Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the Archive
Jun 18, 2026 · 28 min · 7 segments
When news broke in 1952 that Christine Jorgensen, an ex-GI from the Bronx, had undergone gender-affirming surgery, she became a global sensation. In this 1957 interview, meet the thoughtful woman…
Eric MarcusHost
As a five-year-old, she remembered feeling upset and confused that the things her older sister got to enjoy, like long hair, dresses, and dolls, were off-limits.
As she confided to some friends, if she noticed men, it was, quote, "...not as a man, but as a woman might." When Christine was in her early 20s, she learned that experimental hormonal and surgical interventions were being performed in Scandinavia.
In 1950, she traveled to Copenhagen and embarked on a two-year process to, as she put it, make the body fit the soul.
And in an age of rigid gender norms, she upended the carved-in-stone belief that gender is an absolute.
Christine had hoped to become a professional photographer But when her overnight celebrity consigned her to a life in the limelight, she ran with it.
She developed a successful nightclub act and took on the burden of educating the public and giving hope to others like her.
In 1957, Christine agreed to share her story in a recorded conversation with Nipsey Russell, an entertainer who later became a game show fixture on American TV.
Against Christine's wishes, they gave it the suggestive title, Christine Jorgensen Reveals.
But for all of Nipsey Russell's prying into what was under her clothes, what Christine revealed, above all, was that she was a woman of sophistication, charm, and dignity.
As a five-year-old, she remembered feeling upset and confused that the things her older sister got to enjoy, like long hair, dresses, and dolls, were off-limits.
As she confided to some friends, if she noticed men, it was, quote, "...not as a man, but as a woman might." When Christine was in her early 20s, she learned that experimental hormonal and surgical interventions were being performed in Scandinavia.
In 1950, she traveled to Copenhagen and embarked on a two-year process to, as she put it, make the body fit the soul.
And in an age of rigid gender norms, she upended the carved-in-stone belief that gender is an absolute.
Christine had hoped to become a professional photographer But when her overnight celebrity consigned her to a life in the limelight, she ran with it.
She developed a successful nightclub act and took on the burden of educating the public and giving hope to others like her.
In 1957, Christine agreed to share her story in a recorded conversation with Nipsey Russell, an entertainer who later became a game show fixture on American TV.
Against Christine's wishes, they gave it the suggestive title, Christine Jorgensen Reveals.
But for all of Nipsey Russell's prying into what was under her clothes, what Christine revealed, above all, was that she was a woman of sophistication, charm, and dignity.
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