Harry Allen (trans man)

Allen received disproportionate attention in reaction to his unapologetic rejection of a female gender assignment and refusal to conform to social demands that he dress and behave according to female norms.[3][19] These titillating and exploitative stories — "great police blotter copy" — consistently referred to him with she/her pronouns and used his dead name, which is recorded in many of the news stories about him at the time alongside his chosen name, even while also reporting that Allen did take offense at this, and was outspoken in his insistence that he not be, in modern terms, misgendered.[3] His name had been Harry Livingston from around 1900 until 1911, and then Harry Allen after, but he is known on at least one occasion to have used the name George Allen.[20][21][16] It is reported that Harry's mother used his chosen name to refer to him, and asked after him by that name when calling the police station to inquire when they would release him.[7]

Allen was known to be a notorious ladies' man who pursued multiple women at a time, including married women.[8][22] Of the many women he sought, or who sought him, four are reported to have died by suicide.[23][4] The first was Dolly Quappe, who had been dating Allen for three weeks at the time of her death on December 25, 1901. The Seattle Star reported that Quappe had not known that Allen was transgender until he was arrested on suspicion of theft, having stolen an overcoat at a dance in Ballard.[24] After Quappe's suicide, newspapers reported that Allen's jailers said he joked with them about having fooled Quappe about his sex.[25] When he was released, on Christmas Day Quappe confronted him about his dating another young woman, Mabel Lacke. The two fought and Quappe snatched away Allen's watch-chain which contained a locket with a photograph of Lacke.[24][26] Quappe was so angry as to threaten Allen's life and to threaten to kill herself.[27] Later that day, she was found to have ingested carbolic acid she purchased from a pharmacy and passed away that evening.[28][29] The Seattle Star reported the cause of her distress as the jealousy that she felt upon learning of Allen's duplicitousness, but other newspapers in the region implied or stated that it was also due to Allen's assigned sex at birth.[27] According to The Victoria Daily Times, part of Quappe's infatuation with Allen was that he bore a resemblance to a man to whom she had previously been engaged, who had left her to marry another woman.[27] After her death, Allen insisted that Quappe was aware of his transition, but police did not take him at his word because in all their letters she called him Harry Livingston.[27]

The second woman to reportedly die by suicide, due to heartbreak by Allen, was Hazel Walters.[30][31] A report by a Walla Walla paper, The Evening Statesman, erroneously attributed the story of Quappe's death to Walters' name, but provides the occasion of her death as March 1902.[30] According to a profile published by The Seattle Star in 1915, Walters' manner of death was to throw herself from a 'cliff' at Madrona Park because she discovered he "was a woman".[31] Walters left behind a note saying "I love you, Harry, though you are a living lie."[31]

The third of Allen's lovers to die by suicide was Pearl Waldron, who shot herself in the chest with a 32-caliber revolver in Denny Park on November 4, 1903.[30] Waldron and Allen had met at a dance in Georgetown.[15] Waldron was found lying bloody in the park by a passerby who called the police and ambulance. She was taken to a hospital, and doctors worked to remove the bullet for over two hours before giving up on finding it all due to it being near vital organs.[30] For more than an hour after she was found, Waldron refused to give her name or address. When she finally gave in, she also asked that they send for Harry Livingston. Though Waldron left, she never stated her actions were related to Allen. The press and public laid the familiar suspicion that she was driven to shock and despair by discovering that he was transgender.[30][31][17] Allen's mother told police and the press that she was sure Waldron knew, but Waldron's friends insisted that she did not and that she only knew him as Harry Livingston.[15] Coincidentally, Waldron had a sister who had also shot herself over an unrequited love.[15]

The fourth of Allen's paramours to die by suicide was Gertie Samuels, in January 1909.[32] According to reports, Samuels shot herself in the chest after Allen left her at the altar because they couldn't be married as a homosexual couple.[32]

Allen claimed one of the suicide stories was fabricated by a reporter in Seattle for a quick payout, and that nobody ever committed suicide over him.[22]