Julie Doe -- Transgender woman likely murdered in 1988, believed to be cisgender for 27 years #TDOR

[moriah]

Last edited Fri Nov 20, 2015, 06:55 PM - Edit history (1)

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2015/11/19/1451910/--Julie-Doe-Trans-woman-likely-murdered-in-1988-believed-to-be-cis-for-27-years

On September 25, 1988, a woman's partially decomposed body was discovered hidden in tall weeds in a wooded, slightly swampy rural area of Lake County, Florida, which is east of Orlando. They were unable to determine a cause of death or examine her internal organs due to advanced decomposition, which generally progresses faster internally because of bacteria in the gut, but believed she was cisgender and that she had even given birth in the past. She was found clothed in a greenish tank top, long acid-washed “Manisha” brand denim skirt, and pantyhose which had been rolled down -- suggesting a sexual element to the crime. Her body had been dragged to the secluded location away from the road, so someone moved her after she died in an apparent attempt to conceal her body and prevent discovery. That is extremely uncommon after natural death.

She was between 22 and 35 years old, Caucasian, about 5'10 give or take an inch, 170ish lbs in life, with naturally brown hair grown long and bleached blonde. She had long, well-manicured fingernails, and an examination of her teeth showed that she had some fillings. She suffered at least one serious blunt-force traumatic injury to her face in the past, fracturing her right cheekbone, which had healed prior to her death. Other healed fractures include a rib and a toe, and possibly her nose. They noticed she had plastic surgery done on her nose, and that she had breast implants. Even with a preliminary sketch and questioning people in the area, none of the tips panned out and the case went cold.

After two unidentified women in Florida were Identified by DNA as missing women previously ruled out as being matches, Florida started re-examining all their unidentified decedent cases with fresh eyes. The new medical examiner immediately thought her skeletal dimensions indicated someone who had a hormonal balance more typical of males during skeletal growth, but once they were sure they had the right body they sent off the DNA. The results came back this month showing that she had an XY genotype, which rules out previous pregnancy.

The changes to her pelvic bones thought to indicate childbirth were likely the result of years of estrogen therapy. Her 250cc silicone breast implants, according to an expert in 1988, had been discontinued five years before her death. This means she likely had her upper body reassignment no later than 1984, since surgeons in the United States rarely implant medical devices more than a year after they are manufactured. Her rhinoplasty may have been done as a part of her transition and/or to treat the cosmetic results of prior facial trauma.

Edit to add: Since today is Transgender Day of Remembrance, I hope someone remembers her.

[broiles]

1. What is cisgender?

[moriah]

2. Time Magazine has a great article explaining the term.

http://time.com/3636430/cisgender-definition/

[murielm99]

3. Thanks.

I'm always learning something here.

[Chan790]

4. A resource you might find useful/interesting then.

http://www.asexuality.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

Despite the title suggesting that it's predominantly asexuality-focused, it's actually one of the better wiki-dictionaries/wiki-encyclopedias out there for defining terminology and concepts in sex, gender, and orientation.

Though more intellectually-accessible for most people, I have serious reservations about the Time article. (It's heteronormative and cisnormative...it likes to throw around numbers in the 90s that science is starting to suggest are really quite a bit lower because gender, sex and orientation are all far more spectrum than the dichotomies we previously believed them to be and than that article posits...notably, they were known to be untrue at the time of publication.)

[moriah]

6. Thank you...

... The Time article works for a simple introduction, and makes the point about everyone having a gender identity and a sexual orientation rather well, but of course most pieces about transgender issues make mistakes.

I thought the Kos article was pretty good about not making mistakes like saying she was "born a man" (babies may be assigned a sex at birth, and many intersexed individuals have genital surgery done before they can ever consent to make their outward appearance match the sex assigned, but babies aren't men or women) and explaining the reasons behind sharing details that in other cases would be unnecessary and salacious.

[Behind the Aegis]

5. I remember.

[moriah]

7. Thank you! :)

I really hope that they can find out who she is. Most murder victims knew their assailant, and people don't fear the discovery of a dead body unless they have reason to think they will be suspects.

It's possible Julie didn't actually identify as a woman at all, may have been more correctly called "genderqueer" or something else, since her body was too decomposed to be certain about genital surgery (though they seem to think it highly likely she had full reassignment). But in that time, it was far more rare, and most plastic surgeons were not accepting of gender dysphoria in the '80s. It's unlikely any surgeons other than the ones associated with the approximately six reassignment programs active then would have agreed to perform breast augmentation on a person known to have an XY genotype and assigned the male sex at birth. It's also possible she had her reassignment done in another country, and in that case it could have been later than 1984 if they used old, discontinued stock.

The other possibility suggested was androgen insensitivity syndrome, since most individuals with that disorder were assigned to the female sex at birth and identify as female despite having an XY genotype. The Mullerian duct development is still suppressed, though, because the body can still react to anti-Mullerian hormone produced by the embryonic testicles (which remain generally where both ovaries and testicles form, and don't descend). However, most people know about having that issue by the time they are adults, since they never menstruate. Partial androgen insensitivity might have led to masculinized features and a desire for corrective surgery to look more feminine. But it's far rarer than gender dysphoria.