Coccinelle: Google Doodle celebrates French actress and LGBT+ pioneer Jacqueline Charlotte Dufresnoy
- 2 years ago
Jacqueline Charlotte Dufresnoy
The transgender actress and singer was the first French person to undergo gender reassignment surgery
Today, Tuesday 23 August, the iconic Google Doodle is remembering LGBTQ+ pioneer Jacqueline Charlotte Dufresnoy on what would have been her 91st birthday.
Dufresnoy, perhaps better known by her stage name Coccinelle, was a singer, entertainer and activist who was the first French person to undergo gender-affirming surgery.
Who was Jacqueline Charlotte Dufresnoy?
Dufresnoy was born on 23 August 1931 in Paris, who has spoken about being uncomfortable with the fact that she was assigned male at birth from a young age.
She once said: “As a boy aged four, I knew I was different. I was a girl, really, but nobody could see it.”
Dufresnoy reportedly started hormones in 1952, and began wearing wigs and dresses in her childhood.
As a teenager, she picked up the nickname that she would later adopt as her stage name - after wearing a red dress with black polka dots to a fancy dress party, she was called Coccinelle, which means ladybug in English.
In 1953, she made her debut at Chez Madame Arthur, a drag cabaret venue, performing a song from the film Premier rendez-vous. She then bagged a spot at Le Carrousel de Paris, a popular music hall with a number of other transgender performers.
Five years later, in 1958, Dufresnoy underwent gender reassignment surgery after learning of a doctor in Morocco that performed the procedure “by chance”.
She said: “It was by chance on tour in 1958 that I learned that a gynaecologist was performing surgery in Morocco that made a man a woman.
“So I went to Casablanca to meet the doctor who was going to rectify this error of the nature of which I was a victim.
“Finally, I was going to be a real woman, in perfect harmony, inside and out.”
After the surgery, Dufresnoy said: “Dr. Burou rectified the mistake nature had made and I became a real woman, on the inside as well as the outside.
“After the operation, the doctor just said, “Bonjour, mademoiselle”, and I knew it had been a success.”
Reflecting on the surgery, she said: “When journalists found out, I was on the front page of all the magazines, which made the surgeon a fortune and propelled me to superstardom.
“I was the first French person to have a sex-change. Incredible, but true.
“It meant I could no longer be arrested by the vice squad for impersonating a man.”
In France at the time, it was illegal to wear clothing not associated with your assigned gender.
After the operation, France amended its laws to allow details on birth certificates to be changed following sex reassignment surgery, and Dufresnoy legally changed her name to Jacqueline-Charlotte.
She became a media sensation when she returned to France after her operation, and would go on to become the first transgender French woman to become a major star. She travelled the world as a performer and singer for 25 years, and for 10 years appeared in cabaret in Germany.
The transgender actress and singer was the first French person to undergo gender reassignment surgery
Today, Tuesday 23 August, the iconic Google Doodle is remembering LGBTQ+ pioneer Jacqueline Charlotte Dufresnoy on what would have been her 91st birthday.
Dufresnoy, perhaps better known by her stage name Coccinelle, was a singer, entertainer and activist who was the first French person to undergo gender-affirming surgery.
Who was Jacqueline Charlotte Dufresnoy?
Dufresnoy was born on 23 August 1931 in Paris, who has spoken about being uncomfortable with the fact that she was assigned male at birth from a young age.
She once said: “As a boy aged four, I knew I was different. I was a girl, really, but nobody could see it.”
Dufresnoy reportedly started hormones in 1952, and began wearing wigs and dresses in her childhood.
As a teenager, she picked up the nickname that she would later adopt as her stage name - after wearing a red dress with black polka dots to a fancy dress party, she was called Coccinelle, which means ladybug in English.
In 1953, she made her debut at Chez Madame Arthur, a drag cabaret venue, performing a song from the film Premier rendez-vous. She then bagged a spot at Le Carrousel de Paris, a popular music hall with a number of other transgender performers.
Five years later, in 1958, Dufresnoy underwent gender reassignment surgery after learning of a doctor in Morocco that performed the procedure “by chance”.
She said: “It was by chance on tour in 1958 that I learned that a gynaecologist was performing surgery in Morocco that made a man a woman.
“So I went to Casablanca to meet the doctor who was going to rectify this error of the nature of which I was a victim.
“Finally, I was going to be a real woman, in perfect harmony, inside and out.”
After the surgery, Dufresnoy said: “Dr. Burou rectified the mistake nature had made and I became a real woman, on the inside as well as the outside.
“After the operation, the doctor just said, “Bonjour, mademoiselle”, and I knew it had been a success.”
Reflecting on the surgery, she said: “When journalists found out, I was on the front page of all the magazines, which made the surgeon a fortune and propelled me to superstardom.
“I was the first French person to have a sex-change. Incredible, but true.
“It meant I could no longer be arrested by the vice squad for impersonating a man.”
In France at the time, it was illegal to wear clothing not associated with your assigned gender.
After the operation, France amended its laws to allow details on birth certificates to be changed following sex reassignment surgery, and Dufresnoy legally changed her name to Jacqueline-Charlotte.
She became a media sensation when she returned to France after her operation, and would go on to become the first transgender French woman to become a major star. She travelled the world as a performer and singer for 25 years, and for 10 years appeared in cabaret in Germany.