Standard Disclaimer: This page is a listing and links to news items regarding transgender persons from 1961. It is ordered by date of appearance in the news, not the date of the event. Note that the text summaries are not transcripts.
July 23, 1961. Dallas Morning News, pages 1-2
Christine Jorgensen, on tour in Australia, was reported as saying “I might never marry and let’s face it – at 35, I am an old maid. I have been engaged twice already, but both times it didn’t work out.”.
September 16, 1961. Omaha World Herald, page 16
Ginette Ferruni, jailed for attempting to marry a young girl, is planning to marry another young woman after undergoing sexual reassignment surgery. After changing her name to Georges, her lawyer stated that the former Miss Ferruni would be able to legally marry a woman.
November 6, 1961. Greensboro North Carolina Record, page 1
News from England says that two British women athletes have started the process of transition into men. What is quite interesting is that one young lady, formerly able to run 100 yards in 11 seconds, but after her surgery her time slumped to 12.8 seconds.
December 11, 1961. Portland Oregonian, page 3
Jacques Charles Dufresnoy has undergone sexual reassignment surgery in Morocco to become Jacqueline Charlotte Dufresnoy. Known as Coccinelle (meaning “ladybug”), she would become a famous entertainer, socialite, and transgender icon into the early 1980’s.
