Jody Ford
Jody Suzanne Ford (born Sidney McFerrin Ford III May 17, 1935 in Nashville, Tennessee; died April 4, 1977 in Vestavia Hills) was a transgender hairstylist and salon owner.
Ford attended David Lipscomb College in Nashville and starred on the Bisons' basketball team. He married and had a son and played some semi-professional football with the Miami Bombers in the 1962 season. Eventually he accepted that he identified as a female and noted that he was arrested several times for cross dressing.
Ford's transition led to a divorce from his wife, which included no right to see their son. His gender expression did not make him feel welcomed in the homosexual community any more he was among straight people.
Ford earned a business degree at Tulane University in New Orleans. She moved from Louisiana to Birmingham in 1965 with companion Freada Wallace. He soon married a woman named Wanda and opened Mr Sid's Coiffures at 1004 20th Street South in Five Points South in 1968.
Between 1972 and 1974 Ford underwent sexual reassignment surgery at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. In anticipation of the operation, he admitted that the only other thing he wished he could change was his height, but rationalized that, "I'll just be the tallest girl around town, that's all." Afterward she changed the sign at her salon to read "Ms Sid's" and lived openly as a transsexual, demanding to be referred to as a woman. She was known as a skilled stylist and recognized around town driving her yellow Cadillac.
On the evening of April 4, 1977, a Monday marked by a deadly tornado in Smithfield, Jody and Wanda went to the Brookwood Village cinema to watch a movie together. Outside the theater they exchanged words with 26-year-old Larry Maddox, then manager of the Vestavia Motor Lodge which was owned by his father. Incensed, Ford followed Maddox back to the motel and confronted him again in the parking lot. Maddox retrieved a 16-gauge automatic shotgun from the motel office and shot and killed Ford.
Maddox was charged with murder, and pleaded not guilty by reason of self-defense, claiming that the shotgun "went off" while Ford was "lunging" for it. Witnesses for the state disputed that account, testifying that Ford was standing at her car with her hands in the air when Maddox shot her in the chest. The case was prosecuted by Deputy Jefferson County District Attorney Ken Gomany, who told jurors that, "Maddox wanted to kill a person he didn’t understand." Defense attorneys portrayed Ford as "a 242-pound gorilla," whose aggression caused Maddox to fear for his life. After five hours' deliberation, Maddox was found not guilty.
Ford is buried at Elmwood Cemetery.
References
- "Man Charged in Alabama Gun Slaying" (April 6, 1977) The Tennessean, p. 16
- Dunigan, Jonece Starr [1] "Southern LGBTQ history collected, preserved in Alabama (Mar 26, 2019)" at AL.com
- Chambers, Jesse (November 16, 2011) "Remembering Ms. Sid: Honoring the memory of Birmingham transsexual Jody Suzanne Ford." Weld for Birmingham
- Armstrong, Julie Buckner (August 2, 2012) "Transgender Warrior: The story of Birmingham’s Jody Suzanne Ford" Weld for Birmingham
- Hrynkiw, Ivana (June 16, 2022) "Jody Suzanne Ford, trans Birmingham hairdresser shot to death in 1977, paved way for others to live unafraid." The Birmingham News
External links
- Jody Susan “Ms. Sid” Ford at FindAGrave.com