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Sally Gross collection

Author:
Gross, Sally, 1953-2014
Published:
[Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], 1955-2014.
Physical Description:
1 online resource (60 manuscripts (6,277 pages)) : photographs
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Summary:
Sally Gross was born intersex, with a sexual anatomy that didn't fit the typical definitions of female or male. Born in Cape Town on 22 August 1953 to Jewish parents and raised as a boy (Selwyn), Gross fled South Africa as a political exile in 1977 having attracted the attention of apartheid authorities due to her involvement in left-wing student politics. She later converted to Catholicism and was ordained as a Dominican Friar (1987), having studied Philosophy and Theology at Oxford University. After years of inner conflict, Gross eventually underwent medical tests confirming her intersex status and changed her name to Sally and began living as a woman. Subsequently Rome excused her from her vows and a lengthy and painful battle with the Catholic Church followed - as a woman, Gross could no longer serve as a priest. Gross returned to South Africa after 1994 and worked for the Human Rights Commission and Department of Land Affairs. She also started an organisation called Intersex South Africa, aimed at supporting other intersex people, was an advocate and lobbyist for intersex rights and legislation, and also made the documentary The Third Sex. Gross died in Cape Town on 14 February 2014, having never been able to reconnect with her faith. The collection consists of Sally Gross's personal documents, photographs and memorabilia and reflects her transition from living as a man to living as a woman, her life as a priest, work with the South African government in the Human Rights Commission and the Land Reform Commission and her crisis of faith and subsequent interest in Buddhism and Quakerism. Some of her academic writing is also included. Sally Gross' story also featured in GALA's 2016 exhibition Journeys of Faith.
Subject(s):
Note:
Date range of documents: 1955-2014.
Reproduction of the originals from Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action (GALA).
Includes the following subcollections: Death and memorial -- Personal documents -- Photographs -- Queer, intersex, and gender: writing, research and support groups -- Work-related documents.
Images from the source libraries are selected contents of the original collection materials as representative of their value and pertinence to the digital product.
View MARC record | catkey: 33518209