April Ashley was outed as trans and then divorced – I want everyone to know her story
Big Brother, a literal decade before. Previous to Nadia in the 00s, we saw model and Bond girl Caroline Cossey outed and destroyed by the press 20 years prior and April Ashley 20 years before her in the 60s – also outed and torn apart by the media.There’s a running theme here with the British press and trans people, isn’t there?April Ashley was a successful model in the 60s, appearing in Vogue, before her story was sold to The Sunday People, and it emerged that she was a trans woman.
Luckily for us, April went on to write a book. Unfortunately, it had been taken out of print by the time I wanted to buy it in 2013.But I found a copy for about £50 on eBay.
It was the most expensive book I’ve ever bought. Fortunately, I had my student loan and it ended up being worth every penny.Despite being born a lifetime apart – not to mention transitioning in completely different worlds – there were a lot of parallels between April’s life and my own.
Her book was just what I needed, because it’s cliché, but how can you be what you can’t see?I began reading April’s story about her transition when I began my own.
