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Jody Susan Ford
Location: Birmingham, Alabama |
In Memory Of The One Who Should Be RememberedMany murders of transgendered individuals involve sordid details of prostitutes being murdered after their “John” discovered them to be physically male, or similar stories. But there are exceptions: people who lived ordinary and quiet lives, who were friendly and nice, and did all the “right things.” I first heard of Jody Ford when I read a book concocted during the early days of ex-gay fraudmeisters Exodus. The book in question is 1977’s Perry: A Transformed Transsexual, about an aquaintence of Jody’s: a pathetically confused person named Perry Desmond. It has long been out of print, but can occasionally be found in used book stores. The promotional blurb on the back cover is ample indication of the slant of the book as a whole: “Escape from homosexuality is a supernatural process. Return from transsexuality is a miracle!” The author of the blurb? Pat Boone. There are also words of approval in the book for Anita Bryant, who was riding high on a crest of hate following her then-recent Florida crusade — but, that is fodder for another discussion. Again, though, the book was about Perry — not Jody. But, still, Jody is who I remember most from the book, even though she only appeared on one of the book’s 130+ pages. And that one page angered me beyond belief. Why? The description of the photo, in addition to referring to Jody as Sid (though with Jody in parentheses), offered a short tale of Jody: “Shortly after this, he returned to Birmingham where he was shot to death in a parking lot.” And that was it. 130+ pages of denial, self-loathing and rote drivel by Perry Desmond (who was billing himself as a recovered transsexual and, I kid you not, a “Eunuch For The Lord”), but one sentence devoted to a painful reality — the violent death of a woman. Now, I wrote a column that appeared in a few publications in which I assumed some things about Jody - the primary assumption being that she was probably in the situation that got her killed because she was legally excludable from the work force because of being transsexual and the situation in question was prostitution. Well, I’m glad to discover that this was probably not the case. She was the successful proprietor of a hair salon — first as Sid and then as Jody. Of course, that really doesn’t help Jody. She still died a violent death. But, it does mean that she probably enjoyed much of the life that was cut short twenty yers ago. I wonder if Pat Boone cares about Jody’s life and death. I also wonder if any of the PTL Club-oids care. Why am I picking on PTL here? Well, for the longest time, the only image I had of Jody was of an attactive woman standing next to a self-loathing piece of garbage. I refer to the photo in Perry Desmond’s book. A friend pointed out to me recently that Desmond was wearing a PTL Club jacket in the photo. Yes, I have a better image of Jody, but I’m really no closer to knowing her. I want to see the story of Jody’s life, of the despair that she assuredly faced, of the opportunities that she was undoubtedly denied due solely to being transgendered. I want to see the full story behind how she died — and what ultimately happened to the person who killed her. Meanwhile, I sit, I wait and I cry. I cry for Jody Ford. I cry for the fact that she is someone who I never had a chance to know. I cry because she was a human being — as opposed to a ‘Eunuch for the Lord.’ I cry because I care. I cry because, twenty-plus years after the fact, it seems to be all that I can do for her. I cry because even that is more than most people are willing to do for her — and other transgendered people. I cry because I fear that I could be next — and that no one will care. I care, Jody. I really wish that I could have known you. I want your story to be told — I hope that I can do so someday. |
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Do you have more information on this person that you would like to see here? If so, please write to gwen@gender.org, with a subject line of “remembering our dead.” |
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