Camille Hopkins

This year, at age 56, Camille Hopkins decided to start celebrating her birthday twice a year.No, it’s not about mountains of presents, or duplicate cakes with candles and ice cream.

Rather the point of this Buffalo WOW! woman’s party plan is to truly celebrate both her birth and her rebirth.

Camille’s first birthday bash this year was held on February 7th.  That’s the day in 1950 that her mother, Helen, gave birth to a bouncing baby boy by the name of Gregory James Hopkins.

 Party number two will take place later, on April 11th, the anniversary date of the day she was reborn as Camille Stephanie Hopkins.

Technically (and thanks to a lot of hormone shots and a skilled surgeon in Montreal) Camille is defined as a transgender, post operative woman. 

But in her heart and soul, all chromosomes and DNA aside, Camille harbors no doubt that she was created female.

“I spent my lifetime building a façade of maleness, but the body I had was never right for me,” she states. “So I knew I needed to do this, that it was the right thing.”

This transformation from Greg to Camille officially began in 1989 following the break-up of Greg’s eight and a half year marriage.

Of that time Camille states, “I was attracted to my wife and I loved her, but I just knew that I was meant to be a woman.”

Over the next decade, Greg attended support groups, conducted transgender research, and began planning for his rebirth.

Finally, in 2000, he underwent a series of psychiatric evaluations, as required by official medical standards, to begin the surgical transgender process.

In less than 90 days, the psychiatrist agreed, Greg was meant to be a woman.

After that, it was all a matter of timing.

2001 brought with it the gift of hormone therapy.

The 2002 New Year kicked off with Greg telling his parents of his choice. He also began dressing as a woman after work and on weekends.

In June, he was evicted from his apartment because of his feminine wardrobe selections.

That action that caused Greg to join forces with Buffalo City Councilperson Antoine Thompson in authoring anti-discrimination legislation for gender equality and expression.

Greg then appeared as Camille at legislative hearings on behalf of the bill, which helped lead to it’s ultimate finalization as law in September.

In October, Camille became Greg’s new legal identity, in a name choice suggested by a close friend.

However it was in 2002 that Camille really came into her own. First, she officially revealed her new identity at her City of Buffalo workplace.

Almost immediately her appearance, on the job, as a woman led to her official ban from the women’s bathrooms in City Hall.

With this most basic of human needs reduced to the use of a toilet in a janitor’s closet, Camille engaged legal counsel and pressed the issue until her battle against the discriminatory action was reversed and won.

Finally, after two successive years of more than two hundred hours of electrolysis, some pretty blunt fashion and style tips from other women, a number of unusual and painful personal experiences, and a lot of group support sessions, Camille made it to the final transgender stage.

On April 11, 2005 she was surgically reconstructed and anatomically created  female. Camille’s whole person glows as she recalls waking up post op.

“A friend of mine who was helping me through the surgery was sitting next to my hospital bed. When I opened my eyes, she smiled at me and said, ‘It’s a girl.’”

Now, almost one year later, this 5’7″, brown hair, doe eyed woman harbors absolutely no regrets over her gender change.

In fact, five months after surgery, Camille threw herself a TGIF (thank goodness I’m female) party and invited family and friends to celebrate.

“Before the operation there was a part of me that wondered if I was going to have this sudden revelation that I’d gone too far, or done something wrong,” she recalls.

“But when I woke up from the surgery, for the first time in my life I didn’t feel that discomfort of waking up in a body that’s not quite right.”

” And truthfully, without all the testosterone in my body, I feel more calm, and at peace.”

In looking forward to living the second half of her life as a woman, Camille expresses great anticipation along with some regret.

“I really want to have a relationship with a man and all that entails. I also would love to have a child, but I know that I’ve missed out on that.”

As for the true reality of life as a transgender, Camille offers statistical information.

“One out of every 2,500 men born are now transgender post op women. There are over 50,000 of us in the United States. And 1 out of every 250 people identifies as belonging to the opposite sex.”

“What those numbers mean is that we are the minority, and so transgender people have to develop a slightly thicker skin.”

” There will always be someone tossing arrows at us and we have to learn to go with it.”

Since her transformation, Camille has become an unofficial spokesperson for transgenders.

She has shared her story with broadcast and print media as well as with a number of community groups and organizations.

When asked why she so willingly and openly discusses her transgender evolution, Camille easily responds.

“Since I’ve made this change I feel as if the yoke of guilt and fear is gone. I’m energized and feel like I can do just about anything.”

” So I lend my voice to those who have not reached my state and cannot speak.”

While Camille clearly stands as a role model for transgender women, she does acknowledge one thing she would do differently if given the chance.

“I wish I had started taking hormones so much earlier. The testosterone did so much damage .

My voice… I had a gorgeous soprano voice.

My hair…I have male pattern baldness and were it not for the testostone  I probably would have  a wonderful head of hair now.

And the beard…the electrolysis is so incredibly painful.”

And to those in the world who say that she exists as an aberration of nature, Camille  offers her kindest smile and a most ladylike response.

“Nature loves diversity. It’s society that has a problem with it.”