Orlando had become a woman.
There is no denying it.
But in every other respect,
Orlando remained precisely as he had been.
A change of sex, though it altered their future,
did nothing whatever to alter their identity.
(upbeat music)
Hi there,
and welcome to Attitude magazine's Pride at Home.
I'm Juno Dawson, and today I'm going to be doing a reading
from ‘Orlando’ by Virginia Woolf,
which was first published in 1928.
So, this one goes out to all those people out there
who think that being transgender or non-binary
or gender-nonconforming is something newfangled.
We've always been here.
We are therefore now left entirely alone in the room
with the sleeping Orlando and the trumpeters.
The trumpeters, ranging themselves side by side in order,
blow one terrific blast.
The truth!
At which Orlando woke.
He stretched himself.
He rose.
He stood upright in complete nakedness before us
and while the trumpets pealed truth, truth, truth,
we have no choice left but confess.
He was a woman.
The sound of trumpets died away
and Orlando stood stark naked.
No human being
since the world began had ever looked more ravishing.
His form combined in one
the strength of a man and a woman's grace.
As he stood there,
the silver trumpets prolonged their note
as if reluctant to leave the lovely sight
which their blast had called forth.
And Chastity and Purity and Modesty,
inspired, no doubt, by Curiosity,
peeked in at the door
and threw a garment like a towel at the naked form,
which unfortunately fell short by several inches.
Orlando looked himself up and down in a long looking glass
without showing any signs of discomposure
and went presumably to his bath.
We may take advantage of this pause in the narrative
to make certain statements.
Orlando had become a woman.
There is no denying it, but in every other respect
Orlando remained precisely as he had been.
A change of sex, though it altered their future,
did nothing whatever to alter their identity.
Their faces remained,
as their portraits proved, practically the same.
His memory, but in future we must
for convention's sake say her for his and she for he,
her memory, then, went back through all the events
of her past life without encountering any obstacles.
Some slight haziness there may have been
as if a few dark drops had fallen
into the clear pool of memory.
Certain things had become a little dimmed, but that was all.
The change seemed to have been accomplished
painlessly and completely, and in such a way
that Orlando herself showed no surprise at it.
Many people taking this into account
and holding that a change of sex is against nature,
have always been at great pains
to prove, one, that Orlando had always been a woman,
two, Orlando is at this moment a man.
Let biologists and psychologists determine.
It is enough for us to state the simple fact.
Orlando was a man until the age of 30
when he became a woman, and has remained so ever since.
Wherever you are, however you are, and whoever you are,
I hope you have a wonderful Pride at Home.
Take care. Bye.