Kathryn Leigh McGuire (November 26, 1941 – February 2, 2011) was an activist, businessperson and socialite in Houston. She was the first out and open transgender person to run for city council in Houston.[1]

Biography

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McGuire was born Charles Royce McGuire Jr. in 1941 in Corpus Christi, Texas.[2] Around the age of 21 she married, eventually moving to Houston and starting a construction company.[2] After an investigation into her construction company,[3] she divorced and began her transition by taking female hormone pills and having minor facial surgery. She had gender reassignment surgery in London in 1992, and later moved to Prague.[4]

In 1989, as Charles R. MaGuire, she ran unsuccessfully for the City Council of Houston as a self-described transvestite.[5][6] During this campaign the American television program A Current Affair ran a segment on McGuire and the contradictions and difficulties she had as a "cross-dressing" candidate.[6] Her transition was filmed for a PBS documentary. The Last Days of Charles/Kathryn McGuire.[7][8] Her son, James, wrote a play about her, Daddy Kathryn, which ran at the theater HERE in New York.[9][10]

McGuire was regularly featured in Houston newspapers and magazines. She died in 2011.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Connelly, Richard (February 7, 2011). "R.I.P Kathryn McGuire, Houston's Transvestite Socialite". Houston Press. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c Tolson, Mike (February 12, 2011). "Transgender exec remembered as a role model". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  3. ^ Sablatura, Bob (8 October 1988). "Price-fixing probe called a vendetta/Transvestite's accusations rejected". Houston Chronicle. Archived from the original on 19 February 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  4. ^ Gangelhoff, Bonnie (June 1, 1995). "American Woman". Houston Press. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  5. ^ "1989 Houston City Council District C election". ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  6. ^ a b Glynn, Kevin (2000). Tabloid Culture: Trash Taste, Popular Power, and the Transformation of American Television. Duke University Press. pp. 138–141. ISBN 0822325691. houston city council election 1989 McGuire.
  7. ^ "Kathryn McGuire, Houston's First Openly Transgender Council Candidate, Dies". Outsmart. February 7, 2011. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  8. ^ Huberman, Brian. "The Last Days of Charles/Kathryn". Retrieved October 14, 2017.
  9. ^ Tyler, Brad (April 15, 1999). "A Star in Reborn, Again". Houston Press. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  10. ^ Ehren, Christine (2000-01-03). "Daddy Kathryn At OOB's HERE". Playbill. Retrieved October 14, 2017.