I inherited the letters my father sent to his parents in the early 1980s. In an early letter, my father explains:“I am what is known as a ‘trans-sexual’. For people who do not ‘suffer’ from the syndrome the whole concept is difficult to understand, but I will do my best to describe the problem. The…
It’s been a rollercoaster week for anyone interested in the trans issue (particularly in the UK). The week kicked off for me with a series of tweets from JK Rowling, a ton of abuse on social media (a lot of which showed complete disgust with the older female body) for her, an impassioned essay she…
It’s been a revelation to read Heather Bryant’s ‘My Trans Parent’, finally hearing people discuss having similar experiences to mine. Several key areas are discussed in the book. Feelings of resentment, love, anger and grief are explored. Nuances and complications are addressed. There are helpful check lists at the ends of chapters with ‘prompts’ suggesting…
Hello! Sorry for the delay in updating the blog, particularly with a few developments happening in the world of interest to children of transitioners. One piece of positive news has been the launch of a new site for trans widows: https://www.transwidowsvoices.org/ It’s a great resource, with lots of different voices of women whose partners have…
It was a great pleasure to be invited to be the first interviewee on Season Three of Straight Spouse Voices, the podcast of the Straight Spouses Network. Many thanks to the podcast’s host, Kristin Kalbli, who was very welcoming and asked such thoughtful questions. My interview can be found here: The podcast as a whole…
‘Nothing Ever Happens Here’ is a new children’s fiction novel in which a girl of 12 in a small town in the UK copes with the transition of her father. It has already been quite controversial and has an interesting background which suggests that it’s been written with an agenda. In fact, I would go…
One of the first emails I received when I launched this site included a recommendation for Christine Benvenuto’s ‘Sex Changes’. It’s wonderful, and definitely recommended for children of transitioners. It’s a biographical account of Benvenuto’s experience of being a happy married woman with children whose husband one day, out of the blue, announces that he…
‘Seahorse’ is a BBC documentary, recently aired, about Alfred McConnell, a ‘trans man’ who identifies as gay. That’s a person born a woman who believes that they are a gay man. Freddie has been taking testosterone for a while and passes as a man. Freddie likes going to the gym. At some point, for reasons…
First of all, I hope that all of the children of transitioners who wrote in got SOME reply from me! My gmail seems pretty unreliable. Your messages are very important. I hope that at some point you might consider writing something yourself about your experience. Just get in touch. All of the messages so far…
One night in 1980 my Mum was wandering the streets of a city, dragging me behind her, desperately trying to find a room in a cheap bed and breakfast for the night. It had been raining and the lights were gleaming on the wet pavement. It was getting late. Her sister had chucked us out…