A customer called Augusta Steam-It one day in the spring and asked for owner Bruce Hartley. He had spoken with Bruce, owner and operator of the carpet-cleaning and home renovation company, about a month before to discuss a home project.
"Bruce isn't with the company anymore," said Lisa Hartley, who answered the phone.
That was only half right. Bruce had changed his name to Lisa after gender reassignment surgery, becoming a woman after 46 years as a man.
The customer, it turned out, was only mildly interested in the gender swap -- he was more interested in when Bruce or Lisa would be able to power wash and stain his cedar home.
Public response
That's pretty much been the reaction that Lisa has received since her surgery, save for the occasional slur thrown her way from passing motorists familiar with her past. Before the operation, she wasn't sure exactly how the community would respond, but she's been pleasantly surprised.
"You have to give more credit to people here than they're given. It's a blessing to be transgender here in the Valley," she said. "The issue of transgender people has come out of the closet. People are aware it's not a sexual issue, it's a gender issue."
She thinks media attention -- beginning in the mid-1970s when Dr. Richard Raskin became Dr. ReneÃÃÆ’‚© Richards in what is still arguably the most famous gender swap in history -- has led to a better understanding of the subject.
But Lisa doesn't begrudge those who may be uncomfortable in her presence, especially those not familiar with the transgender world.
"It took me 40 years to understand it. How can I expect someone else to understand it in five minutes?" she said.
Friends and neighbors, though, have accepted her openly.
John Carper, Lisa's next-door neighbor for the past five years or so, said the switch from man to woman appears to have made a noticeable difference in her demeanor. "She seems pretty happy," he said.
Carper said he knew about Lisa's plans beforehand and that he took the attitude of "to each his own."
"She seems like decent people," he said.
"She's been in my life eight to 10 years," said Michael Organ, owner of the Belle Grae Inn in Staunton, who has contracted with Lisa on a number of projects.
"Bruce was a straight-forward, competent and ethical supplier. I see no difference whatsoever."
Gender confusion
Bruce's surgery was the culmination of decades of confusion, Lisa says. The body said male; the brain screamed female.
Feminine feelings aside, Bruce managed to fall in love and father two sons. He married three times.
Eventually he became crew foreman of a cable television company before starting his own logging and lumber salvage business.
"Doing the guy thing," is the way Lisa explained it.
As a boy, Bruce's childhood was "normal," Lisa said. Young Bruce didn't play sports, but he hunted and fished.
Although when choosing clothes, he didn't go for camouflage -- he liked the bright, pretty colors.
And when puberty hit, confusion reigned.
"That's when you really start to realize something's not right here," she said during a recent interview at a downtown coffeehouse while wearing a conservative blue floral-print knee-length dress and strappy sandals.
"I felt feminine."
Dealing with family
Although Lisa's sons, both in their 20s, made themselves unavailable for this article, she said he talked to them at length before the operation. Nowadays, even though Dad is a woman, they continue to call him, "Dad."
"I'll always be their dad," she said.
Lisa said her mother, in her mid-80s and living in New Jersey, also is accepting of the switch but had one request -- keep Bruce as a middle name, which she did. The two speak almost daily.
"I'm her baby," said Lisa, the youngest of three children.
Lisa's sister, Fran Collins, of Wallace, N.C., a prosthetist who custom fits breasts for cancer patients and a few male clients, said she believes her line of work made her brother's gender switch easier to handle. Still, "It took a little bit of getting used to," she admitted.
Looking back, Collins said even as a child, Bruce had moments where he appeared to be a "cute little girl. He just had that look about him."
While acknowledging that her middle brother didn't approve of the gender flip-flop, Collins said she's seen a positive effect on the family nonetheless.
"In reality, it has actually brought the family closer together. Now that she's the focal point, she's making everyone talk more," Collins said. "Nobody has the right to criticize her, because nobody has walked in her shoes."
Not everyone in Lisa's extended family -- some who last saw Bruce as a toddler -- is aware that Bruce is no more. That should all change Dec. 12, the scheduled date for the next family reunion. Collins said the gathering should be quite interesting.
"Give me a call after that," she said.
Bye-bye Bruce
The beginning of the end, so to speak, for Bruce Hartley began in the summer of 2000 when Staunton police arrested him during a sting operation that targeted gay men meeting in Montgomery Hall Park and having sex.
Although police never observed Bruce -- in his third marriage at the time -- engaging in sexual activity, another suspect claimed the two had partnered up. Investigators found a condom containing the DNA of both men.
Pleading guilty to a charge of consensual sodomy, Lisa maintains that police saw a man dressed as a woman, so they made the arrest. The guilty plea, she says, was a successful attempt to avoid spending time behind bars.
The arrest, coupled with other problems, led to Bruce's last divorce. With his kids grown, the marriage over and his personal finances in order, Bruce knew it was time to make a decision once and for all.
"It wasn't hard to make," Lisa says now.
Bruce traveled to Wisconsin for the surgery, which lasted nearly six hours. It cost him ,000, none of it covered by medical insurance.
When Lisa awoke a day later, it was 4 a.m.
"I woke up and I reached down there, and the first thought was, 'Oh my gosh, it's gone,' " Lisa said. "And then it dawned on me, dreams do come true."
Life as Lisa
As a woman, Lisa said the experience has been eye opening. "All of a sudden, it's a new world. The rules have all changed; the options are different," she said.
Biologically speaking, Lisa is still in the early stages of her womanhood, she said, and estimated that her body is experiencing changes much like a girl blossoming in her late teens. Since February, she's seen her bra size expand an entire cup and then some.
"I'm still growing like a weed."
As her body makes its transformation, Lisa, who takes female hormones, said her estrogen levels will ultimately be scaled back, allowing her to undergo the oft-dreaded menopause.
"It's part of the whole experience," she said. "I want the whole package."
At the top of her "to do" list, Lisa has two immediate goals, and one of them is finding a man to share in her newfound happiness.
"Obviously, they're going to have to be a bit open-minded," she said in a voice that's still slightly masculine and a bit nasal.
The new beau also must be successful, politically neutral and with a faith background compatible with her Christian beliefs. Which brings us to Lisa's second goal -- finding a church where her presence won't rock the boat.
While still Bruce, Lisa was openly wearing women's clothing while attending an area church when news of the arrest at Montgomery Hall Park first surfaced, causing a fracture within the church.
Bruce had been a cross-dresser "for as long as I can remember," Lisa said. "There were a lot of people uncomfortable with it."
For the first time in years, Lisa said the church formed a reconciliation committee, aimed at addressing grievances and consisting of many of the same people from her Bible study. At one point, three large men unsuccessfully tried to intimidate the cross-dressing parishioner into leaving.
"The sign on the door says, 'All are welcome,' " Lisa said.
Even though there was unfailing support from a few church members, in the end Bruce grew tired of the in-fighting and left on his on volition.
"I was at a point where the gender issue wasn't going to go away," she said.
Lisa found refuge at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Waynesboro, where the Rev. Ed Piper said an open-door policy is its hallmark. "Our tradition focuses on people's human qualities rather than the gender pigeon holes other people often get stuck on," he said.
Piper said he finds it puzzling that some Christians who claim to walk in the footsteps of Christ spend so much energy on excluding certain individuals "rather than follow Jesus' example of including people."
"They stood by me 100 percent," said Lisa, who attended the church for over a year but was not a member.
Ultimately, she didn't find what she was looking for and walked away.
"For me, it wasn't God-based enough," she says.
Lisa, whose business card contains the phrase from II Corinthians 5:17 that reads, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation," said her desire to get back into a church is based on the fact that she feels blessed that all of her prayers have been answered.
The sooner she finds a church, the better, she said.
"It's my way of thanking God."
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