Thirty-year-old Tamara Rees showed what trans empowerment looked like in 1954. She fought Nazis, taught parachuting, and traveled the world… but her biggest hurdle came when the press learned of her identity.
1950s news coverage of Tamera Rees’ transition shows a time before the trans moral panic. Most stories considered her brave or heroic for her openness. National papers would even celebrate her wedding in 1955. At worst, her narrative was seen as banal and unnewsworthy.
The New York Daily News ran a surprisingly respectful series of articles on trans people in the 1950s. Tamara Rees’ were among the longest and most detailed. She thoughtfully implored the public to respect not only her identity but also other trans people like her.
Tamara wasn’t the first famous trans woman of the 1950s nor was she the best known. However, she had a unique opportunity to share her own story. You can read Tamara’s 1955 autobiography, “Reborn”: A Factual Life Story of a Transition from Male to Female, at http://transreads.org/reborn
