Transgender Pioneer Virginia Prince 1912-2009

I just received word that Virginia Prince has died at age 97. The last I heard Virginia was living in a retirement home in California. She kept contact with Dr. Richard Docter who wrote a biography of Virginia in 2004.

Virginia lived full-time as a woman from age 55 until her death but she was not a transsexual and did not consider herself to be one. She coined the term “transgenderist” for what she was and how she lived her life. Several of us writing about gender politics in the 1990s modified the term to “transgender” and applied it to what used to be called the “TV-TS” community. It stuck.

Virginia was a co-founder of Tri-Ess, the Society for the Second Self, an organization devoted to heterosexual crossdressers and their families. This often led to charges of discrimination and sexism from other orgaizations with more “open” membership policies.

I considered Virginia a friend and mentor even though she could be opinionated and very difficult. As a co-founder of an open membership organization (Renaissance Transgender Assoc.) we often agreed to disagree about many issues.

I first saw Virginia Prince on television when I was about 18 years old and that event changed my life. Whether you loved or reviled her there is no question that Virginia Charles Prince had an impact on the lives of every transgendered person alive today. Many of us will miss her.

Rest in peace, my friend.

JoAnn Roberts

Category: Transgender Community News