Be careful what you wish for...

George Walton and Reg Mickisch first met each other in 1949, in an underground London gay bar. Back then, George was a professional photographer and Reg was a shop window dresser. Together, they traveled for years through Europe, before settling in Darowen, rural Wales, in the early 1970s. There they ran a successful lodging in their house, called Rhiw Goch (The Red Hill, in Welsh).

George and Reg officially got married in February 2006. After 62 years together, Reg passed away in the summer of 2011, followed five weeks later by George – they were 84 and 94 year old, respectively.

George and Reg's life story was chronicled by Mike Parker in his book On the Red Hill (2019). The couple left Rhiw Goch to Parker and his husband.

up until that point, during the day lily continued to dress in masculine clothing and even attended galleries showing gottlieb’s paintings of her. which was kind of iconic. she got to stand in a room full of people who were marveling her beauty, not knowing she was right next to them. it must have been such a cute little secret for them as a couple.

here’s gerda and lilly together

not to mention that for most people there is no real “after” to a transition. especially for these trans historical figures who had to balance identity and safety at all times.

i think having a wife paint these portraits must have felt really amazing for lily. to be able to see herself through the eyes of someone who loved her. i’m very much seconding op on the getting teary eyed.

here are some of my favorite gottleib lily paintings

14 years ago when I had recently moved to Alaska, I went hiking with an Aleut friend, and she pointed to a feather lying on the ground and said "hey that's a bald eagle tail feather, you should grab it!" and I was like "uhh I'm very white and that's very illegal" and she went "they're fuckin everywhere up here man. I have 20." so she grabs it off the ground and hands it to me and says "there, now it's a ceremonial gift from an indigenous person."

and I'm like, okay, cool, I guess this is how we do things in Alaska. nice.

so I keep this bald eagle tail feather around for years. display it in my home among other cherished memorabilia from places I've lived and visited, etc.

on a whim, I have just now looked it up. there is no exemption to that law for a ceremonial gift from an indigenous person. the last 7 years I lived in the US, I was technically a bald eagle poacher.

the law against 'picking feathers up off the ground' means that you can't go shoot an eagle then sell the feathers on etsy by saying you 'just found them'. you can't own them no matter where they came from, which makes sure that they're not going to come from any birds killed and then secretly disposed of.

them: 

- https://www.skincancer.org/prevention/skin-cancer-and-skin-of-color