Dorce Gamalama
Quick Facts
Biography
Dorce Gamalama (born 21st July 1963) is an Indonesian trans woman, who is a pop singer, actress, presenter, and comedian.
Gamalama was born in Solok, West Sumatra, Indonesia. She was raised by her grandmother after both parents died when she was a year old. Her grandmother introduced her to music while she was still at elementary school, singing with a group called the Bambang Brothers. In her teens she began to appear on stage in women's clothes, and took the stage name Dorce Ashadi. She later underwent sex reassignment surgery in Surabaya. Her stage name derived from mount Gamalama in Ternate.
Gamalama has three adopted children and owns a number of orphanages that have cared for thousands of children.
Gamalama was the host of the popular mid-morning Dorce Show on the Trans TV network in Indonesia, and has written an autobiography entitled Aku Perempuan. She is of Minangkabau descent.
On the 9th November 2008, Gamalama attended the funeral of Imam Samudra, one of the men executed for the 2002 Bali bombings. She spent half an hour in the house of the executed man and spoke with his mother. On leaving she was quoted as saying "I'm certain he's gone to heaven".
On the 12th May 2009, Gamalama announced that her show had been cancelled.