I have come across many strange things throughout my years of searching, but this article really caught my eye.
Two Boys Reared as Girls Want Sex Declared by Court
Pair Presented by Family as Feminine
Seek End of Masquerade
This was in the Times Picayune on November 22, 1931. I was looking for an article on a family member on the same page and saw this as I was scanning the page. The title jumped right out at me and I just had to read this intriguing story. While not relevant to my family nor my research, I still found it quite interesting and had to wonder if a parent could get by with doing such a thing today.
The article went on to state how two grown brothers claimed that they had been reared from birth as girls. They wanted an official decree designating them men. Their names were Nola and Genevieve and they wished to be renamed as Noel and Gene.
Their mother, they said had given birth to to six sons and desperately wanted a girl, so she masqueraded them as girls always making sure they were dressed in feminine clothing, until her death. Upon her death seven years ago, they had never worn masculine clothing. They said some close friends and family members were aware that they were actually boys, but most believed they were really girls, and were shocked when the secret came out.
I can well imagine their shock. It also leads me to wonder how the family members that knew of this could carry on with such a charade? Wow, talk about skeletons in the closet! Can you imagine your grandad having to tell this secret? Kind of a strange nature verses nurture experiment back in the olden days.
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