New Zealand politician and activist Georgina Beyer was born in November 1957. (Like many grande dames, her exact birthdate is unknown). Born in 1957 of European and Maori descent, she grew up with her grandparents in Taranaki, adopting her stepfather’s surname of Beyer. She struggled with depression and attempted suicide as a teenager, leaving high school as a teenager and moving to Australia pursue a career in entertainment. Returning to New Zealand, she worked variously as a singer, drag performer and sex worker, mentored by Carmen Rupe. In 1984, Beyer underwent gender reassignment surgery, starring later that year as a trans woman in Peter Wells’ TV film Jewel’s Darl. In 1995, she was elected the mayoress of the conservative farming community of Carterton, making her the first openly transgender mayor in the world. In 1999, she ran as a Labour Party candidate in the general election, winning a surprise victory in a typically right-leaning electorate, again making history as the world’s first openly transgender Member of Parliament. Re-elected in 2002, she sponsored prostitution law reform and advocated for same-sex civil partnerships, before resigning from public office in 2007. Her post-politics career was troubled with financial struggles and chronic kidney disease. Since receiving a kidney transplant in 2017, she has resumed public appearances. She published a memoir Change for the Better in 1999, and was the subject of Peter Wells and Annie Goldson’s 2001 documentary Georgie Girl. In 2020 she was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the LGBTQ community.