So the Paddy Power ad campaign is all just a bit of fun? Just for laughs?
Sadly, the evidence already beginning to come in is just the opposite – and pretty much in line with fears expressed at the supposedly more “alarmist” end of the spectrum. Read the rest of this entry »
Those that live by the blog, shall die by the blog – though it is to be hoped, in the case of the trans guy just outed by the Daily Mail, that the end is not quite as literal as that.
He’s been outed – the guy who gave birth to a baby, last year – and it was the Daily Mail that done it. Read the rest of this entry »
The Sun newspaper hit back yesterday at claims that it had failed to mend its ways in respect of its treatment of the UK’s trans community, defending its attempts to locate the trans man who had given birth as being “in the public interest”.
Speaking exclusively to Jane Fae, for Pink News, Interim Managing Editor David Dinsmore asserted that restrictions on reporting in this case were in danger of shackling the freedom of the press to report. Read the rest of this entry »
I am very much less than impressed by the way in which, since the trans man story broke, various “friends” of the Beaumont Society have been doing the rounds of message boards and trying to claim this as a witch-hunt against their organisation.
That is diversionary, dishonest and really won’t wash. The simple fact is that, in journalistic terms, the BS outed the story and all their denials amount to little more than fairly disingenuous word play. Read the rest of this entry »
…and one that in the fullness of time may well come back to haunt the Beaumont Society which, on the face of it, appears to have come as close to outing a trans man as it is possible to come without naming names.
A large chunk of the trans community is now up in arms and less than happy at the role played by a body that has always been viewed with suspicion by the transsexual end of the “umbrella”, while the justification for its action given by that organisation seem more likely to fan the flames than put them out. Read the rest of this entry »
Today was my last and maybe most significant personal outing. To my parish priest, no less.
It was every bit as horrid as i feared it might be. First, i dug down to the bottom of my clothes pile and dragged out a pair of trousers. MALE trousers. The first time in almost a fortnight (with the exception of church) that i dressed once more as a male.
It felt…wrong. Utterly. Like a snake trying to crawl back into a cast-off skin. But i was trying to be respectful.
The result was not as bad as i feared…and yet…
He has, he says, no objections to my cross-dressing. Would he mind if i dressed for church? No. But…
But…could i leave it a couple of weeks. Ouch. Why? If he doesn’t mind, surely he doesn’t mind? Am i being uncharitable?
Or is he hedging his bets? Checking up the line with the Bishop, before he lets a mad tranny loose amongst his congregation. I feel a bit deflated by that.
Then there was the other stuff. Our conversation brought out into the open that i am living “in sin”. Married. Legally divorced – but not, of course, divorced in the eyes of the church.
So: i need to sort that out. Get the previous marriage annulled before getting round to marrying andrea. Hmmm. OK. i have no problems with that – and he suggests that an annulment is no longer quite the song and dance it once was. Still, though, it will take months.
In the meantime, i probably should not be taking communion. Ah. If you’re catholic, you’ll understand: if you’re not, then maybe stop reading now. That is big: a real rebuff. That hurts.
Worse, of course, are the theological windings that follow. I am living in sin because i am having sexual relations with someone not my wife: a person i last shared a bed with almost 15 years ago.
on the other hand, if i do want to marry andrea, my trans journey means there will come a point when i can’t have sexual relations with her. At lest, not relations as the church knows them.
I hadn’t the heart to try to explain we’ve already stopped all that nonsense: that we now have a sex life that leaves out all those nasty pumping and procreative bits.
I shall have to find out exactly what the church counts as a sexual relationship. I suspect it involves an erection, penetration and at least the remote possibility of babies.
Oh dear. i can see this getting a great deal more complicated before it simplifies again. I really don’t want to leave the church: today i had the first inkling that at some point i may have to make a choice.
The good thing about being a writer is that it comes with privilege attached. Not that I have yet – thank God! – descended to a pathetic Winneresque bellow of “do you know who I am?”, followed by some diatribe in whatever tame magazine I can command.
Although I did once do a piece on banking security that was at least partly inspired by some pretty poor experiences with Lloyds bank. But I didn’t name names. At least not until this blog.
Still, though, being a writer means i get to meet and talk to some very interesting people: last year’s candidate for the most interesting title was probably Film Director John Waters. It also means i have access.
Want to write about coming out? Yep: i’d guess almost everyone who ever has transitioned has a story to tell – many far more interesting than my own.
But i know editors and, at last count, i had four offers to “reveal all”. Hmmm. Where to start?
In the end, we – andrea and i – did either the stupidest or possibly most useful thing we could. We went and talked to the Mail. They are writing a feature about transgender, starring the two of us.
Presumptuous on our part? Probably. But the feeling, at the end of the interview, is that we aren’t going to get torn to bits and, if we’re not, that’s going to be a real positive: a major piece in a major newspaper about trans that ISN’T focussed on regrets or speculation about some celebrity having gender wobbles.
Lady Gaga, anyone?
Both interview and interviewer were lovely. Not that that tells much: as i was answering questions yesterday, a part of me was admiring the real skill that Helen Weathers, the Mail journalist doing the piece, brought to her work.
She re-assured. She was knowledgeable. She asked insightful questions. I was seriously impressed – and not a little envious. Strange how the grass is always greener as, in between the questions, she expressed her own wistfulness at not being directed towards the heavier issues sometimes. Whilst i would love to shift my own work back towards the insightful interpersonal stuff she does.
Anyway, the die is cast. Interview done. We have quote approval – which basically means we won’t be misquoted. It doesn’t prevent a total stitch-up – though maybe it helps avoid a bloodbath.
We will be seeing advance copy soon. Fingers very much crossed.
