 01:06:48,120 Speaker 1: want to have sex with Claude, and I don't know 1154 01:06:48,200 --> 01:06:52,480 Speaker 1: how because they don't have a vaginal canal. How can 1155 01:06:52,520 --> 01:06:54,920 Speaker 1: we do it? The only way I can think of 1156 01:06:55,280 --> 01:06:58,480 Speaker 1: is seems gay, do you know what I mean? But 1157 01:06:58,640 --> 01:07:02,760 Speaker 1: Dora had had the vaginal canal, just didn't go with 1158 01:07:02,800 --> 01:07:05,240 Speaker 1: the uterus, right, you know, so you're so right, So 1159 01:07:05,400 --> 01:07:06,880 Speaker 1: we could have gone with that, She could have gone 1160 01:07:06,880 --> 01:07:10,680 Speaker 1: with that, but she felt like, again, a complete woman 1161 01:07:11,000 --> 01:07:14,200 Speaker 1: can give birth, and we know cis and trans women 1162 01:07:14,240 --> 01:07:17,400 Speaker 1: who are complete women who cannot give birth or choose 1163 01:07:17,400 --> 01:07:21,840 Speaker 1: not to. And that's, you know, again, that's a newer mindset, 1164 01:07:21,880 --> 01:07:26,480 Speaker 1: I guess, um certainly again, very rigid of her to 1165 01:07:26,520 --> 01:07:30,840 Speaker 1: believe back then. Well, and it's interesting too because the 1166 01:07:30,840 --> 01:07:34,680 Speaker 1: there's a postulation that because of the shriveled ovaries that 1167 01:07:34,760 --> 01:07:37,240 Speaker 1: they found that she maybe had I think it was 1168 01:07:37,320 --> 01:07:42,800 Speaker 1: Klagenfelter syndrome um, which is where you have an extra 1169 01:07:43,760 --> 01:07:47,240 Speaker 1: X chromosome and so you have like smaller testicles and 1170 01:07:47,320 --> 01:07:50,520 Speaker 1: you're usually infertile. Interesting, um, it's sort of a similar 1171 01:07:50,640 --> 01:07:53,280 Speaker 1: as the Turner syndrome for women, where they have an 1172 01:07:53,280 --> 01:07:55,959 Speaker 1: extra chromosome and you might never know in your whole 1173 01:07:55,960 --> 01:07:57,600 Speaker 1: life that you have it until you try to get 1174 01:07:57,640 --> 01:08:00,040 Speaker 1: pregnant and you can't introduced mainly and in for a 1175 01:08:00,040 --> 01:08:02,920 Speaker 1: ttility thing. So I find it interesting that Einar was 1176 01:08:02,960 --> 01:08:05,120 Speaker 1: not less of a man because they didn't have children. 1177 01:08:05,720 --> 01:08:08,760 Speaker 1: But but Lily would be less of a woman if 1178 01:08:08,760 --> 01:08:17,439 Speaker 1: she couldn't, you know. Fascinating. Well, meanwhile, Gerda is living 1179 01:08:17,439 --> 01:08:20,760 Speaker 1: it up with her new husband Fernando in Morocco, but 1180 01:08:20,800 --> 01:08:24,880 Speaker 1: in nineties six he had burned through all of her savings. 1181 01:08:25,479 --> 01:08:28,400 Speaker 1: They divorced, so so much for this Italian lover, like 1182 01:08:28,680 --> 01:08:31,600 Speaker 1: it's a good time now, but he's he's going to 1183 01:08:31,720 --> 01:08:37,519 Speaker 1: use all that money. He sure did, man, Fernando. So 1184 01:08:37,640 --> 01:08:40,439 Speaker 1: Gerda moved back to Denmark and she tried to have 1185 01:08:40,520 --> 01:08:42,960 Speaker 1: more art shows, but by then the Art Deco style 1186 01:08:43,120 --> 01:08:45,639 Speaker 1: was falling out of fashion and her work really didn't 1187 01:08:45,640 --> 01:08:49,400 Speaker 1: sell very well. She slid further into obscurity and poverty, 1188 01:08:49,680 --> 01:08:53,840 Speaker 1: selling hand painted Christmas cards to survive only a few 1189 01:08:53,840 --> 01:08:58,160 Speaker 1: weeks after Nazis invaded Denmark in ninety Gerda died with 1190 01:08:58,240 --> 01:09:03,040 Speaker 1: little fanfare. Yeah, it's not it's just now really that 1191 01:09:03,080 --> 01:09:06,080 Speaker 1: people are starting to appreciate who she was in her 1192 01:09:06,160 --> 01:09:08,799 Speaker 1: lifetime as he as an artist and as a woman 1193 01:09:08,960 --> 01:09:12,160 Speaker 1: and as the wife of of Lily Elba. You know, 1194 01:09:12,400 --> 01:09:16,000 Speaker 1: she did not get her do in her time. But 1195 01:09:16,040 --> 01:09:21,800 Speaker 1: Gerda was cool, all right. Now, there's another aspect we 1196 01:09:21,840 --> 01:09:26,120 Speaker 1: can talk about with uh Lily's death, that she died 1197 01:09:26,160 --> 01:09:30,920 Speaker 1: when she did because shortly after that, which was of 1198 01:09:30,960 --> 01:09:36,960 Speaker 1: course in the Nazis came to power and started, for example, 1199 01:09:37,000 --> 01:09:40,760 Speaker 1: they destroyed the hospital where she had been getting her 1200 01:09:40,760 --> 01:09:43,479 Speaker 1: surgeries and her treatment, and they had, like you said, 1201 01:09:43,520 --> 01:09:45,800 Speaker 1: that list of names, and they went and they tracked 1202 01:09:45,840 --> 01:09:49,400 Speaker 1: these people down. So it's entirely possible and maybe even 1203 01:09:49,479 --> 01:09:52,600 Speaker 1: very likely. I'm sure, I guess this has to exist 1204 01:09:52,680 --> 01:09:58,040 Speaker 1: in speculation station, but that the Nazis would have killed her. 1205 01:09:58,400 --> 01:10:01,280 Speaker 1: She might have only lived a couple more years if 1206 01:10:01,400 --> 01:10:06,400 Speaker 1: that had not. So there's, you know something, if you're 1207 01:10:06,400 --> 01:10:08,799 Speaker 1: looking for a silver lining here, there might be something 1208 01:10:08,840 --> 01:10:11,360 Speaker 1: historically beautiful about the fact that she kind of got 1209 01:10:11,400 --> 01:10:13,400 Speaker 1: to go out more on her own terms, or at least, 1210 01:10:13,560 --> 01:10:17,080 Speaker 1: you know, through her own decisions, rather than the worst 1211 01:10:17,160 --> 01:10:21,040 Speaker 1: people of all time coming in and quite possibly killing 1212 01:10:21,040 --> 01:10:25,599 Speaker 1: her in a very horrible way. Yeah. Yeah, So silver 1213 01:10:25,720 --> 01:10:30,760 Speaker 1: lining is that she didn't get killed by Nazis. I 1214 01:10:30,800 --> 01:10:33,760 Speaker 1: don't know, but yeah, that's a it's a bummer of 1215 01:10:33,760 --> 01:10:37,040 Speaker 1: a silver line. It's a gray lining. Could have that 1216 01:10:37,080 --> 01:10:41,840 Speaker 1: sparkled to it. It's a very stormy gray lining. Oh well, 1217 01:10:41,880 --> 01:10:45,360 Speaker 1: there's an upper for you. I know. I wish there 1218 01:10:45,439 --> 01:10:47,519 Speaker 1: was a like, a yeah, more bright note to end 1219 01:10:47,600 --> 01:10:51,639 Speaker 1: on I suppose, But I guess you could say her 1220 01:10:51,720 --> 01:10:55,439 Speaker 1: her legacy has certainly echoed through history. You know, her 1221 01:10:55,479 --> 01:10:59,280 Speaker 1: book is incredibly important to understanding her journey and the 1222 01:10:59,360 --> 01:11:02,920 Speaker 1: journey of many who came after her. Right. Well, look, 1223 01:11:03,000 --> 01:11:06,400 Speaker 1: she died, you know, when she was too young. That 1224 01:11:06,400 --> 01:11:10,320 Speaker 1: that is tragic, but her life was remarkable, and like 1225 01:11:10,400 --> 01:11:13,160 Speaker 1: you said, it's an education still to this time. I mean, look, 1226 01:11:13,280 --> 01:11:17,400 Speaker 1: I I learned so much just from doing this episode. 1227 01:11:17,640 --> 01:11:20,000 Speaker 1: How people are learning something similar from listening to it 1228 01:11:20,040 --> 01:11:22,760 Speaker 1: if we managed to, you know, make any sense out 1229 01:11:22,760 --> 01:11:27,960 Speaker 1: of it. But um, but about the trans experience, the 1230 01:11:28,000 --> 01:11:32,720 Speaker 1: evolution of the trans experience, about history in general. There 1231 01:11:32,800 --> 01:11:36,320 Speaker 1: I learned a lot about history right here. Um and uh, 1232 01:11:36,360 --> 01:11:39,280 Speaker 1: and I'm really fascinating. I think she gave a those 1233 01:11:39,320 --> 01:11:44,800 Speaker 1: memoirs really gave us a really valuable perspective and throughout 1234 01:11:44,800 --> 01:11:47,800 Speaker 1: her struggles she got to live a pretty doe past 1235 01:11:47,920 --> 01:11:51,160 Speaker 1: life and she got to live us herself, you know, 1236 01:11:52,080 --> 01:11:54,519 Speaker 1: for for for some time, and she had a lot 1237 01:11:54,560 --> 01:11:56,920 Speaker 1: of love in her life, which I think is so 1238 01:11:56,960 --> 01:11:59,759 Speaker 1: wonderful to find out. It could have gone so differently. 1239 01:12:00,200 --> 01:12:03,160 Speaker 1: I could have left her and thought that was so weird, 1240 01:12:03,439 --> 01:12:06,160 Speaker 1: and all her friends could have abandoned her. She could 1241 01:12:06,160 --> 01:12:08,599 Speaker 1: have never found Kurt Vona Cross. I mean, it could 1242 01:12:08,600 --> 01:12:11,240 Speaker 1: have ended so so differently long before any of this, 1243 01:12:11,600 --> 01:12:14,880 Speaker 1: you know, anyone could have just like shamed her into 1244 01:12:14,960 --> 01:12:16,880 Speaker 1: living as I and are throughout the rest of her life. 1245 01:12:16,920 --> 01:12:18,560 Speaker 1: She might have lived at ninety years old as I 1246 01:12:18,720 --> 01:12:21,599 Speaker 1: aren't been miserably unhappy the whole time, right, or thrown 1247 01:12:21,640 --> 01:12:26,639 Speaker 1: herself into a river as she planned in right. So yeah, 1248 01:12:26,800 --> 01:12:29,479 Speaker 1: I think that's valuable to learn that your love and 1249 01:12:29,520 --> 01:12:33,479 Speaker 1: support can literally save someone else's life. Absolutely. I really 1250 01:12:33,479 --> 01:12:35,880 Speaker 1: do hope that you all took something, you know, even 1251 01:12:35,920 --> 01:12:38,360 Speaker 1: close to what I took from this story through our 1252 01:12:38,360 --> 01:12:41,559 Speaker 1: telling of it, because it's really fascinating. Um, But please 1253 01:12:41,640 --> 01:12:44,240 Speaker 1: let us know what you did. Think Again, we said 1254 01:12:44,240 --> 01:12:46,759 Speaker 1: this last time, but I'm I'm so interested in feedback 1255 01:12:46,800 --> 01:12:50,400 Speaker 1: from this one. Um. Such a fascinating story to me, 1256 01:12:51,240 --> 01:12:53,360 Speaker 1: so please reach out. Of course, you can get us 1257 01:12:53,520 --> 01:12:56,599 Speaker 1: romance at iHeart media dot com right or on social 1258 01:12:56,600 --> 01:12:59,639 Speaker 1: media Twitter and Instagram. I'm at Dianamite Boom and I'm 1259 01:12:59,680 --> 01:13:01,680 Speaker 1: at a great It's Eli and the show is at 1260 01:13:01,720 --> 01:13:04,800 Speaker 1: ridic Romance and we're gonna be coming back again next 1261 01:13:04,800 --> 01:13:07,880 Speaker 1: week with another crazy episode. Oh we didn't even mention 1262 01:13:08,320 --> 01:13:11,479 Speaker 1: this episode is fifty two, that is halfway through the 1263 01:13:11,560 --> 01:13:15,559 Speaker 1: years it is. Well, we're gonna pop bottle of champagne tonight. 1264 01:13:16,800 --> 01:13:18,559 Speaker 1: I think we've still got some left over from our 1265 01:13:18,600 --> 01:13:23,960 Speaker 1: New Year's party of January of So congratulations to us. 1266 01:13:24,280 --> 01:13:27,920 Speaker 1: Y'all go fix yourselves a drink in our honor um 1267 01:13:28,040 --> 01:13:31,639 Speaker 1: and uh and have fun this weekend. We will see 1268 01:13:31,680 --> 01:13:35,400 Speaker 1: you all at the next episode. Cannot wait. I love 1269 01:13:35,439 --> 01:13:39,040 Speaker 1: you by bye bye, so long friends, It's time to go. 1270 01:13:39,760 --> 01:13:43,759 Speaker 1: Thanks so listening to our show. Tell your friends names 1271 01:13:43,840 --> 01:13:47,320 Speaker 1: uncle Sandance to listen to our show Ridiculous. Well Nance