Yvonne Cook Riley: The Invention of Transgender

[Shana A]

Yvonne Cook Riley: The Invention of Transgender

Filed By Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | August 16, 2011 11:00 AM

http://www.bilerico.com/2011/08/yvonne_cook_riley_the_invention_of_transgender.php

I returned yesterday from Kindred Spirits, a transgender spiritual retreat held in Hot Springs, North Carolina, at the old Sunnybank Inn, built in the 1840s. There, several of us sitting around the porch one night, slapping at the gnats, had a fascinating hour-long discussion with Yvonne Cook-Riley. Yvonne was very involved in the trans movement in the 80s and early 90s. She's retired now, and lives a quiet and spiritual life in North Carolina. She was a tireless advocate for the community back in the day, however, and there wasn't any place one could look without seeing her. Something she said about the transgender movement fascinated me.

She said she was the founder of the transgender movement.