Rebecca Tallon de Havilland

Tallon de Havilland was born and spent her early childhood in Granard, County Longford.^[1] She moved to Dublin aged seven. She moved to London in her twenties, pursuing a career as a hairdresser and makeup artist. While in London, she came out as a transgender woman.^[2] In 1987, when about to undergo gender confirmation surgery, she was diagnosed with HIV, and told she had two years to live.^[2] In 1991, while working as a model, she was outed on the front page of an Irish national newspaper, at a time when she had not yet told her family in Ireland of her intention to undergo surgery.^[1] She said that articles about her in the Irish press were of a "sexualised Page Three nature".^[1] Negative media coverage and the resultant damage to her career contributed to alcohol and drug issues.^[1]

In the early 2000s, she became the first transgender woman in Ireland to change the sex marker on her passport.^[3] She became sober while living in Belfast in the mid-2000s.^[1] She began campaigning in the area of sexual health in the early 2010s, writing for Boyz and working with the Terrence Higgins Trust.^[1][2] Tallon de Havilland moved back to Dublin in 2022.^[4] The same year, she led the Pride section of the Dublin Saint Patrick's Day Parade.^[5] In 2023, she was a guest on The Tommy Tiernan Show.^[6] In 2024, she hosted a television series, Second Chances, for Virgin Media Television, in which she helped participants overcome obstacles relating to addiction, abusive relationships and other issues.^[7] It was the first time a TV series in Ireland had been presented by a trans woman.^[8]

• Tallon de Havilland, Rebecca (2010). His Name is Rebecca. Poolbeg Press. ISBN 9781842234440.