WindyCityMediaGroup.com – by Andrew Davis
Georgina Beyer’s life is so vivid and surreal that it would make one say “only in America” – except it happened in New Zealand.
A Maori who was born biologically male, Beyer ( in his 20s ) became a part of the Wellington gay nightclub scene as a singer and drag-queen performer, and then a prostitute. In 1984, the then-27-year-old Beyer had sexual-reassignment surgery and forged a successful career as a film and television actress in Auckland. Beyer then shifted from entertainment to politics, becoming mayor of Carterton and, eventually, a member of Parliament. She retired from the political arena last year.