The Evening Read: Liverpool-born 1960s icon and transsexual April Ashley reflect

[Amelia Pond]

*TRIGGER WARNING*
The Evening Read: Liverpool-born 1960s icon and transsexual April Ashley reflects on her extraordinary life ahead of year-long exhibition
Jan Tansley, Sep 19, 2013 18:59

As she walks along the streets near her home in south west London well-wishers are quick to pass on greetings or wish April Ashley a 'good afternoon'...

Times have clearly changed – though maybe be not as much as they might – and it's time for reflection.

Now, 78, April is the focus for a new exhibition which opens on September 27 at the Museum of Liverpool.

April Ashley: Portrait of a lady will explore the story of the woman who was one of the first people in the world to undergo pioneering gender reassignment surgery.

[Bardoux]

April Ashley, transgender icon: Liverpool exhibition opens
Helen Carter, September 27th

A year-long exhibition opens at Liverpool Museum on Friday dedicated to the astonishing life of April Ashley. It examines how one of the first British people to undergo gender reassignment surgery helped to change society.

The exhibition focusing on her extraordinary journey from George Jamieson to April Ashley MBE draws on her own photographic archive and documents to look at the wider impact of changing social and legal conditions for all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Janet Dugdale, director of the Museum of Liverpool, said: "As one of Britain's first transsexual women to undergo gender assignment surgery, April Ashley's story - which began in this, her home city - has had a tremendous impact on the trans community and people across the globe.

"The exhibition is internationally important and we will share April's story along with experiences of transgender people during the last 70 years."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-24271931