Deborah Marie “Debby” Hartin (September 15, 1933 – March 15, 2005) was an American lecturer and activist.Lamparski, Richard (August 21, 1971). Whatever became of Deborah Hartin? ''The New Sexuality''

WBAI WBAI (99.5 FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station licensed to New York, New York. Its programming is a mixture of political news, talk and opinion from a left-leaning, liberal or progressive viewpoint, and eclectic music. ...

Her 1970

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

following a gender transition made national headlines, and she went on to appear on numerous

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...

s.Meyerowitz, Joanne J. (2004). ''How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States.''

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...

, Hartin was selected by ''

The Book of Lists The ''Book of Lists'' refers to any one of a series of books compiled by David Wallechinsky, his father Irving Wallace and sister Amy Wallace. Each book contains hundreds of lists (many accompanied by textual explanations) on unusual or obscur ...

'' as one of ten renowned

trans women A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and so ...

,Wallace, Irving; Wallechinsky, David; Wallace, Amy (1983). ''The People's Almanac Presents The Books of Lists, No. 2''. William Morrow & Co and she was featured in the 1978 documentary '' Let Me Die a Woman''.Pownall, Garry (April 27, 1972
AV View.
''

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'', Vol. 54, No. 793 Page 221

Life and career

Prior to transition, Hartin served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

starting in 1953. While stationed in

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, Hartin married, and the couple had a daughter in 1955. The marriage led to a separation in 1957, and after moving to

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

in 1966, Hartin transitioned in 1970. Her divorce that year made headlines, one of the first publicized divorces due to transition. In 1971, Hartin brought suit against the Bureau of Records and Statistics within the

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for refusing to update her sex designation on her birth certificate. Under pressure to accommodate trans citizens, the Bureau had voted unanimously to omit a sex designation from the amended

birth certificate A birth certificate is a vital record that documents the birth of a person. The term "birth certificate" can refer to either the original document certifying the circumstances of the birth or to a certified copy of or representation of the ensuin ...

s of transsexual people. Hartin's suit ''Deborah Hartin v. Director of the Bureau of Records and Statistics'' was dismissed in 1973.Bartos, Samuel E (2008)
Letting "privates" be private:Toward a right of gender self-determination.
''Cardozo Journal of Law and Gender'' Vol. 15:67 Hartin told reporters she planned to convert to Judaism in 1976.O'Brian, Jack (January 18, 1976). Will Elvis Bow Out? '' Herald-Journal'' Soon after, she stopped making media appearances.

References

External links

* 1933 births 2005 deaths American activists Transgender women Transgender law in the United States Transgender military personnel 20th-century American LGBT people 21st-century American LGBT people {{US-activist-stub