Caroline Cossey
Caroline Cossey | |
|---|---|
| Born | Barry Kenneth Cossey |
| Other names | Tula |
| Spouse(s) | Elias Fattal (1989) David Finch (1992-present) |
| Modeling information | |
| Height | 6 ft (182 cm) |
| Hair color | brown |
| Eye color | green |
Caroline "Tula" Cossey (born August 31, 1954, in Brooke, Norfolk), is an English model. Born Barry Kenneth Cossey, she is one of the world's most well known transsexual people and the first to ever pose for Playboy. Since being "outed" by British tabloid News of the World, Cossey has fought for her right to legally marry a man and to be recognized by the law as a woman.
Early life and transition
At the age of 17, Cossey started hormone therapy and began living as a woman full time. She was already somewhat feminine due to a condition known as Klinefelter's syndrome. However, instead of having XXY chromosomes like most with this condition, Cossey is XXXY. Soon after beginning transition, Cossey began a career as a showgirl and topless dancer, working in nightclubs in London, Paris and Rome. After legally changing her name and undergoing breast augmentation surgery, Cossey had sex reassignment surgery in December 1974.
Modeling career and "outing" by the tabloid press
After completing her transition, Cossey ventured into modeling. She was featured in fashion and print advertisements, achieving most of her success as a glamour model. In 1981, Cossey was cast as an extra in the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only. Shortly after the film’s release, the tabloid News of the World did what it had been threatening to do for quite a while and revealed that Cossey was a transsexual, which brought her modeling career and hopes of becoming an actress to a halt. She was in deep despair and contemplated suicide, but she decided to fight it head on. In 1982, Cossey responded by releasing I Am a Woman, her first autobiography.[1]
Later life
In 1989, Cossey petitioned the European Court of Human Rights to overturn British law concerning transsexuals. The European Court ruled to legally recognize Cossey as a female in June 1989, but the court overturned their decision a year later (transsexuals born in the United Kingdom would later be declared legally female through the Gender Recognition Act 2004). In 1991, she released her second autobiography, My Story,[2] which told the details of her transition and her unsuccessful battle with the European Commission.
In 1989, she married London businessman Elias Fattal, but upon returning from her honeymoon she saw that the press had done a story on her wedding, outing her to his family. Fattal's family was angry and horrified and after a few weeks, he took the side of his family and had the marriage annulled. Cossey married again in 1992 to Canadian David Finch. The couple are still married and living in Atlanta, Georgia.[3]
References
- ^ Tula, I Am a Woman, 1982, Sphere, ISBN 0-722-10583-5
- ^ Cossey, Caroline, My Story, 1991, Faber and Faber, ISBN 0-571-16251-7
- ^ IMDb biography - Tula
External links
- Caroline 'Tula' Cossey at IMDb
- Snopes article
- Tula on the Second Type Women website