Caroline Cossey | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1954-08-31)31 August 1954 (age 71) Brooke, Norfolk, England |
| Other names | Tula |
| Spouses | |
| Modelling information | |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1] |
| Hair colour | Brown |
| Eye colour | Green |
Caroline Cossey born on 31 August 1954[2]), also known asTula, is a British model, actress, activist, and author. She appeared in the 1981James Bond filmFor Your Eyes Only as an extra. Following her appearance in the film, she wasouted astransgender by British tabloidNews of the World. In 1991, she became the firsttrans woman to pose forPlayboy.[3] Cossey has since then fought for her right to legally marry and be legally recognized as a woman.
Cossey was born inBrooke, Norfolk, England and wasassigned male at birth. Unbeknownst to Cossey and her family until later in her life, she was born withXXXY syndrome.[1][4] In Cossey's autobiographyMy Story, she describes an unhappy childhood, where she suffered confusing feelings and bullying by peers due to her femininity.[4] Growing up, Cossey's closest companion was her sister, Pam, with whom she played dress-up in their mother's clothes.[1] Cossey left formal schooling when she was fifteen and found work in a clothing store and as a butcher's apprentice. At sixteen, she moved to London and worked at a variety of low-wage jobs.[4]
Cossey startedtransitioning while working as an usherette inLondon's West End.[4] By seventeen, Cossey was receivinghormone therapy and working full-time as ashowgirl.[4] Following herbreast augmentation surgery, Cossey worked as ashowgirl inParis and as a topless dancer inRome, so she could save money for hersex reassignment surgery. After a few years ofhormone therapy, Cossey had her final surgery on 31 December 1974, atCharing Cross Hospital,London.[1] Doctors discovered her XXXY syndrome during pre-surgery testing, at age 20.[1][4]
Cossey began an active social life as a woman, concealing her transition.[4] Asked about her dating life, Cossey replied, "I'm afraid I went a little wild."[1] She told tabloids she had a romance with the television presenterDes Lynam, though Lynam says he does not recall it.[5] Lynam however mentions going on dates with her in his autobiography. Cossey worked as a model under the name "Tula". She appeared in top magazines such as AustralianVogue andHarper's Bazaar, and worked extensively as aglamour model. She was aPage Three Girl for the British tabloidThe Sun and appeared inPlayboy in 1991.[4]
In 1978, Cossey won a part on the game show3-2-1. A tabloid journalist then contacted her, revealing he had discovered she wastransgender, and planned to write about it. Other journalists researched her past, attempting to interview her family members. Cossey dropped out of the show, convincing the producers to release her from her contract. After this incident, Cossey purposefully maintained a lower profile, accepting only smaller assignments.[4]
Cossey was cast as an extra in the 1981James Bond filmFor Your Eyes Only.[6] Shortly after the film's release, the tabloidNews of the World came out with a front-page headline "James Bond Girl Was a Boy". By her own accounts, Cossey was so upset she contemplatedsuicide. However, she continued her modelling career by focusing, once again, on smaller assignments.[4] Cossey then responded by releasingI Am a Woman, which was her first autobiography.[7]
In 1985, Cossey appeared extensively in the videos forThe Power Station's "Some Like It Hot" and "Get It On".[8]
She was featured in the September 1991 issue ofPlayboy in the pictorial "The Transformation of Tula", as an acknowledgedtransgender person.[9]
In 1991, Cossey releasedMy Story, which was her second and finalautobiography. In it she gave details of her transition, her relationship with Fattal, and her unsuccessful battle with theEuropean Court of Human Rights.[citation needed]
Cossey became engaged to Count Glauco Lasinio, an Italian advertising executive, who was the first man to date her knowing of her past. He encouraged her to petition for changes in theBritish law concerning transsexuals. The engagement ended, but her legal efforts continued for seven years, eventually reaching theEuropean Court of Human Rights.[1][10]
Cossey met Elias Simon Fattal, aBritish Israeliproperty investor, in 1985, inLondon. Fattal, who suffered frompolymyalgia rheumatica, was looking intoalternative medicine to relieve his pain and was referred to Cossey, who was studyingacupuncture. She was 31 and he was 43. They began a relationship and shekept that she was a transgender woman from him. After Fattal proposed to her in 1988, onValentine's Day, Cosseycame out to him and Fattal did not break off their engagement. In preparation for their married life together, Cossey planned toconvert to Judaism and the two discussed the possibility of using Cossey's sister as anegg donor. The two married on 21 May 1989, at theLiberal Jewish Synagogue inSt John's Wood, London, in a ceremony performed by Rabbi David J. Goldberg,OBE, andhoneymooned inAcapulco andJamaica.[11] They returned to England on June 11, 1989, unaware thatNews of the World, a British tabloid, had ran an article about their marriage under the headline "Sex ChangePage Three Girl Weds" while they were abroad. Cossey and Fattal hadn't told his immediate family members, who wereOrthodox Jews from Iraq, she was transgender, fearing they would react badly to the news. According to Cossey, Fattal went to speak with his parents in person after they saw the article and she never heard from him again. Fattal's brother William called her to tell her the marriage was going to beannulled. Cossey received noalimony or assets from her relationship with Fattal.[1][12][13][14]
On 27 September 1990, theEuropean Court of Human Rights overturned its prior decision, following a British government appeal.[1] Subsequently, the right oftransgender people in theUnited Kingdom to change their legalsex would not be granted until theGender Recognition Act 2004. Following this and her annulment, Cossey returned to modelling, which she had given up four years earlier at Fattal's request she not work.[1]
Cossey met her husband, David Finch, a Canadian engineer, in August 1991. The two crossed paths by chance when Finch got lost in London on his way to visit his grandmother inCoventry and stopped for lunch atBrent Cross Shopping Centre, where Cossey was waiting to meet with herlawyer. They kept in touch. In November 1991, Cossey flew toMontreal to meet Finch's family and during her visit, he proposed to her over dinner inQuebec. Though it was legal for transgender individuals to marry in Canada at the time, their engagement was of some interest from the press, with theToronto Star penning a brief article in 1992 about them titled "A '90s odd couple: Montreal man to marry transsexual."[15][16] They currently reside inKennesaw, Georgia.
Cossey published two autobiographies during her lifetime:
Cossey was originally born Barry … Before she could be accepted as a suitable candidate, doctors administered various tests … Tula has three X and one Y chromosomes
I see myself as I was then, a small, anxious boy hiding amongst the bean rows … I would lie on my bed and dream that I was somebody else … I was a girl trapped inside a male form. … As I lay dreaming on my bed all those years ago, I had no way of knowing that I had been born between two sexes … To me at the age of twenty this meeting with Dr R … Dr R discovered that I had three Xs to my one Y.
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