After his sex change in the early 1960s, she had left the United Kingdom for more than three decades because of discrimination. She has devoted her life to defend the rights of transgender people. She was 86 years old.
Le Monde with AFP
It was a pioneer of the struggle for the rights of transgender persons in the United Kingdom. The actress and Mannequin April Ashley died at the age of 86, reported the British media Wednesday, December 29.
Second British to have changed sex, she had left her country for more than three decades because of discrimination. She has dedicated her life to defend the rights of transgender people and her death aroused many tributes in the LGBT community.
The singer Boy George greeted a “force of nature and a great priestess” of the transgender cause. The activist for LGBT rights Peter Tatchell also paid tribute to “a heroin” and “a large trans pioneer for decades”.
Decorated by Prince Charles for his action
Born in 1935 in Liverpool (northwestern England), in a working-class family, April Ashley joins teenager merchant navy. After several suicide attempts and a stay in psychiatric hospital, she moved to London, then in Paris, where she occurs in drag-Queens shows at Cabaret Le Carrousel. It saves money for its change of sex change, carried out in 1960 in Morocco and marked by painful side effects.
Back in England, April Ashley managed to get a passport and driving the identifier as a woman. She works as a model and actress, appearing in the fashion magazine Vogue. But his career knows a stop when the Tabloid Sunday People makes public his change of sex in 1961.
In 1963, she married the aristocrat Arthur Cameron Corbett. When the couple wants to divorce, in 1970, a court invalidates their marriage on the grounds that his change of sex is not recognized legally. April Ashley then moves to the United States and returns to his country only in 2005 when the British law allows him to recognize her as a woman.
It is decorated in 2012 by Prince Charles for his action for the rights of transgender persons. “I know better than anyone how people can judge, but all that matters is to be faithful to oneself,” said April Ashley, in an interview cited by the British media.