On
3rd Degree tonight:
Episode: For Better Or Worse
Broadcast date: Tuesday, 19 May 2009 at 21h30
Channel: e.tv and eNews Channel (on DStv channel 403)
Chris
Christine
At the age of five Chris Ehlers stood in his grandmother’s bathroom, with a butter knife in his hand. Sawing away with the blunt blade, he tried to cut off his penis until his grandmother rushed in to stop him. He looked her in the eyes and said, “It doesn’t belong.”
35 years later Chris became Christine through an expensive and complex surgery. But the cost of realising a lifelong dream would have devastating consequences.
Chris was taken on as a sales rep in September 2007 by an international steel company located in Johannesburg. Hired as a man, he made his sexual identity clear to his employers. When asked if he was gay, he replied that he was transgendered - born a man, he felt and thought like a woman.
In September 2008 Chris had sex reassignment surgery and after months of office infighting, Christine was dismissed for allegedly causing a disturbance. She claims it was because of her sexual identity.
In South Africa over 80 sex reassignments have been done in the past 15 years. 3rd Degree investigates gender discrimination and speaks to medical experts who explain this daunting procedure on Tuesday 19 May at 9.30PM.