I posted this to Julie Doe's thread today. I read an article yesterday about trans woman who transitioned in the 80's. Her story made me think of Julie Doe and how similar her story might be. Her name is Allison Washington and several articles of hers can be found
here.
Could her story be similar to Julie's?
Allison transitioned the year Julie was found, 1988. She didn't even know what transgender was until she saw a pamphlet on gender dysmorphia in a doctor's office. She had one supportive parent, her mother, and one that forced her to live as male then kicked her out at 17, her father. She lived as a female until 14. Her mother allowed her to choose her sexual identity. She was born in Europe, which by her accounts was more accepting that she was different than most born-male children. At 14 she went to live with her father and he would beat her for so called 'prancing around'. She found solace in theater arts after that. When she found out she was trans in her 30's she details the struggle to reach someone, be it a doctor or support group. She made many, many calls. She said that she hadn't seen a trans person before she started joining the groups. She talks about the struggles with dating cis-gender men (cis-gender are people who identify by what gender they were assigned at birth). She says she doesn't disclose her birth gender in her relationships due to the unexpected reactions. Like in the cases of 'trans panic' defense still used in court for a 'defense excuse' for murdering a trans person. Because of this she doesn't bring up her past, which is something she mentioned trans-women had to do. Start over completely by disappearing after the transition was complete.
After reading Allison's story it made me wonder if Julie had her surgeries in Europe. She was found in a tourist area; however, isotopes place her as being a Florida native.
My personal story at the receiving end of a birth-gender reveal.
Regarding Allison's response to keeping her birth gender undisclosed, I have a personal story regarding that. I can't imagine how scary it must be to reveal this to a romantic partner. And no doubt how dangerous it potentially could be in some situations! I was on the receiving end of this particular situation at one time in my youth in high school. He was FTM transgender which I didn't know immediately. We were friends and were crushing on each other a bit. He was really cute and cool, but never turned into anything romantic. One night he tells me through text that he was born female which being in my teens took a second to grasp. He was the first transgender person I had met before. I didn't know how to react or respond honestly. He reacted very hostel to me when it took me a while to reply. I think I said 'oh wow! I'm still processing this' or something to that effect. He basically called me a piece of crap and told me people like me were 'the problem with the world'. I felt terrible! At that time in my life I had never had a boyfriend before or even kissed anyone yet either. His news was a lot to take in. In all honesty I was confused especially as someone who had gender confusion in elementary school. I had dealt with those confusing feelings before. Around age 8, I felt I would have been happier if born a boy and felt more comfortable in boys or unisex clothing. Being in girls frilly clothing made me feel so uncomfortable. I reminder feeling this intense self consciousness on the playground. It's hard to put into words... It's so weird, best way to describe it is a dehydrated, nails on the chalkboard feeling. Just pure discomfort in your skin. This went away in middle school on it's own and I also realized I was straight then too. So I could empathize with him, but at the same time I didn't know what to say or how to react. To this day he hasn't spoken to me and would deny my requests on social media. I lost a friend all because I didn't react the way they wanted me to. What would be the right way to respond? As someone with empathy for them, someone who has been there, I
still responded wrong. That worries me to how the whole rest of the population would react. To be honest, I don't know if we would have dated. Being I had never even been with a cis-gender male at that time, I felt it would have been confusing to date a transgender person as my first ever relationship. I hope no one judges me for that! The whole experience made me feel guilty of my sexual orientation as a straight cis-gender female. I can't imagine how he felt. Looking back I still feel guilty for being straight... I'm sure trans people feel the same thing but reversed. I feel like this is struggle a lot of transgenders go through. Especially if they physically pass for cis-gender.
(Short version:
1.
found a story of someone who transitioned in the 80's like Julie. She details some struggles Julie and other Doe's might have had as well.
2.
Talked about trans revealing their birth gender which is risky due to violence. Possibly is what sealed the fate of some of these Doe's. And shared a personal story of where it happened to me.)
