Transsexual Phoenix Author to Speak at City Event; Sex-Change Patient Grew Up in Detroit in 1960s

In the late 1960s, Millie C. Bloodworth was a city boy from Detroit who didn't like guns, the Army, snakes on field trips, or the looming prospect of getting shipped off to Vietnam.

What he really wanted was a sex-change operation and a wardrobe of pretty dresses.

Bloodworth, who describes her offbeat, coming-of-age tale in her 2008 book, The Exceptional, Impossible Woman Indeed! will chat about her life and society's evolving view of transsexuals during a free, city-sponsored event on Friday, February 19.

Her book might only be the 2,800,133rd best-seller on Amazon.com, but we were intrigued by some of the excerpts published on Google Books.

Image from Bloodworth's book

Millie C. Bloodworth in the 1970s

The Phoenix resident doesn't hold back in the book, detailing how she gave her first blowjob for money at the tender age of 14. She kept her illicit sexual adventures and pot-smoking a secret from her family, but she couldn't hide the way her breasts swelled because of her hormone treatments.

After getting drafted and sent to Kansas for weapons training, Bloodworth discovered the joys of performing as a drag queen at a local gay bar. In one scene both tragic and amusing, she intentionally drinks too much cough syrup -- and ends up in a coma -- because she's terrified of encountering another snake on a field trip. It's just one of many challenges Bloodworth describes facing in the book, but "readers will surely cheer this author's ultimate triumph," according to one promo.

The talk will begin at noon at the Phoenix City Council Chambers, 200 West Washington Street. It's part of the city's Faces of Diversity Brown Bag series -- you can bring your own vittles.