Roberta Cowe ll’s status as a trans woman reached the public sphere in 1954 through
a Picture Post article, her history as an RAF pilot, racing driver and family founder breaking
many conceived stereotypes of transsexuality and homosexuality, which were often
confused at the time. It is worth noting that in 1972, Roberta gave an interview with the
Sunday Times , in which she claimed to be born intersex, someone with XX male syndrome,
which therefore ‘justified’ her transition, and spoke derogatively of other trans women,
claiming those born with XY chromosomes were ‘normal people who've turned themselves
into freaks by means of the operation.’ 45 However, Roberta had two daughters prior to her
transition, and those with XX male syndrome are infertile, so it is likely that due to her
experience of gender dysphoria, she assumed herself to be intersex, unknowing or
unbelieving of the true intricacies of dysphoria. 46
GAS remained highly restricted throughout the 1950s and 1960s, though Britain and
the Netherlands were two of the only countries in which it was accessible, ‘there were
various different surgical techniques employed at this time, and access was restricted; only a
happy few could afford surgery, which remained a far-off dream for members of oppressed
minorities’. 47 However, such surgeries were still held in secret, as trans people would either
require a personal connection to the doctors who could help them transition, or carefully
attempt to question their doctor’s opinions on transgenderism.
45 Michael Bateman, ‘Interview with transsexual Roberta (Betty) Cowell’, The Sunday Times [online archive] (March 12 1972) <https://www.lizhodgkinson.com/pages/journalismArticle/interview_with_transsexual_roberta_betty_cowell> [Accessed 10/01/2023] 46 Alan Cowell, ‘Overlooked No More: Roberta Cowell, Trans Trailblazer, Pilot and Auto Racer’, The New York Times [online] (June 5, 2020) <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/05/obituaries/roberta-cowell- overlooked.html> [Accessed 10/01/2023] 47 Alex Bakker, Others of My Kind: Transatlantic Transgender Histories (Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2020) p. 7
46
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