A celebration of Roberta Cowell (an LGBT History Month 2010 event)

Via LGBT Croydon

A celebration of Roberta Cowell

Saturday 13th February for LGBT History Month 2010

• 3pm onward: Tea and cakes as we gather at the Clocktower Café, Katharine Street, Croydon.
• 4pm approx: walk half a mile to the site of Roberta Cowell’s birthplace, 4, Sydenham Road, Croydon
• 4:30pm approx: presentation at 4 Sydenham Road and photo; walk half a mile to The Bird in Hand.
• 5pm: arrive at The Bird in Hand, 291 Sydenham Road, CR0 2EL (opens at 5pm).
• 5.10pm approx: Opening of the exhibition on Roberta Cowell. Readings from her autobiography. Followed by a toast to Roberta Cowell (and photo).
• 5.30pm: Private screening of XXY, a fascinating and very moving contemporary film about an intersex girl. Uses subtitles. Several very positive reviews if you Google for “XXY DVD”.

  The film deals with many issues of relationships between the members of the two families involved. It raises issues about the intersex condition of Alex, the XXY girl. And, if you’re alert, it uses many intersex images, like that of the clown fish which changes sex when it becomes the queen of the colony.

• 7pm: Discussion of the film.
• 7.30pm Buffet: all welcome – but please e-mail trans@lgbtcroydon.org.uk by Saturday 6th or as soon as possible afterwards, so we know how many to expect.

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About Roberta Cowell:

Roberta Cowell was the one of the first transsexual people in Britain to undergo sex reassignment surgery (in 1951). Having survived the Second World War, Cowell sought psychological help which answered many questions. Cowell realised that over the years she had struggled, ever harder, to maintain a gender identity which was not hers. Adopting a female role, she formally changed her name and had her birth certificate corrected.

She found her new female roles and relationships both enjoyable and satisfying and set her mind on becoming as female, in body, as far as contemporary medicine would allow.

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About LGBT History Month:

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans History Month takes place every year in February. It celebrates the lives and achievements of the LGBT community. We are committed to celebrate its diversity and that of the society as a whole. We encourage everyone to see diversity and cultural pluralism as the positive forces that they are and endeavour to reflect this in all we do. For further information click here. You can also read testimonials of community groups and organisations supportive of History Month here.