Thank you, Renee RichardsWhile there are undoubtedly a number of adults who live in fear of revealing their secrets, I'm equally sure that Renee Richards sent the message to a lot of younger transgender people that they weren't alone in the way they felt and the way they were.
Even for those transgender individuals who don't get sex change operations, a lot choose to start hormone treatments, or undergo minor surgical procedures, to bring their gender (which is socially constructed) and their sex (which is strictly biological and anatomical) more in sync with one another.
Renee Richards showed this country, which is obviously still struggling with the whole issue of acceptance, that it wasn't just low-down good-for-nothings who lead "alternative lifestyles" or "aren't like the rest of us."