Was sad to hear the news via Gordene MacKenzie's Facebook page that pioneering Texas trans woman Linda Phillips has passed away suddenly at age 81 on Monday
Linda Phillips had been crossdressing since age 3, and had the epiphany that she was trans,and transitioned later in her life. She married Cynthia on January 10, 1958 in Dallas.
Linda and Cynthia were well known figures in many of the Central and South Texas transgender organizations in the late 80's and 1990's , and joined the Boulton and Park Society shortly after its 1986 founding
Linda was the past editor of the Heart of Texas Gender Association newsletter
Cross Currents, and
Gender Euphoria, the Boulton and Park Society newsletter. in addition to serving as the organization's Secretary and Treasurer. As one of the principal organizers for the Texas T Party, Linda also served as the Secretary and President of the Texas T Party conference.
The Texas 'T' Party that started in the late 80's was the Texas based trans themed convention held in San Antonio that grew to become the largest trans themed conference on the planet at the time before it ended in 1996.
That Texas T Party conference was also important in not only connecting the national trans community of that time
to each other, but also led to the start of the series of Houston based
ICTLEP trans policy conferences from 1992-1996 that became the foundation of the modern trans rights advocacy movement.
The couple also spent the 1990's discussing their longtime transgender-cisgender relationship on talk show television, at colleges and universities and serving on the board of the International Foundation For Gender Education (IFGE). Their papers are archived at the University of Texas -San Antonio
My condolences to her wife Cynthia, and I thank them both for being pioneering possibility models for my generation of trans people to follow. I'm even prouder to note that they were fom my home state and setting the leadership bar high for future Texas trans leaders to emulate.
We have lost another trans pioneer, and while she will be missed, Linda Phillips will not be forgotten.
TransGriot Note: Linda's in the white cowboy hat in the first photo on the left, and on the right in the second one with her spouse Cynthia.
As of yet haven't heard any information concerning a date or location for either the funeral or memorial service. I will pass that info along as soon as I receive it.
"I just can't believe it," she said in a recent interview about her new presenting gig. "I absolutely love the show, so it's beyond my wildest dreams to be a guest panelist."
