Georgina Beyer was a New Zealand Labour Party politician who served as a member of parliament and is best known for being the world's first openly transgender member of parliament. Beyer was assigned the gender male at birth. She began acting during her teen years which she decided to pursue full time and dropped out of school at 16. She moved to Australia for sometime where she was a victim of sexual assault. She returned to New Zealand to work as an actor in television drama Jewel's Darl, a ro... moreGeorgina Beyer was a New Zealand Labour Party politician who served as a member of parliament and is best known for being the world's first openly transgender member of parliament. Beyer was assigned the gender male at birth. She began acting during her teen years which she decided to pursue full time and dropped out of school at 16. She moved to Australia for sometime where she was a victim of sexual assault. She returned to New Zealand to work as an actor in television drama Jewel's Darl, a role she got a GOFTA award nomination for best female performance, soon after that in 1984, Beyer underwent gender-affirming surgery. She soon became involved in Wellington gay nightclub scene, initially as a singer and drag queen performer, and later as a sex worker. She then moved to Carterton, in the Wairarapa, she worked as a radio host and in 1995 she became the first female mayor of Carterton, and first Māori mayor in the Wairarapa district. She supported policies like prostitution law reform, civil unions, anti-discrimination laws and the promotion of Māori rights. Beyer was re-elected in 1998 with 90% of the vote but ended up retiring in 2007.
