Christine Jorgensen was not the first surgically altered transsexual woman and not even the first American transsexual, that award goes back a long way - read about that here, but she did change what being transsexual meant in press terms.
On December 1, 1952, news of her 'sex change' in Denmark made front page news.
Born George Jorgenson to Danish-American parents 'he' joined the army in 1945. GI, George's desire to be a woman was overwhelming and George was fortunate to find sympathetic surgeons and endocrinologists in Copenhagen. When George wanted to become a woman sex-change surgery was illegal in most countries there was no surgery available in America as it would make a man ineligible for military service and it was still a great secret in Britain at that time.
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