Hermaphrodite: Stefanie Imbruglia - a first cousin of pop star Natalie Imbruglia

A TRANSSEXUAL is taking on the Howard Government in a bid to be acknowledged as a woman named Stefanie, not a man named Stephen.

Stefanie Imbruglia - a first cousin of pop star Natalie Imbruglia - is fighting a recent law change that forbids her identifying herself as female on her passport.

After living as a woman for two years, Ms Imbruglia, 42, is due to fly to Thailand in October for sex-change surgery that will complete her transition from male to female.

But she has been outraged by legislation enacted by the Government three months ago that has scrapped the right for people in her position to apply for an interim passport that lists "intended" sex rather than current gender.

Ms Imbruglia has been told she will either have to apply for a passport as a man or travel on a document of identity (DOI) that would leave her genderless.

It would not offer her the same level of protection in foreign countries and could lead to her being subjected to strip searches and harassment, says a letter she received from the Department of Foreign Affairs.

"It is completely outrageous," she said. "I am a woman, not a man. I may fly out to Thailand with a penis, but I'm going to come back as a total woman with a vagina so how am I going to get through immigration on a male passport?"

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In her own words:

STEFANIE IMBRUGLIA

I own my own Architectural Consulting Company and have had a hand in documenting such projects as the Myer Department Store and Coles Building in Pitt St Mall, The Family Law Courts of Australia, Hotels, Train Stations & Airport Terminals.

I very nearly transitioned at 21. After many years in denial, I finally did so at 40, when I gained the strength to be me, after the horrific events during the week of September 11. My Transition has been very successful with acceptance across the board. I wrote an essay on “Transitioning on the Job” which was featured in the Sydney Gender Centres’ Polare Magazine (Edition 68). I had SRS in November 2007 & am currently engaged in a fight with the Australian Government, to enable all trans people to have the correct passports & paperwork, reflecting how they present to the world. I recently did some public speaking on Trans Issues at a Sydney University.
My website is http://stefanie888.com

Turns out, cousin to Natalie Imbruglia (Stefanie Imbruglia - already part woman) is flying out to Thailand to complete “her” sex change operation entirely. Only problem is, she isn’t sure she’ll get back into the states when all is said and done. Stefanie told press, “I may fly out to Thailand with a penis, but I’m going to come back as a total woman with a vagina, so how am I going to get through immigration on a male passport?” Huh. Well, good luck with all that!


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