By Rachele Kanigel and Michael Cervieri

February 22. 2002

Cities have sexes: London is a man, Paris a woman, and New York a well-adjusted transsexual. -- Writer Angela Carter

PHOTO: Michael Cervieri

Rusty Moore became a woman after 50 years as a man

When Rusty Moore greets you at the door of her house in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn, she extends her hand, grips yours firmly and welcomes you in.

Young women flitter about, fixing each other's hair, smoking cigarettes and telling war stories from their days before meeting Moore and finding refuge in her home.

There is definitely something parental about Moore: She sits on the ground petting one of her dogs and later grabs a video camera to record what one of the women is saying.

Moore was married before, not once but twice, and has three children. And the way she looks on, slightly bemused and seriously interested, is the way many mothers view those they have taken in and out of trouble's way.

But Moore was never a mother. She fathered her children, which is another way of saying she used to be a man.

Surveying a page of photographs, the 60-year-old woman with shoulder-length hair points to a man in his early forties with a bushy reddish beard. This was her former self not so very long ago.

To ask Moore what it was like to be a man, or to talk to her about being male misses the point.

"Just because you have a dick," she explains, "doesn't mean you're a man."

She pauses to see if you process this information.

"It's just plumbing," she adds to clarify. "I assumed I was a girl until someone explained I wasn't. And even then, I wasn't convinced."

There are no exact statistics on how many transgender people live in the United States, but some experts estimate as many as 1 in 10,000 people suffer from what psychiatrists call "gender dysphoria" or "gender confusion."

Transgender activists may challenge these terms, sometimes insisting they are blessed with gender euphoria or gender giftedness.

But most will agree that crossing the gender divide is a painful process, fraught with emotional suffering and social oppression. Families, friends, and colleagues often don't understand. And strangers can be downright violent.

"It's hard for trans people on the street, especially when they're going through transition," says Moore, dressed in a gender-neutral red turtleneck sweater and khaki pants, a necklace of brown beads the only nod to femininity. "Many get bashed on the street."

Since 1994, Moore has lived with her lover, Chelsea Goodwin, in a house they bought on the south side of Park Slope, a predominantly working-class Latino community. Half a dozen other transgender people live in the home they affectionately call Transy House. Here, they have created a haven from a world that is, at best, confused by them, and at worst, openly hostile to their kind.

"This," Moore says, "is trans space."

Next page: Welcome to Transy House
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Transgender History From Woman to Man Transgender Movie Quiz Transgender Resources Glossary of Transgender Terms Cross Dress(er) -- vi., n. To wear clothes makeup, etc., regardless of the motivation, which are appropriate for another gender role than the gender assigned one at birth. Drag Queen -- n. A transvestite who employs dramatic clothes, makeup, and mannerisms, often for other people's appreciation or for its shock value. Gender dysphoria -- n. Medical term for the unhappiness or discomfort which may be experienced by one whose primary sex characteristics do not match one's gender identity. Intersex -- adj. One whose external genitalia at birth do not match the standards for male or female (e.g. large clitoris, tiny penis), or one whose sex glands do not totally match the sex assigned at birth (e.g. male with ovarian tissue or female with testicular tissue), or one whose sexual development does not match the sex assigned at birth (e.g. development of penis or extensive facial hair in one assigned as female or the development of breasts in one assigned as male). Pre-operative transsexual (Pre-op TS) -- n. One who is actively planning to relieve gender dysphoria by aligning one's sex with one's gender identity through Sexual Reassignment Surgery. Usually cross dresses and uses hormone therapy and to modify secondary sex characteristics. Sexual Reassignment Surgery -- n. A surgical procedure which changes one's primary sexual characteristics from those of one sex to those of another sex, to align them with one's gender identity. (Trans)gender community -- n. Inclusive term for the community of transsexuals and transvestites. One who identifies as transsexual or transvestite may not identify with the Transgender community. Members of the Transgender community may be of any sexual identity. Transgendered/Transgenderist (TG) --adj. 1. One who changes gender roles, whether just once or many times at will. Inclusive term for transsexuals and transvestites. 2. Non-op transexual. May be of any gender identity. Transsexual (TS) n., adj. One who changes one's sex to align with one's gender identity. Change of primary sex characteristics is accomplished by Sexual Reassignment Surgery. Hormone therapy, electrolysis, additional surgery, and other treatments can change secondary sex characteristics. People who live as a member of a different gender than they were assigned at birth prefer to be called man or woman, as appropriate for their chosen gender. May be of any gender identity. Transvestite (TV) n. One who mainly cross dresses for pleasure in the appearance and sensation. May occasionally experience gender dysphoria. May be of any gender identity. SOURCE: Bisexual Resource Center, Boston, Massachusetts