91 Facts About Michael Dillon

Laurence Michael Dillon was a British doctor, author, Buddhist monk and the first known transgender man to undergo a phalloplasty.

Michael Dillon joined the women's rowing team in the position rowing stroke, later being elected club president.

Michael Dillon graduated in 1938 and started working in a laboratory near Bristol.

Around this time, Michael Dillon became aware of a doctor who had been studying the effects of testosterone on female patients, and started taking the hormone for personal use, driven by a desire to become a man.

Michael Dillon left his job at the laboratory after he was outed to his colleagues.

Michael Dillon subsequently found a job as a petrol pump attendant in a garage in Bristol and worked there during World War II.

Michael Dillon received a gender-affirming double mastectomy whilst in hospital for hypoglycemia and heard of the work of surgeon Sir Harold Gillies, who agreed to perform a phalloplasty on Dillon after the war.

Michael Dillon's transition became the subject of public attention when it affected his listing as the heir presumptive for the baronetcy of Lismullen.

Michael Dillon changed his name to Lobzang Jivaka, named after the Buddha's own doctor.

Michael Dillon wrote an autobiography titled Out of the Ordinary: A Life of Gender and Spiritual Transitions, which was completed in 1962 and published posthumously in 2016.

Michael Dillon died in May 1962, just two weeks after finishing his autobiography.

Michael Dillon was born on 1 May 1915 in Ladbroke Gardens, Kensington.

Michael Dillon was named after his mother, Laura Maude McCliver, who died of sepsis when Michael was less than two weeks old.

Robert Michael Dillon suffered from alcoholism and left the Navy to avoid being cashiered.

Michael Dillon did not take up any subsequent profession and was unable to look after Michael and his older brother Robert 'Bobby' William Charlier Dillon.

Robert Michael Dillon died in 1925, making his son Bobby the immediate heir to the baronetcy of Lismullen.

Michael Dillon spent his summer holidays at the estate, learning to fish and to shoot, until he was 14 years old.

Michael Dillon was educated at Brampton Down Girls' School in Folkestone.

Michael Dillon enjoyed learning about theology and spirituality, a passion he would retain throughout his life.

Michael Dillon was brought up in the Church of England and had close relationships with the local vicars who helped him further his philosophical knowledge and practice.

Michael Dillon enjoyed sports and masculine-oriented activities and wished to present himself in a more masculine way, such as asking for his hair to be cut in the same style as his brother's.

Michael Dillon envied his brother for being able to attend an all-boys' school and did not like being excluded from boys' games and activities.

Michael Dillon recalled an incident from his teenage years when a boy held open a gate for him and he realised for the first time that others perceived him as a woman, which jarred with how he felt internally.

Michael Dillon felt physically uncomfortable as a girl, recalling that he had tried to bind his breasts with a belt until a classmate found out and warned that it was dangerous.

Michael Dillon was encouraged by one of the local vicars to study theology at Oxford.

Michael Dillon initially had ambitions of becoming a Deaconess post-graduation, but convinced the university that he should switch to Greats and secured further tutoring in the subject during the holidays.

Michael Dillon struggled socially at university but discovered a passion for rowing.

Michael Dillon became the president of the Oxford University Women's Boat Club and fought for greater recognition of the women's sport, seeking to increase the parity between men's and women's rowing.

Michael Dillon successfully campaigned to change these practices so that women's rowing aligned more with the men's sport.

Whilst at Oxford, Michael Dillon continued to question his gender identity.

Michael Dillon confided in a close male friend who helped him buy men's clothing and took him to boxing matches where women were not permitted.

Michael Dillon volunteered for the Women's Auxiliary Air Force territorials when World War II began in 1939, but was told by the commandant that he did not seem to be suited to the work and was put off by the discovery that he would have to live in dormitories exclusively with other women.

Michael Dillon approached Foss and asked to be prescribed the hormone for personal use.

Michael Dillon therefore became the first recorded person to take testosterone exclusively for the purpose of gender affirmation.

Michael Dillon felt forced to leave his job after more colleagues found out.

Michael Dillon moved from the outskirts of the city of Bristol into the centre.

Michael Dillon faced frequent taunting from his colleagues who would inform customers about how Dillon was a woman who wanted to be a man.

Michael Dillon volunteered to become the garage's firewatcher during heavy bombing of Bristol during the Second World War.

Whilst working as a firewatcher, Michael Dillon wrote his first book Self: A Study in Ethics and Endocrinology.

Michael Dillon suffered from hypoglycaemia and would sometimes end up in hospital after passing out.

Michael Dillon contacted Gillies that same year, asking whether he could undergo a similar treatment.

Michael Dillon was able to change his birth certificate with a medical certificate authorised by a doctor and his cousin as a family member.

Michael Dillon was able to enrol under his new name thanks to assistance from a former Oxford tutor, who helped Michael Dillon change the university records to show that he had studied at Brasenose College, which only accepted male students at the time.

Michael Dillon shared this belief, believing that patients should have the agency to decide if the "mutilation" would end their psychological distress.

From 1946, during his holidays from medical school, Michael Dillon travelled to visit Gillies at Rooksdown House in Basingstoke for a series of surgeries.

Gillies made an effort to foster a positive atmosphere at Rooksdown and Michael Dillon enjoyed his time there, twice acting as master of ceremonies for the Christmas parties and in general feeling as if he were finally becoming wholly male.

At Trinity, Michael Dillon again became a distinguished rower, this time for the men's team.

Michael Dillon achieved a blue, therefore very likely becoming the first person to have won the accolade as both a man and a woman.

Michael Dillon was reported to be misogynistic and was careful to avoid romantic advances with women, later saying that he felt it was unfair to court women if he was not able to have children with them.

Michael Dillon felt great comfort in knowing that he could be in public and automatically perceived as a male by passers-by.

Michael Dillon's aunts grew to accept him as a male and eventually Dillon felt comfortable visiting them back in Folkestone.

Michael Dillon, who was not yet qualified as a doctor, performed an illegal orchiectomy on Cowell with her permission.

Michael Dillon wrote love letters to Cowell revealing his infatuation with her.

Michael Dillon recalled that Dillon made patronising remarks about her lack of education and had a limited sense of humour.

Michael Dillon graduated from Trinity in 1951 and began working as a physician in a north Dublin hospital.

Michael Dillon was inspired by the holistic care he had received at Rooksdown House and decided to implement some of the elements in his own workplace: these included taking the patients on picnic trips, installing a library, providing patients with personal radios, practicing occupational therapy, and engaging the patients in crafts.

Michael Dillon started donating 10 percent of his income to a grant scheme facilitated by Arthur Millbourne, Canon of Bristol Cathedral, which helped disadvantaged students pay for university.

Michael Dillon tried to escape his prior conditioning by reading widely, including the works of George Gurdjieff, Peter Ouspensky, Tuesday Lobsang Rampa.

Michael Dillon discovered that Rampa, author of The Third Eye, lived in Dublin and decided to visit him for a fortnight in 1957 to seek mentorship in Buddhism.

Michael Dillon was inspired by Rampa to spend time in India and pursue the religion further.

In early 1958, Michael Dillon was back at sea and his ship stopped in Calcutta.

Michael Dillon used this as an opportunity to learn more about Buddhism.

Michael Dillon travelled to Bodh Gaya to visit the Mahabodhi Temple, where he met Dhardoh Rimpoche.

Rimpoche urged Michael Dillon to visit Kalimpong the next time he came to India.

Since he joined the Merchant Navy, Michael Dillon was living fully as a man and had not had to explain his gender transition to any new acquaintances.

Michael Dillon's ship had docked at Baltimore when he received a cable from the Daily Express, asking whether he intended to claim his aristocratic title since his "change-over".

Michael Dillon told the press that he was a male born with a severe form of hypospadias and had undergone a series of operations to "correct" the condition after he began to display masculine features.

Michael Dillon felt that he needed to travel to India and remain there for a few years in order to let the negative attention subside.

When Michael Dillon's ship travelled back to India, he stayed in the country and travelled to Kalimpong, as suggested by Rimpoche.

When Michael Dillon returned to visit Rimpoche he found that the monk was unwilling to meet him.

Rimpoche suggested that Michael Dillon stayed at a monastery of the Theravada tradition which was directed by an English monk named Sangharakshita.

Michael Dillon assumed that this information was under strict secrecy, but Sangharakshita later claimed that this was not the case.

Michael Dillon wrote to Sangharakshita to explain his reasoning and inform him of his upcoming ordination, but the monk did not share his views.

Michael Dillon returned to Sarnath and began work on two books, including Imji Gestul, which recounted his residency at the monastery.

Michael Dillon managed to maintain a small income through writing about Tibetan Buddhism.

Michael Dillon wished to return to Ladakh, but he struggled to secure entry in part due to being reticent to discuss his past.

Michael Dillon wrote to the monk asking to be sent the draft of his incomplete autobiography he had worked on, driven by a wish to complete the manuscript and write his own life story in his own words.

On 1 May 1962, Michael Dillon completed the manuscript of his autobiography titled Out of the Ordinary and mailed it to his literary agent.

Michael Dillon died in the hospital on 15 May 1962.

Michael Dillon's death was unexplained, but malnourishment and typhoid fever likely contributed.

Michael Dillon began writing Self in 1939 whilst working at College Motors.

Michael Dillon makes the case that these feelings cannot be cured purely through psychological means.

Michael Dillon writes that this latter group require medical treatment in the same manner as intersex people, and they should not have to pay for it.

Michael Dillon had been discouraged from writing poetry as a teenager by his aunt Toto, but began writing again whilst at sea.

Michael Dillon described the poems as being inspired by the works of the philosopher George Gurdjieff.

In 1959, Michael Dillon discovered the story of the 11th-century Tibetan saint Milarepa, and decided to rewrite Walter Evans-Wentz's English translation of The Life of Milarepa in a style which he deemed would be more popular to Western readers.

Michael Dillon completed the translation later that year and contacted the publisher John Murray to enquire whether they would be interested in distribution.

Michael Dillon completed Imji Getsul in late 1960, after he was forced to leave Rizong.

Michael Dillon was contacted by Dillon's brother Robert who wished to acquire the manuscript in order to destroy it.

Michael Dillon feared that Dillon's surviving relatives might seek out the manuscript if she made it too obvious that it was still available.

The book includes a foreword by Susan Stryker and an introduction from Lau and Partridge which summarises the key events of Michael Dillon's life, including aspects which were not included by Michael Dillon himself.