Transsexual Loses Libel Suit Against NY Post

n 2007, transsexual Ava Cordero was the sweetheart of the gossip pages -- and the gossip bloggers -- when her high-profile New York lawyer boyfriend William J. Unroch sued the even higher profile billionaire money manager Jeffrey Epstein alleging that he pressured the then-16-year-old into sex in exchange for promises that he would help her get modeling work.

Soon, Cordero was the plaintiff in a second lawsuit, this time for libel against the New York Post after it reported that she was a he. The gist of her suit was that the Post, by quoting a MySpace page in which Cordero "gives a graphic depiction of a masturbatory fantasy" in which she has sex with multiple men and women, implied she was a "promiscuous slut" and therefore committed libel per se.

Cordero's lawsuit against Epstein seemed to fade from the limelight last year after court papers were filed allegedly showing that she was not a minor at the time of the affair. Around the same time, she and her lawyer/boyfriend Unroch were reported to have broken off their relationship.

But her libel suit continued on in the New York courts. In the trial court, the Post sought to have the entire case dismissed. The Supreme Court (N.Y.'s trial court) granted the motion as to all Cordero's allegations except one -- that involving the implication that she was a promiscuous slut. The Post appealed the judge's refusal to dismiss the suit. This week, the Appellate Division issued an opinion ruling in the Post's favor.