Prince, Virginia

Virginia Prince (1912–2009) was among the first out trans activists in the United States. She was a public speaker, publisher, editor, and author who advocated for acceptance of heterosexual male crossdressers from 1960 until the early 2000s. She described herself as a “transgenderist,” which many people consider to be the origin of the word transgender.

Virginia Prince was born on November 23, 1912, in Los Angeles, California, the first-born child in a conventional upper-middle-class white family of four. Prince, a good student and a physically active individual, completed her schooling in 1939 with a doctorate in pharmacology. Prince developed a successful [Page 647]manufacturing business, sold it for a considerable profit in 1968, and retired at age 55, after which time Prince began to live full-time as ...