She was born in Waddy, Kentucky. The doctor said she was a boy. As a child, she insisted on wearing dresses to school. Her mother took her to the doctor, the doctor suggested letting Lucy live as a girl. She changed her name to Lucy at 15, and moved away from home. She married Clarence Hicks in 1920, and she divorced him in 1929. She was a chef and a nanny. She hosted fancy parties, and won awards for her cooking. She married Reuben Anderson in 1944, and lived in Oxnard, California. She saved enough money to start a brothel and speakeasy. In 1945 an outbreak of disease was connected to her establishment. All of the people working there had to be examined by a doctor. It was discovered that Lucy was born male. Her husband Reuben Anderson and her were tried for fraud on their marriage license. Lucy had gotten money because of her marriage to a soldier which was also deemed fraud. She was one of the first African-American transgender people to defend her identity in court, she said, “I defy any doctor in the world to prove that I am not a woman. I have lived, dressed, and acted just what I am—a woman.” Lucy and her husband were put on 10 years of probation. She was not allowed to wear anything that was feminine, and her family was banned from Oxnard for 10 years. She moved with her husband to Los Angeles, where she lived until her death in 1954.