Christine Jorgensen was born on May 30, 1926, in the Bronx, New York. She was assigned male at birth, but always felt like a girl. She wanted to wear girls’ clothes and play with girls’ toys. As a teenager, she developed crushes on boys and struggled to understand her own feelings.
After she graduated from high school in 1945, Christine was drafted by the U.S. Army. Christine served as a military clerical worker for a year. After World War II ended, Christine pursued a career in photography. In her free time, she read about medical procedures to help people who felt that their gender or sexual identity did not align with society’s expectations.
In 1950, she traveled to Denmark for a series of surgeries and hormone treatments that transformed her body into that of a woman. The process took nearly two years. She chose the name Christine in honor of her surgeon, Dr. Christian Hamburger.
Christine intended for her transition to remain private. However, an unidentified person who knew about the procedures she had contacted the press. On December 1, 1952, the New York Daily News published photographs of Christine before and after her transition with the headline “Ex-GI Becomes Blonde Beauty: Operations Transform Bronx Youth.” Within days, Christine Jorgensen was both a national and international celebrity. When she returned to the United States in 1953, Christine arranged with the press to make her arrival a public spectacle. Hundreds of reporters greeted her at the airport in New York City. She required a police escort to keep the crowds under control. Christine gave an interview at the airport. She thanked the press for the warm welcome, but said it was “too much.”
Although she often encountered offensive questions and rude jokes, Christine embraced the attention. She saw it as an opportunity to control the narrative about her life and advocate for acceptance of transgender people. Jorgensen was not the first transgender person in American history, but she was the most publicly recognized to date. Continue reading from Women & the American Story
From GI Joe to GI Jane: Christine Jorgensen's Story (The National WWII Museum)
Christine Jorgensen: America's First Transgender Celebrity (National Archives)
Christine Jorgensen's Childhood Residence (NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project)
Christine Jorgensen (Biography.com)
Christine Jorgensen Made History in 1952 With Transgender Surgery (The Washington Post)