April Ashley: MBE for transgender campaigner



The first Briton to undergo sex-change surgery has received her MBE medal for services to transgender equality.

Liverpool-born actress and campaigner April Ashley was honoured during the investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

Born George Jamieson in Liverpool in 1935, she underwent gender reassignment surgery in Morocco in 1960.

She went on to have a successful modelling career, often appearing in Vogue magazine.

Her divorce in 1970 from Arthur Corbett made the headlines when the judge ruled that despite her surgery she remained a biological man and therefore the marriage was invalid and annulled.

The ruling ended the hopes of any transsexuals marrying until 2004 when the Gender Recognition Act allowed people to legally change gender.

Ms Ashley had joined the Navy at 14 but felt isolated and attempted suicide. She moved to Paris in the 1950s and started dressing as a woman, before finding success as a performer at Le Carrousel nightclub.

She underwent experimental gender reassignment surgery in 1960 in Casablanca, despite being told by the doctor there was only a 50/50 chance of survival.

After returning to England and becoming a model, she was outed as a transsexual by the Sunday People in 1961.

Ms Ashley was made an MBE in this summer's Queen's Birthday Honours list.