Transgender Activist Katherine Cummings Passes Away
Image: Katherine Cummings. Image: Supplied
Star Observer offers our condolences to Katherine Cummings’ friends, family, and loved ones on her passing, at the age of 87.
Katherine was a community elder, writer, editor, and trailblazer.
She paved the way for transgender rights and made the world a more welcoming place.
Katherine wrote Katherine’s Diary: The Story of a Transexual which was published in 1992, along with other books, poems, and stories.
Katherine’s Diary won the 1992 Australian Human Rights Award for Nonfiction.
Hi Nicole, beautiful words. I also met Katherine working briefly at The Gender Centre, I moved up the coast and visited Katherine a few times in the last few years. What a courageous woman, so very intelligent also. Sad to hear she is no longer amongst us for sure.
I knew Katherine through her long association with UNSW Sydney and the NSW Gender Centre. Katherine was a gifted writer and a generous soul. She had travelled widely and lived her life to the full. I can highly recommend her autobiography Katherine’s Diary both as an historical document and a very entertaining read. Vale Katherine.
Katherine and I began at the Gender Centre at the same time, but of course she outlasted me be many, many years. I often wondered what drove her to give back so much for so long to a community filled with many who can’t wait to move on once they’ve transitioned. She opened her home and heart to so many trans people struggling with the obstacles thrown needlessly in our paths. She is remembered as one of the most kind-hearted and unselfish people I have known, and am deeply saddened at this news.