Julia Grant

Julia Grant (born 21 September 1954 – 2 January 2019) was the first transgender person to have her transition chronicled on a mainstream UK television documentary in A Change of Sex. In George and Julia (1979), the first of five-hour-long film documentaries directed by David Pearson for the BBC, her story attracted an audience of nearly nine million viewers. The series was transmitted on BBC2 as A Change of Sex, and described by Pearson as "intimate, frank and observational". Additional episodes were broadcast until 1999, charting new stages in her life. Early life Born in Fleetwood, Lancashire, she was the eldest child of Phillip Roberts, a trawlerman, and his wife, Jessica. Jessica was an alcoholic, who attempted suicide several times, whilst Phillip was a violent drunkard who reportedly tried to rape Julia when she was a child. As one of eight children, Julia often cared for her younger brothers and sisters. She also spent periods in a children's home in Preston, and as a teenager, prostituted herself to men. This was said to be "a misguided cry" for the affection that she did not get from her parents, and she used the money for sweets. Television fame and gender reassignment In 1974, after a failed marriage, she moved to London, and in 1978, when the BBC began filming, she was a catering manager who performed as a drag queen. However, it became apparent that drag did not feel right to her, and the BBC filmed her last drag performance. Julia had realized that she was not a male homosexual, and "wanted to live as a woman".