1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:07,680 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello everyone, I'm Eves. Welcome to This Day 3 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:10,560 Speaker 1: in History Class, where we take a tiny bite of 4 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:24,600 Speaker 1: history every day. Today is December one, nineteen. The day 5 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:28,760 Speaker 1: was December one, nineteen fifty two. The New York Daily 6 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:34,920 Speaker 1: News announced Christine Jorgensen's gender confirmation surgery, garnering Jorgensen international 7 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:37,600 Speaker 1: fame and making her the first person in the US 8 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:41,520 Speaker 1: to become a widely known for having the surgery. Jorgensen 9 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:45,519 Speaker 1: was born in nineteen to working class Danish American parents. 10 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:49,559 Speaker 1: After being rejected twice for her small stature, she was 11 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:53,920 Speaker 1: finally drafted into the Army in August of nineteen. She 12 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:56,080 Speaker 1: served as a clerk in New Jersey for a little 13 00:00:56,120 --> 00:00:59,600 Speaker 1: over a year. She was honorably discharged from the army, 14 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:04,080 Speaker 1: after which point she studied at photography school in New Haven, Connecticut, 15 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:07,279 Speaker 1: and enrolled at the Manhattan Medical and Dental Assistant School. 16 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:10,880 Speaker 1: From a young age, Jourgensen thought that she was different 17 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:13,600 Speaker 1: from boys, and as she got older, she realized that 18 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:15,959 Speaker 1: she was attracted to men but did not feel like 19 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:19,200 Speaker 1: she was gay. While she was in California, where she 20 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:21,959 Speaker 1: had moved to pursue work in photography and film. She 21 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:24,039 Speaker 1: told a couple of her friends that she felt like 22 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:28,319 Speaker 1: she quote had the emotions of a girl. Jourgensen moved 23 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:30,919 Speaker 1: back to the East Coast, and she continued to question 24 00:01:30,959 --> 00:01:34,960 Speaker 1: her identity. She learned about indo chronologists who were working 25 00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:38,560 Speaker 1: with hormones and animals, and read the book The Male Hormone, 26 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:41,360 Speaker 1: and she wondered if hormone treatments were the answer to 27 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:45,280 Speaker 1: her feelings. When an indo chronologists rejected her wishes for 28 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:49,720 Speaker 1: hormonal treatment and referred her to a psychiatrist, she turned elsewhere. 29 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:53,680 Speaker 1: In nineteen fifty, at the advice of a friend, Jorgensen 30 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:57,240 Speaker 1: traveled to Denmark, where she met with Dr Christian Hamburger, 31 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:03,120 Speaker 1: a specialist in hormonal therapy. Jorgensen underwent experimental estrogen therapy 32 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 1: and six operations. She chose the name Christine in honor 33 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:10,239 Speaker 1: of her doctor. She wrote to her family telling them 34 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 1: that though her physical appearance had changed, she had not 35 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:16,799 Speaker 1: changed as a person. It's not clear how Christine's story 36 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:19,359 Speaker 1: got to the press. She might have leaked it herself, 37 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:22,120 Speaker 1: It may have been a lab technician or a family 38 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:26,000 Speaker 1: friend might have leaked the story. Either way, On December one, 39 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty two, the New York Daily News reported the 40 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:33,360 Speaker 1: story of Jorgensen's gender confirmation surgery with the headline x 41 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:37,920 Speaker 1: GI becomes blonde Beauty. The article said the following, in part. 42 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:43,080 Speaker 1: Dr Eugenie Anderson, US Ambassador to Denmark, was fully aware 43 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:45,959 Speaker 1: of what was going on, and at the successful conclusion 44 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:49,520 Speaker 1: of the operations, arranged that Christine's records be changed by 45 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:53,239 Speaker 1: the Army and the Veterans Administration, and also by the 46 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:55,959 Speaker 1: Bureau of Immigration so that the man who went abroad 47 00:02:56,040 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: three years ago could be readmitted as a woman. Jorgensen's 48 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 1: story brought new conversations about gender identity into the public sphere. 49 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:07,040 Speaker 1: She got a lot more pressed and attention, some positive 50 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:10,480 Speaker 1: and some negative. Some said she wasn't a real woman 51 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:15,799 Speaker 1: and denounced her gender confirmation surgery. Regardless, she gained celebrity status. 52 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:19,520 Speaker 1: She had an autobiographical sketch published in American Weekly. She 53 00:03:19,639 --> 00:03:23,320 Speaker 1: toured as an entertainer, performing in nightclubs and theaters, facing 54 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:27,399 Speaker 1: discrimination along the way. She also gave lectures at colleges 55 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:30,840 Speaker 1: and wrote an autobiography that was published in nineteen sixty seven. 56 00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:35,760 Speaker 1: She died of bladder cancer in ninety nine. I'm Eve 57 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:38,560 Speaker 1: Scheffcote and hopefully you know a little more about history 58 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. If you've seen any good 59 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:44,880 Speaker 1: history means lately, you can send them to us on 60 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:50,880 Speaker 1: social media at t D I h C Podcast, or 61 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 1: you can go the old fashioned route and send us 62 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:58,080 Speaker 1: an email at this Day at I heart media dot com. 63 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:08,440 Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening. We'll see a place tomorrow. 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