The German city of Dresden has named a street after a person commonly referred to as the “world’s first trans woman”.
Progressive authorities in the city of Dresden have named a new connector street after Danish painter Einar Wegener, who they describe as being the “world’s first trans woman”.
Although living his most of his life as a man, Wegener eventually abandoned his male identity to live as Lili Elbe, undergoing one of the world’s first sex change surgeries in 1930.
Conducted under the supervision of gynaecologist Kurt Warnekros and sexuality theorist Magnus Hirschfeld, the procedure involved the removal of Wegener’s penis and testicles, before a vagina and ovaries were transplanted into his body.
The painter died in Dresden just one year later, reportedly due to complications related to a fifth procedure relating to his sex change.
Speaking on the decision to name the new street after Wegener, city mayor Dirk Hilbert hailed the painter as a “pioneer”.
“I am very pleased that we here in Dresden are honouring the world’s first trans woman and pioneer in the fight for recognition and equality of the queer community by naming the street after Lili Elbe,” the mayor, a member of the supposedly right-leaning Free Democratic Party, remarked.