Robina Fedora Asti (April 7, 1921 – March 12, 2021)
was an American flight instructor and advocate for women's and transgender rights.
Her advocacy changed government rules to allow transgender people to receive
Social Security
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...
survivor benefits.
In July 2020, Asti was awarded two
Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
for being the oldest active pilot and active flight instructor.
Childhood and education
Asti was born April 7, 1921, in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, New York, to David Astey, a featherweight boxer, and Helen (Jund) Astey, a homemaker.
Asti was
assigned male at birth, and did not begin to identify as female until adulthood.
Her father had anglicized their last name for his career; Robina changed it back to the Italian spelling when she transitioned.
She grew up in
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
, taking an early interest in electrical engineering.
As a teenager, she earned money fixing radios around the neighborhood, with a steady flow of customers.
She attended
Brooklyn Technical High School
Brooklyn Technical High School, commonly called Brooklyn Tech and administratively designated High School 430, is an elite public high school in New York City that specializes in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It is one of t ...
until age 17, when she dropped out to join 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 ...
.
Career
Asti was initially stationed on
Wake Island
Wake Island ( mh, Ānen Kio, translation=island of the kio flower; also known as Wake Atoll) is a coral atoll in the western Pacific Ocean in the northeastern area of the Micronesia subregion, east of Guam, west of Honolulu, southeast of T ...
where she was active in installing radios in naval aircraft in the run up to
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
.
She later became a pilot, stationed at
Midway Island
Midway Atoll (colloquial: Midway Islands; haw, Kauihelani, translation=the backbone of heaven; haw, Pihemanu, translation=the loud din of birds, label=none) is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. Midway Atoll is an insular area of the Unit ...
in the Pacific Ocean where she flew reconnaissance
PBY Catalina
The Consolidated PBY Catalina is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft that was produced in the 1930s and 1940s. In Canadian service it was known as the Canso. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II. Catalinas served w ...
planes in order to detect Japanese ships.
She was later promoted to
test pilot
A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...
.
She was discharged after the war ended at the rank of lieutenant commander and began a career as a flight instructor.
Upon returning to New York, she opened a supper club in
White Plains, New York
(Always Faithful)
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with three friends from the Navy, although the restaurant business did not suit her and she soon sold her share of the company.
She would go on to work at the
mutual fund
A mutual fund is a professionally managed investment fund that pools money from many investors to purchase securities. The term is typically used in the United States, Canada, and India, while similar structures across the globe include the SICAV ...
company E.W. Axe.
She rose to become a mutual fund vice-president but quit prior to her gender transition, feeling it was not tenable in the workplace.
Subsequently she took the jobs available to her as a woman,
including as a
makeup artist
A make-up artist, also called a makeup artist, and often shortened to MUA, is an artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and prosthetics on others for theatre, television, film, fashion, magazines and other similar productions incl ...
at
Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the business. It became a div ...
to learn how to sew and use an iron on clothing in order to become the "best goddamned woman I could be". She also was chairperson of the
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to ...
chapter of the
Ninety-Nines
The Ninety-Nines: International Organization of Women Pilots, also known as The 99s, is an international organization that provides networking, mentoring, and flight scholarship opportunities to recreational and professional female pilots. Foun ...
women's aviation organization.
Personal life
Asti married Evangeline Diaz-Perez of
Palm Beach, Florida in 1958. They had four children, one of whom died in childhood.
With the support of her wife, Asti began hormone replacement therapy on February 14, 1976, following the birth of their youngest child.
This was followed by
sex reassignment surgery
Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a transgender or transsexual person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their identified gender, and a ...
.
The couple amicably separated soon afterwards, and Asti moved back to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. There, she met artist Norwood Patten; they married in 2004.
Activism
Asti was not an activist for much of her life but also did not shy away from confronting injustice where she encountered it.
Shortly after transitioning, Asti learned from her doctor that the
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...
required an internal physical exam in order to renew her pilot’s license.
She found this highly objectionable and working with an organization of female pilots, the Ninety-Nines, successfully petitioned the government to drop the rule.
Following her husband’s death in 2012, Asti applied for
Social Security
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...
benefits, but was denied due to her being
transgender
A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...
. She successfully challenged this in court with representation from
Lambda Legal
Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, better known as Lambda Legal, is an American civil rights organization that focuses on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities as well as people living with HIV/AIDS ( PWAs) through imp ...
.
A film titled ''Flying Solo: A Transgender Widow Fights Discrimination'' about her life and struggles with Social Security was produced and aired at the 2015 ''TransReelization'' event. After having seen the ongoing discrimination against trans people, Asti became more actively involved in LGBT activism throughout her 90s.
She gave a
TEDx
TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...
presentation in 2016 titled "War Stories and a Woman's Changes" about her life as a trans individual and her advice for young LGBT people and the ongoing fight for equality. She worked with her grandson to found the Cloud Dancers Foundation in 2019 in order to ensure there is active advocacy for elderly trans people.
Awards and recognition
On July 23, 2020, Asti gave a flight lesson at
Riverside Municipal Airport
Riverside Municipal Airport (Riverside Arlington Airport, decades ago) , is four miles (6 km) southwest of downtown Riverside, the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States.
Scheduled flights to Laughlin/Bullhead Internat ...
in California at age 99, establishing a new world record for oldest flight instructor.
She was listed in the 2020 edition of the
Out100
''Out'' is an American LGBTQ news, fashion, entertainment, and lifestyle magazine, with the highest circulation of any LGBTQ monthly publication in the United States. It presents itself in an editorial manner similar to '' Details'', '' Esquire' ...
list of most influential LGBTQ+ individuals of the year.
Death
Asti died on March 12, 2021, in San Diego, California at the home of her daughter, where she had moved during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
.
She was 99.
See also
*
Jan Morris
(Catharine) Jan MorrisJan Morris, Paul Clements, University of Wales Press, 2008, p. 7 (born James Humphry Morris; 2 October 192620 November 2020) was a Welsh historian, author and travel writer. She was known particularly for the ''Pax Brita ...
*
List of LGBT people from New York City
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Transgender legal history in the United States
This article addresses the legal and regulatory history of transgender and transsexual people in the United States including case law and governmental regulatory action affecting their legal status and privileges, at the federal, state, muni ...
References
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Asti, Robina
1921 births
2021 deaths
American aviation record holders
American flight instructors
American test pilots
LGBT people from New York (state)
LGBT rights activists from the United States
Military personnel from New York City
People from Greenwich Village
Transgender women
United States Navy pilots of World War II
United States Navy officers