Caroline Cossey
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Caroline "Tula" Cossey (born August 31, 1954, in Brooke, Norfolk), is an English actress. Born Barry Kenneth Cossey, she is one of the world's most famous transsexual people and the first to ever pose for Playboy. Since being "outed" by a British tabloid, Cossey has fought for her right to legally marry a man and to be recognized by the law as a woman.
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[edit] Early Life and Transition
Cossey started hormone therapy and began living as a woman full time at 17 years old. She was often mistaken as female even before transition; Cossey has stated that this is because she has XXY chromosomes, a condition called Klinefelter's syndrome. In her late teens (soon after beginning transition), Cossey began a career as a showgirl and topless dancer, working in nightclubs in London, Paris and Rome. After legally changing her name and undergoing breast augmentation surgery, Cossey had sex reassignment surgery in December 1974.
[edit] Modeling Career and "Outing" by the Tabloid Press
After completing her transition, Cossey ventured into modeling. She was featured in fashion and print advertisements, achieving most of her success as a glamour model. In 1981, Cossey was cast as an extra in the movie For Your Eyes Only. Shortly after the film’s release, the tabloid News of the World revealed Cossey was a transsexual, briefly disrupting her modeling career. In 1982, Cossey responded by releasing I Am a Woman, her first autobiography.
[edit] Later Life
In 1989, Cossey petitioned the European Court of Human Rights to overturn British law concerning transsexuals. The European Court ruled to legally recognize Cossey as a female in June 1989, but the court overturned their decision a year later. In 1992, she released My Story, her second autobiography. My Story chronicled Cossey's unsuccessful battle with the European Commission.
In 1989, she married a London businessman but the union was annulled after only 3 weeks of marriage. Her second wedding was to David Finch in 1992. As recently as 1998, the two were still married and living in the US.
[edit] References
- Cossey, Caroline. My Story. 1992. Faber and Faber. ISBN 0571162517
