April Ashley

Biography

April Ashley MBE was a trailblazing English model, author, and LGBT rights activist. She performed under the stage name Toni April in Paris's Le Carrousel de Paris in the 1950s after being discharged from the Merchant Navy. A pioneering figure, Ashley was one of the earliest British people to undergo gender confirmation surgery following her public outing in 1961. She received a Member of the Order of the British Empire award for services to transgender equality in 2012.