Christine Jorgensen: When Did She Become a Transsexual?

This is a review when of early news and how it reported on Jorgensen. I’ve found that Jorgensen does not seem to have been referred to as a “transsexual” in newsprint during the first several years that she was out. At the time, she was the #1 most talked about person in the entire world… and yet, the term “transsexual” never seems to have been associated with her experience in the news… At least not until after the publication of Harry Benjamin’s 1966 Transsexual Phenomenon.

This is a random review of google news’ top results for Christine Jorgensen:

1952:

• Times Daily – Nov 30, 1952
• Ottawa Citizen – Dec 1, 1952
• Milwaukee Journal – Dec 4, 1952
• The Telegraph – Dec 15, 1952
• Tuscaloosa News – Dec 23, 1952

1953

• Milwaukee Sentinel – Feb 13, 1953
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – Apr 3, 1953
• Victoria Advocate – Apr 29, 1953
• Milwaukee Sentinel – May 29, 1953
• Kentucky New Era – Jun 11, 1953
• Sarasota Herald-Tribune – Jun 24, 1953
• St. Petersburg Times – Jun 26, 1953
• Rock Hill Herald – Aug 11, 1953
• Eugene Register-Guard – Aug 17, 1953
• Lewiston Morning Tribune – Nov 12, 1953
• Milwaukee Sentinel – Nov 12, 1953

1954

• Reading Eagle – Apr 8, 1954
• Milwaukee Sentinel – Oct 26, 1954

1955

• Reading Eagle – Dec 20, 1955

1957

• Lewiston Daily Sun – Nov 14, 1957

1959

• Miami News – Jan 1, 1959
• Miami News – Jan 8, 1959
• Oxnard Press-Courier – Mar 31, 1959
• Tuscaloosa News – Apr 1, 1959
• Sarasota Journal – Aug 4, 1959

1961

• St. Joseph Gazette – Apr 25, 1961

1962

• Spokesman-Review – Aug 31, 1962

1963

• Lake Benton Valley News – Jan 3, 1963

1966

• Gettysburg Times – Oct 17, 1966
• Park City Daily News – Nov 25, 1966

1968

• Sarasota Herald-Tribune – Jun 25, 1968
• Toledo Blade – Dec 28, 1968

1970

• Lewiston Morning Tribune – Oct 26, 1970
• Calgary Herald – Oct 28, 1970
• Ellensburg Daily Record – Nov 4, 1970
• Williamson Daily News – Dec 19, 1970
• Eugene Register-Guard – Dec 20, 1970
• Daily News – Dec 22, 1970
• Sarasota Herald-Tribune – Dec 27, 1970

1972

• Times-News – Sep 22, 1972
• St. Joseph News-Press – Sep 27, 1972

1973

• Modesto Bee – Aug 12, 1973 (Bingo!)

It took until 1973 to find a news report in which Jorgensen was referred to as a “transsexual” using Google’s top archived news search hits for “Christine Jorgensen.”

I happen to have an (apparent rare) 1966 article wherein Jorgensen is referred to as a transsexual:

When I do a google news archive search for “transsexual” (between 1950 and 1969) I only find 10 articles. Try the search yourself.