Trailblazing Transgender Model April Ashley Dies at Age 86

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Transgender model April Ashley has died at age 86.

The British model, who was one of the first people in the world to undergo gender reassignment surgery in 1960, died in London on Dec. 27, Liverpool Echo reported.

Born to a working-class family in Liverpool, Ashley was photographed by David Bailey in 1960 for British Vogue. At the time, Ashley's gender reassignment surgery was not public knowledge, but she previously said photographers knew and did not care.

"They all knew about my operation — they all knew who I was," Ashley said, according to Out. "None of the photographers gave a damn about my past. They wanted me in their portfolio."

Before Ashley's transition, she joined the Merchant Navy in 1949 but was given a dishonorable discharge following a suicide attempt. She was later sent to a psychiatric hospital after a second suicide attempt, according to the BBC.

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By 1955, Ashley moved to Paris where she performed at the famous Le Carrousel nightclub (known for its drag cabaret). After saving up enough money, Ashley went to Morocco to become only the ninth patient to receive gender reassignment surgery by Dr. Georges Burou, Liverpool Echo reported.

While Ashley's modeling and acting career flourished in the early 1960s, her life changed when she was outed by the British tabloid, The Sunday People, in 1961. "My career was destroyed, and apart from jobs where you were paid under the table, I never worked again. It was heartbreaking because I would have been a movie star," Ashley told Liverpool Echo.

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In 1963, Ashley married British aristocrat Arthur Corbett, but they later divorced in 1969. Their marriage was annulled, setting a precedent in court because Ashley was assigned male gender at birth, the marriage was not legally sound. She went on to marry Jeffrey West in the 1980s.

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Ashley was not officially recognized as a woman by the United Kingdom until 2005 when the Gender Recognition Act was passed, the BBC reported. After successfully applying to the Gender Recognition Panel, Ashley was able to receive her new birth certificate which legally recognized her as a female. "45 years and four months after I became the woman I wanted to be, I had a piece of paper to prove I really am April Ashley. I feel free at last," she said in 2005 after getting her birth certificate.

Among Ashley's numerous awards and honors include a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) appointment in 2012 for her trailblazing work for transgender rights, an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Liverpool and an Honorary Doctorate in Literature from the University of London.