PORTUGAL:The protagonist of one of Portugal's most gripping courtroom dramas has died after almost 20 years in which she fooled everyone, including her live-in companion, that she was actually a male army general.
With her general's uniform complete with medals, Maria Teresinha Gomes cut a dashing figure as the respectable and charming Gen Tito Anibal da Paixao Gomes. What started out as a costume for the 1974 carnival, knocked up by a tailor in Lisbon, soon became the defining aspect of an invented personality. The general was only occasionally seen in uniform, but even in his civilian clothes he had a distinguished martial air about him that was enough to convince almost everyone.
It was, apparently, good enough for a nurse called Joaquina Costa, who became the general's companion, sharing a house, and a life, with the general for 15 years.
The general's polite and cultured attitude earned him the respect and admiration of neighbours. He eventually used his position of authority, however, to persuade them to hand over part of their savings for investment. High returns were promised, but never forthcoming. It was not until 1992 that "la generala" was unmasked and put on trial.
"There were people who dealt with him every day and never doubted that he was a man," one witness told the court.
The trial revealed that Ms Gomes had other personalities as well. Some people knew her as a lawyer, and others as an employee at the US embassy in Lisbon. Ms Gomes turned up to court every day dressed in man's clothing.
She wore a tie, a smart jacket, shiny leather ankle boots and a man's coat. Her short, grey hair was neatly combed and parted. She wore thick-framed, masculine spectacles. Some witnesses could not get out of the habit of referring to her as "general". One described her as "a good man".
Ms Costa also turned up at court but claimed they had never shared a bedroom and that she never suspected the general might be a woman.
Ms Gomes was eventually given a suspended three-year sentence. She retreated to a remote village where she died, too poor to pay for her own funeral, a fortnight ago.
In real life Ms Gomes had been born on the Portuguese island of Madeira and had run away from home at the age of 16. Her parents gave her up for dead while she made her way to Lisbon.
The case broke at a time when this traditionally conservative, Roman Catholic country, had not really engaged in public debate over homosexuality, cross-dressing or transsexuality.
- (Guardian service)