Already one of Turkey's most popular male singers and actors, Bülent Ersoy gained international notoriety in 1981 when he travelled to Great Britain for a sex change operation, a procedure unavailable in his native country. In a further defiance of convention, Ersoy kept the traditionally male name of "Bülent," rather than exchanging it for a female one, as is usual with male-to-female transsexuals.

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