Deanna Joy Hallmark – A Transgender Girl Growing Up Assigned Male at Birth

Deanna is a fully transitioned transgender woman who came out in November 2011, announcing to the world that she could no longer live and be seen as a man. Born in 1949 and starting life in the 1950’s, she had no clue as to why she could never fit in with her peers of either gender. Not having a real understanding of why she was so different from the other boys, she struggled right up to her coming out in November 2011, trying to fathom why she was so different.
At puberty, she began cross-dressing in her bedroom at night, putting on women’s lingerie she had surreptitiously acquired from sources she has long since forgotten. She would practice this secret ritual through college and even through her marriage. Her beloved wife was battling terminal cancer in 2011 and 2012, and Deanna was living separately from her, due in part to Deanna’s mobility challenges during her convalescence from double hip replacement surgery in July 2011. Seeing an interview of Chaz Bono on the David Letterman Show, she began to see the possibility of having her lifelong fantasy fulfilled.
Her talk highlights some of the struggles she faced growing up as a transgender girl assigned male at birth.