Lauren Foster - Vogue Model of the 80s

 

Lauren Foster grew up in Durban, South Africa and transitioned in her teens culminating with SRS at the age of 18. When asked she said that at 5 years old wanted to be an actress, then at 10 a  dancer. By the time she was  21-years old she was in Paris modeling for fashion designer Yves St. Laurent. 

Publicity stunt or civil rights triumph?

In a recent interview, Jenna Tackalova, the 6'1" Canadian beauty that forced Donald Trump and the Miss Universe Pageant to change the pageant rules to allow her to compete, stated that "Like I always say, my family didn't understand, so why would I expect anybody else to understand and then they got to know me and they loved me."


In an article on CNN it said that "in an interview with CNN several hours before showtime, the 6-foot-1 blonde Canadian seemed a bit weary, because the spotlight is still squarely on her gender transformation."


Will either a win or loss in the Miss Universe pageant tonight by Jenna Talackova affect people's perceptions in the mainstream about seeing transsexuals without the labels, or will she forever be the "transsexual pageant contestant"?