As April Ashley sits down on the specially provided chair next to Radio Merseyside legendary presenter Roger Philips at the Museum of Liverpool, the audience that had made their way to the city specifically to see Ms. Ashley rose almost as one and gave a standing ovation that would normally be reserved for an actor or musician giving a rare solo performance to an adoring crowd.
To many in the audience and to thousands, if not millions round the world, April Ashley is a heroine, a heroine of the highest order, someone that without whom the dark ages, the misguided and in some cases repugnant behaviour of others towards transgendered issues, would have carried on perhaps well into the 21st Century.
Born in Liverpool, Ms. Ashley was one of the first people in the world to undergo what was then called a sex change. Throughout her life, the battles, the love, the desire to see laws changed, to see attitudes towards those who are transgendered or who have gender reassignment surgery altered is one that marks her out as someone incredibly special. Although as she admitted to Roger Philips as he interviewed her, she doesn’t think of herself as a hero, something that nobody in the hall would or could ever think.
Ms. Ashley was in her home town to be part of the Museum of Liverpool’s opening of the exhibition that honours her life and even just listening to her talk candidly and with a twinkle in her eye that is at all times captivating, the sense of humility that the city has done such a thing for her made all the fights and absolute pain she felt growing up seem worth it. She told Mr. Philips and the audience stories of her life and there was no doubting the love that was felt for her as she was honoured fully as part of the rich heritage of Liverpool life and its people. The evening was completed by speeches by her old friend, the former member of Parliament For Hull East and Deputy Prime Minister Lord Prescott and the Lord Mayor of Liverpool Gary Millar.
April Ashley; Portrait of a Lady is on from the 27th September 2013 till 20th September 2014 at the Museum of Liverpool.