Georgina Beyer

Georgina Beyer

Georgina Beyer (* 1957 in Wellington as George Beyer) is a New Zealand politician .

Life

Georgina Beyer was born in Wellington in 1957 and spent her early childhood on her grandparents' farm. She later moved to Wellington and lived with her mother. Beyer attended Onslow College in Wellington . At the age of 17, Beyer realized she was transgender . She started working in night clubs as a prostitute in Sydney , Australia , and worked as a stripper. During this time she was raped by four men. After this incident, she returned to New Zealand where she worked as an actress. In 1984 she had sex reassignment surgery . In 1987 Beyer was nominated for the Gofta film award for her role in Jewel's Darl . She moved to Carterton , Wairarapa , where she accepted a job as a radio host. In Carterton, she became a local politician and was elected mayor in 1995. She held the office of mayor until 2000 and was the first openly transsexual mayor in the world during her tenure.

Surprisingly for political commentators, she entered the New Zealand parliament in 1999 as a politician for the New Zealand Labor Party after she defeated her political opponent Paul Henry of the New Zealand National Party in the election campaign . This made her the first openly living transsexual MP in the world. In 2004 she supported the introduction of the Civil Union in New Zealand as an MP . She remained a member of parliament until 2005.

literature

• Change for the Better , published by Random House , Auckland, ISBN 1-869-41371-7