Christine Jorgensen (1926–1989)
American, first widely known person to have sex reassignment surgery–in this case male to female. Public pioneer for transgendered people. Born in the Bronx to supportive Danish-American parents, the former army solider traveled to Copenhagen in 1951 for sex reassignment surgery. When the European press began reporting on Jorgensen, she demonstrated considerable courage and media savvy by negotiating exclusive rights to her life story that was published in Hearst’s American Weekly news magazine. Jorgensen returned to the U.S. in 1953 as a celebrity. Widely covered by the media, she used her resulting celebrity to advocate for transgendered people. SF Bay Times Article
Find her plaque on Castro at 19th St