Carlett Angialee Brown
PHOTO: Jet Magazine, 1953, Photographer Benjamin Dames
Carlett Angialee Brown (b. 1927) was the first Black and openly trans person to pursue Sexual Reassignment Surgery (SRS).
Carlett Brown made “First Negro Sex Change” headlines in 1953. AMAB and intersex, she was a US Navy Veteran and Trans Rights Activist (1965 Dewey’s Lunch Counter Protests). She worked as a dancer to fund her surgery, seeking gender affirming healthcare in Europe, but faced financial barriers.
As intimacy coordinators and directors, a lot of our focus is on gender and gender affirming care. Carlett’s fight for gender affirming care in the 1950’s and 60’s reflects an ongoing struggle that many trans folks experience today: Carlett served in the Navy, used her art to raise funds for her healthcare, and was forced to consider leaving her country to access it.
Before the 1969 Stonewall Riots, Carlett Brown was a part of the Dewey’s Lunch Counter Sit-Ins in 1965. Dewey’s, a hamburger restaurant chain in Philadelphia, became popular with the local LGBT communities until management ordered employees to refuse service “[in] response to a disruptive crowd of gender-variant teenagers”. Staff then refused service to anyone who appeared to be a part of the LGBT community, with one location refusing 150 patrons. This lead to a five-day demonstration outside of this location, spearheaded by LGBT teens and local activist network Janus Society.
“Dewey’s was possibly the first action where an established gay rights organization explicitly defended the rights of people to defy gender conventions and still be treated with dignity. Although the Dewey’s sit-in did not generate national media coverage in 1965, later historians recognized it as an important event in the history of LGBT activism.” (Susan Ferentinos, Dewey’s Lunch Counter Sit-In)
It has been almost 75 years since Carlett’s picture was featured in newspapers in 1953, and it is unclear whether Carlett was able to leave the US to get the surgery she worked so hard for. Regardless, her contributions to society as an artist and activist continue to inspire grassroots movements, trans people, and trans people of colour today.
More About Carlett Brown
“15 Transgender People You Should Know” by BET
“Paving the way for the trans activists of today, Carlett A. Brown started her journey while serving in the Navy during the 1950s. Introduced by JET Magazine, which she historically covered with the headline the "First Negro Sex Change." She worked as a shake dancer to earn money for gender affirmation surgery after discovering that she was intersex during her time of service. The surgery she sought was not legal in the United States, so she traveled to Denmark, where her first procedure was done.”
Carlett Brown: The Extreme Marginalization of Transwomen of Color, by Katie Bruno
“In the 1950s, the idea of crossing gender lines was seen as very deviant. However, when there are white transwomen why do we not also see transpeople of color in the news? When Carlett Brown tried getting her surgery from male to female she faced many challenges like citizenship, access to proper and affordable surgery, and arrest. The experiences of transwomen of color were a result of their occupation of several marginalized categories and that leads to challenges in their lives. Carlett Brown was a black transwoman who only wanted to get sex reassignment surgery and marry the man she loved.”
“A Look at African-American Trans Trailblazers” by #TeamEBONY
“In 1953, while much of America focused on the story of Christine Jorgensen (a White woman who was the first person widely known to have undergone sex reassignment surgery) JET Magazine readers learned about Carlett Brown’s attempt to become the “First Negro Sex Change.” Transgender African Americans actively participated in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, incorporating tactics from those efforts into their own work toward liberation. The gender non-conforming African American youth in Philadelphia, PA who kick-started the Dewey’s Lunch Counter Sit In and Protest in April and May of 1965 were a prime example of such involvement. It was the first protest specifically organized around and concerning trans issues, and preceded both the 1966 Compton’s Cafeteria Riots and the better known 1969 Stonewall Riots in which African American transgender advocates such as Miss Major and Marsha P. Johnson were involved.”
“I feel that female impersonators are being denied their right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness when they are arrested for wearing female clothes – especially when they are minding their own business.”
This blog post was collated in collaboration with PIP’s Social Media Team, which is comprised of several Launchpad students training to become Intimacy Professionals through our energy exchange initiative.
