Dawn: A Charleston Legend

In 1968, Gordon Langley Hall claimed he was a woman misdiagnosed as male at birth because of a genital defect. To correct this, Gordon underwent one of the first sex reassignment surgeries in the United States. Her subsequent marriage to a black auto mechanic and the mysterious birth of their daughter Natasha sent Charleston, SC society into a fury and cast serious doubts on the truth behind Dawn’s story.

Director: Ron Davis

Cast

D

Dawn Langley Simmons

Self (archive footage)

A

Alexia Jasmene

Dawn Langley Simmons (voiceover)

M

Mildred Simmons

Self

N

Natasha Simmons

Self

S

Stephanie Riggio Bulger

Self

J

John-Paul Simmons

Self (archive footage)

C

Christine Jorgensen

Self (archive footage)

Pierre Berton

Self (archive footage)