TV/TS Advocate Yvonne Sinclair Passes Away
Yvonne Sinclair
One of the leading advocates for recognition and respect for transgendered people in the United Kingdom has died. Yvonne Sinclair passed away in Queen Elizabeth Hospital on August 6. Yvonne had suffered from emphysema for the past three years caused by smoking and had been ill for the past two months.
Sinclair worked tirelessly for the cause of transvestism and transsexuality acceptance from the 1970s up until the mid-1990s. She was the co-ordinator of the progressive TG support organization known as the TV/TS Support Group, an open membership group that was light on rules and regulations but had a bricks and mortar headquarters that was open to all.
Sinclair also founded 2-4 French Place, a social meeting place for transvestites and transsexuals which featured a bar serving soft drinks and snacks which operated three evenings a week so TGs had somewhere safe to go where they could get dressed and have a social evening.
Yvonne Sinclair was also a promoter of drag balls and parties for transgendered people and members of the general public who were accepting and supportive.
For many years Sinclair was dedicated to making transgendered people acceptable to the general public and to themselves. To make the support group and the French Place space mainstream she sought government acceptance of them which resulted in membership in the National Council of Voluntary Organizations and registered charity status.
A short obituary on her website ends with these words: “Many owe Yvonne Sinclair a huge debt of gratitude for the help and advice she gave to those sought help with their cross-dressing. She saved the marriages, lives and sanity of many people who found it difficult to come to terms with their cross-dressing. She will be sadly missed.”
Thanks to Christine-Jane for letting us know about Ms. Sinclair’s passing.
Category: Transgender Community News
About the Author (Author Profile)
Angela Gardner is a founding member of The Renaissance Transgender Assoc., Inc., former editor of its newsletter and magazine, Transgender Community News. She was the Diva of Dish for TGF in the late 1990s and Editor of LadyLike magazine until its untimely demise. She has appeared in film and television shows portraying TG characters, as well as representing Renaissance on numerous talk shows.Subscribe
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There is no doubt at all that the person who did most for transvestites in the UK over the years was Yvonne Sinclair, who ran the London Transvestite/Transsexual Support Group for some fifteen years, building it up from a small social club to a Registered Charity with its own building, and helping thousands of TVs and TSs over those years. She certainly was the saviour of my sanity, taught me how to accept myself, and most of my attitudes and beliefs I “inherited” from her because I believe she was right pretty well all the time. She could be a martinet and occasionally a little hurtful, but overall she was without doubt the most forceful driver in the UK for the acceptance of transvestism. God rest her, she was a bloody marvel! So many of us have cause to be everlastingly grateful to her.
First JoAnn Roberts, now Yvonne Sinclair.The man upstairs must be in need of the best organizers for the greatest celestial TG event ever. After all those angels have been sitting around in long robes for an eternity. It is time to party in Heaven.
The first person I met at the door of my first TG meeting was Yvonne Sinclair. I couldn’t have asked for a more welcoming and vivacious hostess. When she found out that I was out for the first time and I was from ‘the colonies’ she did all she could to introduce me around and make me feel welcome. My first step out of the closet was a big and happy one thanks to Yvonne Sinclair. For the next few years I was looking for any excuse I could to get to London and to TV/TS Friends events. I didn’t always see Yvonne but I always felt her presence.