The pace of the investigation is taking its toll, so we took a night off last night, instead we have the story promised about one of Madeira s most famous daughters (or is it infamous?)
Source : The Guardian Newspaper, July 2007
( http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2130670,00.html – GO TO FOR PHOTO)
AS PROMISED, THE STORY YOU HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR:
Portugal’s cross-dressing ‘general’ dies after 20 years as a man
This little reported story somehow escaped the clutches of the madeira4u blog research department, at the time, but is worth reporting belatedly all the same.
Maria Teresinha Gomes was born on Madeira 1933, but at the age of 16 had fled to Lisbon, without her parents knowledge, leaving them believing that she was dead. She in fact lived to the age of 74, and died in July.
One day in 1974, our subject went to a carnival dressed as an army general, in an outfit knocked up by a local tailor, and never looked back. She named herself General Tito Anibal da Paixao Gomes, and spent the next 20 years posing as a man.
Apparently she was very convincing, and had a sort of military air about her, and even through she didn’t always dress as a General, all her friends, acquaintances and neighbours believed she was who she said she was.
In fact she was so convincing, that she was able to persuade people to invest money in a scam, which eventually landed her court, in a very high profile court case. Even so she had managed to fool everyone for 18 years.
Now, this trial took place at a time when the traditionally conservative and deeply catholic public had not really been exposed to cross-dressing or transsexuality, and hence had real difficulty in grasping the situation, and witnesses still referred to her as ‘The General’, even in court. She even turned up in court wearing smart and formal mens clothes. At the end of the trial she was given a 3 year suspended sentence.
In explaining her actions, Teresinha said “Women were second-class citizens. They had no freedom at all.”
Her disguise was seemingly good enough for a nurse called Joaquina Costa, who became the general’s ‘companion’, sharing a house, and a life, with the general for 15 years. Ms Costa turned up at court saying that she never suspected the general might be a woman.
Now serious questions arise from this story:
How can a trained nurse spend 15 years living with somone without noticing the odd suspicious thing about her partner’s gender? For example, in what position did Teresinha leave the toilet seat after using the bathroom? Did she throw all her clothes on the floor before going to bed? How did she manage to fake ‘wind’ and belch deeply after meals? Did she master the difficult art of beer swilling and go and watch football matches acting the neanderthal down the pub? It’s a little tough to believe! and we are not even going to mention the bedroom department.
What about all those other people she came in contact with. For example, she would surely (being a woman) need to regularly use a toilet when out and about, and I cannot believe that no men noticed the difference in the delivery position and got a little suspicious.
In the UK news this last week ….
1. Only one in 20 criminals actually end up in court. OK so you think that perhaps they are not catching to many? Wrong, that’s one in twenty criminals they have caught, or should it be alleged criminals.
2. The Government is thinking about giving free cocaine to addicts. The logic being that they won’t need to rob and steal to get the money to fund their habit.
3. One of the top stories is about women MPs wearing low cut tops, to try and get attention in the House Of Commons. It seems they have been very succesful in getting attention in and out of the house.
Hopefully back to normal tomorrow …..
