Identified! FL - Clermont, WhtMale UP6030, 24-32, transgender, breast implants, Sep'88 Pamela Leigh Walton

[cyberpanda]

With the current political climate I really wasn't expecting her to be identified this quick. Knowing she was the same age as me when she passed hits hard, so much life ahead of her. Rest easy Pamela.

 

[holidayhouse]

<modsnip: no link to an approved source> I hope they find a photo of her after she transitioned though

 

[Susikatze]

Found another photo of her. I hope they find a photo of her after she transitioned though

I hope so too. Depending on the circumstances of her life post transition. She may have been homeless/transient, substance dependent (why and what did she steal from family?) and thus relying on sexwork. This would make photos unlikely. But then again, we only have the small press clippings of her arrest, nothing more to prove that.
I wish we can learn more and I really hope she was happy during her last years of life and part of a community that loved her.
Also she must have been connected somehow to resources since name change, legal gender change and physical and medical transition require a lot of research and connection. Not to mention the costs of reassignment surgery, at least top surgery. Not sure if she ever had bottom and also irrelevant at that point.

Sweetheart I really wish you finally found love and solace. I hope they find who killed you.

jmoo

 

[Bounceycat]

Found another photo of her. I hope they find a photo of her after she transitioned though

She had absolutely gorgeous hair in both the pics we've seen of her

 

[sickbane]

Found some yearbooks that indicate she was a member of her school's photography club and band. If you go searching for them, be warned that one of the photos she's depicted in is defaced with a slur. The defacer also chose to label her as "Felisha Walton." It's unclear if that was the person giving her a feminine name to mock her or if it was a name she considered prior to choosing Pamela.

 

[HmmMysterious]

Found some yearbooks that indicate she was a member of her school's photography club and band. If you go searching for them, be warned that one of the photos she's depicted in is defaced with a slur. The defacer also chose to label her as "Felisha Walton." It's unclear if that was the person giving her a feminine name to mock her or if it was a name she considered prior to choosing Pamela.

Seems like Pamela sadly faced a lot of attacks on her identity during her lifetime. I bet she was just as quick with comebacks as the first transgender U.S Representative, Sarah McBride has.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1899567447742841007

 

[RandyMcDonald]

If we are to go by the dating of the breast implants to a time no later than 1984, this implies that Pamela tried to transition as quickly as possible and as early as possible, in her early 20s at the very oldest. The courage to do this in the early 1980s is remarkable.

 

[RandyMcDonald]

I

I had found this same page… the birthdate is May 13 1963… I’ve been sending suggestions to her findagrave under Julie Doe so she can have better respect than the original headstone/page.

I have not been able to find it. Is it possible to share the link?

(Never mind, found it!)

I do like how different people have modified the record already, calling her by her name in their expressions of sympathy.

 

[RandyMcDonald]

She may well have done, but she may well have just been arrested for existing in public while trans. This kind of charge is weaponised against minorities.

MOO

The news blurb say the solicitation portion of the charge was dropped.

I would note that one common line of attack against trans people, and against gays and lesbians and bisexuals, is the idea that if they do something outside of the heterosexist norm it is automatically inappropriate and sexual. Holding hands with a same-sex partner is pornographic, for instance, even if the holding hands is just holding hands. Trans women particularly have often been accused of dressing and presenting as women as part of their sexual fetishes; a trans woman walking down the street, in this reading, is forcibly enlisting hapless passersby in support of their exhibitionist fetish.

Pamela could well have been arrested while she was minding her own business, simply because the police assumed that of course she being out in public was automatically her being inappropriately sexual in a public space. At this remove, I am not sure we will ever know.

 

[atomicsciencegal]

I would note that one common line of attack against trans people, and against gays and lesbians and bisexuals, is the idea that if they do something outside of the heterosexist norm it is automatically inappropriate and sexual. Holding hands with a same-sex partner is pornographic, for instance, even if the holding hands is just holding hands. Trans women particularly have often been accused of dressing and presenting as women as part of their sexual fetishes; a trans woman walking down the street, in this reading, is forcibly enlisting hapless passersby in support of their exhibitionist fetish.

Pamela could well have been arrested while she was minding her own business, simply because the police assumed that of course she being out in public was automatically her being inappropriately sexual in a public space. At this remove, I am not sure we will ever know.

I just wanted to thank you for making this point.

 

[Goecke]

Can I just say that this thread has been a breath of fresh air? It makes me so happy to see nothing but love and respect for Pamela.

 

[Susikatze]

I would note that one common line of attack against trans people, and against gays and lesbians and bisexuals, is the idea that if they do something outside of the heterosexist norm it is automatically inappropriate and sexual. Holding hands with a same-sex partner is pornographic, for instance, even if the holding hands is just holding hands. Trans women particularly have often been accused of dressing and presenting as women as part of their sexual fetishes; a trans woman walking down the street, in this reading, is forcibly enlisting hapless passersby in support of their exhibitionist fetish.

Pamela could well have been arrested while she was minding her own business, simply because the police assumed that of course she being out in public was automatically her being inappropriately sexual in a public space. At this remove, I am not sure we will ever know.

Ive come across another charge for substance possession, I feel she slipped into a very difficult life at some point in time. She certainly was no angel but that is what life is about. And she deserves just the same justice and love as a sexworker and substance user than if she was not.

 

[RandyMcDonald]

Ive come across another charge for substance possession, I feel she slipped into a very difficult life at some point in time. She certainly was no angel but that is what life is about. And she deserves just the same justice and love as a sexworker and substance user than if she was not.

The possession was with regards to marijuana, right? No sure idea how that would have been read in 1980s Kentucky, although I can guess.

One tragic thing facing trans people is that the factor I mentioned—the belief that trans people bring visibly trans in public is inherently sexual, could even be viewed as a form of sexual assault—often forces them into sex work because they are not allowed normal jobs, not seen as deserving a normal life. If Pamela was a sex worker, I am inclined to think this was much less an affirmative choice and much more an act of desperation.

 

[Susikatze]

The possession was with regards to marijuana, right? No sure idea how that would have been read in 1980s Kentucky, although I can guess.

One tragic thing facing trans people is that the factor I mentioned—the belief that trans people bring visibly trans in public is inherently sexual, could even be viewed as a form of sexual assault—often forces them into sex work because they are not allowed normal jobs, not seen as deserving a normal life. If Pamela was a sex worker, I am inclined to think this was much less an affirmative choice and much more an act of desperation.

Yes back then transitioning resources often only were easily available in structures and networks that spiralled into sexwork. Also, the costs of gender reassignment treatment and surgery often led transwomen into sexwork in order to afford it.
In the end sexwork likely killed her. Very sad.
Transition is not easy even today but there are much better networks and resources that are easier accessible and that are not connected to structures of abuse and exploitation. The late 1970s/early 1980s were still very different.

 

[_shawtey]

Someone (family member?) put up a cenotaph in the family cemetery for Pamela with her birthdate, but in her age 5 adoption name. On one hand, it's good that her family didn't forget her. OTOH, if they knew about her transition, they intentionally deadnamed her IN STONE which would be awful.

I'm hesitant to link to the Findagrave for it, because it uses her deadname with no mention of her actual name.

Her dead name isn't spelled correctly on there, either... the birth dates are the same but are we sure it's the same person?

 

[_shawtey]

Blurry, but still a goodie: Pamela played in her high school band. There's another photo of the band lined up in her school's 1977 yearbook, but I can't seem to figure out if she's on the far left or far right (forgot which way files go in military-style marching band...) but it's there in case someone wants to figure it out. From what I could tell, she was a tuba player. She was also in her school's photography club.

Sorry these are blurry, but worth sharing to treasure her memory.

 

[djanga]

But substance possession was just marijuana, right? I wouldn’t call someone a substance user if they occasionally smoke marijuana, and I also don’t think someone would need additional income to buy it. I do wonder, though, how difficult it was for a trans woman to find a job in the past. I imagine the level of discrimination was pretty high at that time, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Pam struggled to find employment because of it.

 

[RandyMcDonald]

Yes back then transitioning resources often only were easily available in structures and networks that spiralled into sexwork. Also, the costs of gender reassignment treatment and surgery often led transwomen into sexwork in order to afford it.
In the end sexwork likely killed her. Very sad.
Transition is not easy even today but there are much better networks and resources that are easier accessible and that are not connected to structures of abuse and exploitation. The late 1970s/early 1980s were still very different.

It was just on the threshold of trans visibility, past the first really high-profile media reports of trans people in the media like Renée Richards in the 1970s.

Even now, trans people face significant problems with workplace discrimination, notably more than what gay, lesbian, and bisexual people face.

Redirect Notice

I would prefer not to imagine what things were like in the 1980s, especially away from a major centre where there might be some institutions and networks available.

But substance possession was just marijuana, right? I wouldn’t call someone a substance user if they occasionally smoke marijuana, and I also don’t think someone would need additional income to buy it. I do wonder, though, how difficult it was for a trans woman to find a job in the past. I imagine the level of discrimination was pretty high at that time, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Pam struggled to find employment because of it.

It would be huge. Going back to what I said about the existence of trans people in public bring read as an inherently sexual act, Pamela just being out in public as Pamela would probably have been seen as Pamela acting out her sexual fetish of cross-dressing in public. If she was not able to move to a new community where she could either exist in stealth mode or else go to a community where she could exist while being out, she would have had limited opportunities.

 

[JoeMas]

I hope so too. Depending on the circumstances of her life post transition. She may have been homeless/transient, substance dependent (why and what did she steal from family?) and thus relying on sexwork. This would make photos unlikely. But then again, we only have the small press clippings of her arrest, nothing more to prove that.
I wish we can learn more and I really hope she was happy during her last years of life and part of a community that loved her.
Also she must have been connected somehow to resources since name change, legal gender change and physical and medical transition require a lot of research and connection. Not to mention the costs of reassignment surgery, at least top surgery. Not sure if she ever had bottom and also irrelevant at that point.

Sweetheart I really wish you finally found love and solace. I hope they find who killed you.

jmoo

Do we know how old she was when she died?

25. Born 5-13-63

 

[JoeMas]

u/arctolamia on Reddit found some newspaper articles about Pamela not long before her death. Very sad to think she was so young and also makes me wonder why she ended up in Florida

Pam Walton

Clipping found in Lexington Herald-Leader published in Lexington, Kentucky on 7/6/1988. Pam Walton

www.newspapers.com

Pam Walton

Clipping found in Lexington Herald-Leader published in Lexington, Kentucky on 7/6/1988. Pam Walton

www.newspapers.com