The students at a public school in Buenos Aires didn't expect this. Chess teacher José D'Oro returned from his July vacation with a new identity, Melisa, and came out as a transvestite.
The name is a tribute to his ex-girlfriends. Melisa is an anagram in honor of the girlfriends I had. Mercedes, Estela, Ana. There were many, the professor told BBC Brasil.
Melisa was featured throughout the country with news in the newspapers La Nación and Página 12, and interviews with local TV networks. With her new identity, she became the first transvestite in the Argentine capital's public network.
"In the last six years, I decided to start my transition. Even though I was wearing men's clothes, I started getting my eyebrows and nails done. And I wore looser clothes so that my silicone breasts wouldn't be visible," he said.
Melisa was already married when José was and had two daughters, who are now 16 and 21 years old. They support me completely. And we love doing girly things together, like makeup, for example. For now they still call me Pa (short for dad), but who knows, maybe it will be different in the future, right?, said Melisa.
The teacher said she didn't expect so much repercussion around her story. I always knew what I was and, when I was a child, because of my delicacy, I suffered gender violence and had to change schools. Today, after I took off the man's cape, I feel much better about myself, she said.
Melisa teaches chess at six public schools in Buenos Aires. She is an excellent teacher and the children have to get used to it, the mother of one of her students told the newspaper La Nación.
José becoming Melisa
