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But one of the many would-be emigrants, Marija Cerar from the Carniola region, found out her travels across the USA would come to nothing even before stepping onto the infamous island (=Ellis Island). The passengers, or rather, the women among the passengers, discovered by chance that Marija's big and sturdy build, adorned with long and luscious locks, actually hid - a man. Marija had sailed to America on an Austro - Americana steamship. She traveled alongside Franja Grošelj, who was a wealthy and fragile young lady. Situated in women's cabins, the pair enjoyed their voyage. And so they too, alongside other passengers, finally saw the famed Statue of Liberty, which adorned the skyline of the famous metropolis.

Back then, big ships didn't bring their passengers directly to the New York docks; they disembarked earlier. Smaller steamboats came to collect them and take them to the Island of Tears (=Ellis Island), which housed immigration offices. There, passengers were queued up and given a medical check-up in the spacious hall. The doctors had little work when they got to Marija, as she was still called at the time. They cut off her waist-length hair, confiscated her skirts and gave her two men's suits. Then, they sent her back to her homeland.

Upon their return to Trieste, Marija was the center of everybody's attention. They traveled to Ljubljana, where they were placed in front of a camera. Now really presenting as a man, but officially still a woman, he started sporting a mustache, which he had previously shaved off every night. His unfortunate fate had been caused by his mother Marija, who had wished for a daughter, but gave birth to a son. Married to Anton Cerar, also known as Lovrič, who hailed from the village Selo pri Moravčah, house number 18, she had already given birth to several children, but the little boy, born on November 18, 1885, and christened with a girl's name on that same day, was their last. Up until that fateful day one hunderd years ago - in December 1913 - he had spent his life walking around in women's clothes and recognized as a woman. That is, for 28 whole years. After his sex had been revealed and after he had returned home, he was given a new name in the Kamnik municipality - he chose to be named after Saint Joseph, and from then on, he was officially called Jožef Marija Cerar. In his homeland, he was also called to enlist in the army, but he never did. He did get work in some hotel, where he was hired for both men's and women's jobs.

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