Legendary LGBTQ+ figure and trans rights trailblazer April Ashely has passed away at 86.
The Liverpool native first began her long and impactful journey as a model, actress and activist in the mid-1950s. After serving in the Merchant Navy, April moved to London and Paris.
During her stay in Paris, she captured audiences as a performer at the famous Le Carrousel nightclub.
In 1960, April became one of the first trans individuals to undergo gender reassignment surgery. She was the ninth patient of Dr Georges Burou to receive the groundbreaking procedure at the time.
Following her recovery, April went on to become one of London’s most in-demand models.
She often graced the pages of Vogue and was photographed by some of the industry’s most prominent photographers like Richard Dormer, David Bailey and Terry Donovan.
Unfortunately, her career suffered a massive blow when the Sunday People publication outed her as a transgender woman.
In a previous interview with ECHO, April revealed that her burgeoning mainstream career was permanently sidelined.
“My career was destroyed, and apart from jobs where you were paid under the table, I never worked again,” she told the publication.
“With others, when they found out, my shifts would be changed, my hours reduced, and then they would tell me they didn’t need me… but then advertise for someone else. It was heartbreaking because I would have been a movie star.”
In 1963, she married the eldest son of Lord Rowallan Auther Cameron Corbett. The marriage ended after 14 days and resulted in a high profile annulment case.
April Ashley Le Carrousel on tour 1959
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