Thank you for this beautiful and insightful narrative, JoAnn. I wonder if Ronnie was Intersex — sometimes life-threatening conditions can arise where the person is born with both male and female reproductive organs and removing one or the other is necessary. I actually had this surgery at seven — and despite overwhelming evidence I was a girl (I looked and acted like one) I was forced after to be a boy, which resulted in crushing depression for a great deal of my adult life. It’s incredible to me that back in the fifties there was a great deal more respect for the individuals who were different than there is now. I wonder what happened to her, and if she decided to go ‘stealth’ (a term for someone who transitions and presents herself or himself as cis for the rest of their lives, cutting themselves off completely from their past) or is now coming out because more and more trans and intersex people are becoming visible.
- Sedgy