The Westchester LGBTQ+ History Project

Mario Martino (a penname) wrote one of the first autobiographies of a transgender man and served as a counselor to other trans men in Yonkers, N.Y.

Martino’s book centered around his experiences with dysphoria, love life and transition, as well as his life experience as a working-class Italian Catholic, former nun and medical professional.

Emergence may be the first biography of a trans man who underwent medical and surgical transition. It was written by Martino, along with someone credited only as “harriett.”

Martino was the founder and director of the Labyrinth Foundation Counseling/Gender Services, where he worked alongside his wife, a nurse, to counsel trans men and their partners. The address of the practice was 122 Windsor Terrace in Yonkers, N.Y. Its slogan was, at least at one point, “to educate the educated.”

News articles following the publication of Emergence noted that Martino was in the process of completing his doctorate in psychology. Stationery for the Labyrinth Foundation refers to him as “Dr. Martino.”

According to a letter from Martino to Lou Sullivan, a transgender and gay activist, Martino began his counseling work in the late sixties or early seventies. In both his book and later interviews with journalists, Martino spoke of the discrimination he experienced in housing and employment due to his gender and sexuality.

Martino was extremely clear that he never saw his relationships with women as lesbian. Rather, he said he had known since his youth that he was meant to be male. At a young age, Martino became aware of Christine Jorgensen, the first person to become well known in the United States for undergoing a transition-related surgery. Martino wrote in Emergence that he immediately knew he and Jorgensen were alike:

“As quickly as it began, the public excitement subsided. But not within me. At last I had hope. There were people like me. And they were going to do something about it. Now I had a plan: I must hurry through school, graduate, make a lot of money, go to Denmark. I’d not tell anyone. I’d simply leave this country as Marie, leave this girl-form in Denmark, return to the States as a man with a new name, and lead a new life.”

Mario Martino, Emergence: A Transsexual Autobiography (1977)

Ultimately, Martino did not have to travel to Denmark to receive the medical treatment he sought. According to a newspaper profile, he was able to medically transition in Yonkers. After starting testosterone and undergoing at least two major gender-affirming surgeries, Martino was able to legally change his name and marry his long-time partner, whose pseudonym in Emergence is Rebecca.

“Today our lives are filled with the joys and sorrows of family and close friends and professional peers—and with the satisfaction that comes from helping others in finding their own sexual identity.

Keeping in touch with our former patients is one of the pleasures in our life. We return their phone calls, answer their letters—we comment on their latest news and photos of growing children, congratulate them on advancements in work and profession.

We were elated with a recent letter. In closing, our friend added these lines: ‘We’ve just planted two tomato plants! And we’ve named them Mario and Rebecca … Do you mind?’

Mind? Who else gains immortality by having tomato plants named for them!

Mario Martino, Emergence: A Transsexual Autobiography (1977)

By 1989, Martino had retired from his practice and left New York State, according to another letter he wrote Sullivan. In that letter, he wrote of his desire to live a “quiet life” as a “free man”:

“Will society ever accept, without equivocation, the sex-changed person? Will the medical profession ever totally solve the problems of this syndrome? Will the laws of our respective countries protect us? Surely the answer to all three must be an unequivocal yes.”

Mario Martino, Emergence: A Transsexual Autobiography (1977)

The main source for information on this page is Martino’s memoir, Emergence: A Transsexual Autobiography.

Sources

Martino, Mario. Emergence: A Transsexual Autobiography. New York: Crown Publishers, 1977.

Clark, Steve. “Transsexual tells of his ‘Emergence.’” Mount Vernon Argus (Mount Vernon, NY), March 11, 1979, 82. https://www.newspapers.com/image/895176640 

Tornabene, Angelo.  “Labyrinth Foundation Counseling/Gender Service Pamphlet.”  Correspondence.  Digital Transgender Archive,  https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/7d278t12c. 

Tornabene, Angelo.  “Correspondence from Angelo Tornabene to Lou Sullivan (October 3, 1980).”  Correspondence.  1980.  Digital Transgender Archive,  https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/1j92g752z.

Newman, Donna Joy. “He didn’t know, until he was 9, that he wasn’t a boy.” The Evening Independent (St. Petersburg, FL), September 1, 1977, 9-A. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19770901&id=9wAMAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vFgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6628,38154

Sullivan, Lou,  and Tornabene, Angelo.  “Correspondence Between Angelo Tornabene and Lou Sullivan (May 1989).”  Correspondence.  1989.  Digital Transgender Archive,  https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/tb09j5775.