Poppy Z. Brite

Billy Martin was born on May 25, 1967 in Bowling Green, Kentucky at Western University Hospital. Poppy Z. Brite (his writing name) moved to New Orleans in the year 1993, and before that, lived in Athens, Georgia; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; and Bowling Green, Kentucky. He started life as a woman (born with the name Melissa Ann Brite) but is a trans man and prefers the pronouns and terms used with men when being referred to. From the time that he heard about gay men, he has seen himself as one but trapped in a female body. He started gender reassignment in the August 2010. For a while, he and Chris DeBarr (who is a chef) were life partners, but split in the year 2011.