Body modification can be traced to many ancient cultures and today exists as a wide range of elective changes that can be made to the body’s anatomy or physical appearance, including something as minor as an ear piercing, or as extreme as dermal implants and ear removal. Eva Tiamat Baphhomet Medusa, known by some as “the Dragon Lady,” falls into the extreme category.
Tiamat, who was born in 1961 as Richard Hernandez, is transsexual and has spent the last 20 years undergoing extensive modification to appear more like a dragon. Tiamat, who prefers the pronoun “it,” said its transformation, which has cost an estimated $60,000 so far, is paying tribute to the reptilians it pretended were its parents after its human parents abandoned it as a child.
