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1721 30oct19 profile
Hi there,
I am a post-op transgender person male to female. I enjoy events and pastimes such as going on trips out, or to the cinema or to a theatre or maybe a meal out somewhere. These are just ordinary things to do. Simple as that. I like to be regarded as female which I truly have been really from when I was very young. I am also a reliable and genuine person.
I love humour. And romance and words and hope and dreams and ....and I do on a bit. And some!
I am full time female - starting 31may14. This includes at work - starting 26may17 and loving every bit of it. I prefer to be female. I occasionally go out socially, where I can be regarded with admiration and left to be ordinary in my extraordinary way. Sometimes, a trip to a transgender group.
Anyhow in the meantime, check out Tina Horizon on flickr for lots of photos of me in public, and being accepted by everyone.
I have tons of enthusiasm for transgender issues, and happily live in public as myself. See my photos which were taken by members of the public in very open places. Places such as London, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Derby, Nottingham, Shrewsbury, Leeds, Bradford, York, Milton Keynes and Doncaster up to now.
I have started going to work full time female. They are really supportive of me and also are full of friendships and understanding. There are about 200 in our office and they are really good. I am a Chartered Electrical Engineer. My self-respect has zoomed up as has their respect for me. It is so agreeable being female and I can be myself with ease.
I am on oestrogen (Sep 2014) and was on testosterone production blockers (Jun 2016-Oct 2018). I had gender re-assignment surgery on 23rd October 2018.
Have a look at the reference information below. It might not be 100% accurate, but you may find it useful. If you have any questions, then please do contact me.
I enjoy going out in public, especially when the weather is fine. In the summer, I have extra trips out to places such as London, Bradford, Liverpool, Birmingham and then any places I have reason to be there, such as Nottingham. I plan to go to Newcastle sometime.
My trips out are generally to enjoy being female in public without any bother. People are so friendly and understanding. I suspect that I pass most often, and sometimes I don't. Either way, people don't really notice me. This is just fine.
For my trips out, I like to get people to take photos of me on my camera. The worst part is having to hang around waiting to ask the right person to take a picture. I have to be careful that they are not busy, they do not look as if they may do a runner with my camera, they can be trusted not to throw it in the river, they haven't just been eating sticky donuts, they know how to operate a camera etc.
So, if anybody fancies a trip out with me, they’d be most welcome.
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2 Music and Films.
ABBA: SOS
ABC: All Of My Heart
ABC: Lexicon Of Love
The Babys: Isn’t It Time
Brian Ferry: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
Carly Simon: Nobody Does It Better
David Bowie: Life on Mars
The Eagles: Hotel California
The Eagles: Voyage of the Sorcerer (Hitch Hiker’s Guide)
ELO: Ticket To The Moon
Ennio Morricone: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (HD) - Full movie 2:36:00
Ennio Morricone: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (HD) - Full movie 2:43:10
Fleetwood Mac: Rumours
Fleetwood Mac: Oh well (part 2)
Fun loving criminals: We Have All The Time In The World
Genesis: Trick of the Tail
Hazel O Connor: Will You?
Jon and Vangelis: I Hear You Now
Johnny Nash: I Can See Clearly Now
The Kinks: Lola (of course)
Lou Reed: Walk On The Wild Side (of course)
Louis Armstrong: We Have All The Time In The World
Michael Jackson: Ain’t No Sunshine
Nancy Sinatra: You Only Live Twice
Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here
Queen: Radio Ga Ga
Roxy music: Avalon
Roxy music: Oh Yeah
Seal: Crazy
Simple Minds: Don’t You Forget About Me
Tasmin Archer: Sleeping Satellite
Temptations: Just my Imagination
The Seekers: The Carnival Is Over
Vangelis: China
Vangelis: To the unknown man
Visage: Fade To Grey
Water Boys: Old England
The Who: Pinball Wizzard
The Who: Won’t Get Fooled Again
and more ....
Favourite films:
Belstone Fox
Bridge On The River Kwai
Forrest Gump
Gold Finger
Ground Hog Day (I’d love to see it again)
The Great Escape (the women, the songs, the romance, the costumes, the happy ending - it has it all!)
The Great Train Robbery (2013) with Jim Broadbent and Robert Glenister
Jaws
Laurence of Arabia (first half)
Live And Let Die
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
The Railway Children
The Sound of Music (oops, sorry)
Star Wars (1978)
The Taking of Pelham 123 (the original with Walter Matthau)
You Only Live Twice
Favourite Programmes:
A bit of a do (Davis Jason et al)
All Creatures Great and Small
Ashes to Ashes
The Beiderbeck Affair
Count Arthur Strong (well I giggle to that)
Grandstand (superb for sending me to sleep on a Saturday afternoon) alas no more!
The Great British Bake Off (would be better if it didn't have the invented time limits!)
Great Railway Journeys - India (1980) now missing
Great Railway Journeys - UK (1980)
The complete series of the Hustle - birthday present May 2013
Life on Mars
Poirot (ITV 1990s)
Strictly Come Dancing
Yes Minister
Yes Prime Minister
Transgender supportive programmes and films:
Billy Elliot
Different For Girls
Hidden Figures
Hunting Venus
Lilyhammer
Made In Dagenham
On the Basis Of Sex (2018)
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3 Personal Statistics.
5’7” tall
9 st 9 lbs (I half starve for this during the week, but it's worth it!)
It’s more like 9st 11lb = 63 kg since Christmas 2016
Ooh er, it’s now more like 10st 2lb = 64.5 kg.
My scales have been lying to me 10st 8lb = 67 kg. I wonder if they, like me need calibrating?
38 34 38
size 14 (I do have a Matalan short skirt size 10, but I don't believe the label)
Strict non-smoker
Have all my teeth!
Age: check my photos
Mental age: late 20s
Born May 1955
Humour:
Fun
Character:
Romantic affectionate slightly sub
Hobbies:
Cooking
Improving the house
Being in public
Meeting transgender people
Walking in the hills
Helping on the canal locks
Writing emails, articles, humour
Sports:
Swimming - when I get the chance
Badminton - if my legs are up to it!
Walking - as above
Standard note: I can’t get at TVChix during the working week very well. If you do write to me via TVChix and I then think I can trust you, I will give you my personal email address for which I do have easier access to at work. No one knows of the existence of this email address, apart from the transgender people I write to, of course. The email address is totally secure.
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5 Personal Treatment Time Line.
Jul 2014 Presented to Doctor
Aug 2014 Base line blood tests: oestrogen 103 pmol/L, testosterone 20 nmol/L
Sep 2014 Started oestrogen gel (Sandrena) very very gradually
Oct 2014 Meeting with psychiatrists (standard check requested by the doctor)
Dec 2014 Referral to Nottingham Centre for Transgender Health
Jan 2015 Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) treatment on face
Mar 2015 Up to full dosage of oestrogen
Jun 2015 First appointment at Nottingham Centre for Transgender Health
Jul 2015 Breast tissue now developed and stable, had been tender since March
Oct 2015 Electrolysis treatment on face
Dec 2015 Laser treatment on face
May 2016 Prescribed oestrogen (Sandrena 1mg / day)
Jun 2016 Prescribed testosterone production blocker goserelin (Zoladex) implant 3.6mg / 4 weeks
Jun 2016 More electrolysis treatment on face
Oct 2016 Blood tests: oestrogen 911 pmol/L, testosterone 1 nmol/L
Dec 2016 NHS funded laser treatment on face commences monthly
Jan 2017 Blood tests: oestrogen 95 pmol/L, testosterone 1 nmol/L
Ouch! My oestrogen levels had collapsed to below bottom male range. I did not know about this and between the dates of October and February, I didn’t feel too good
Feb 2017 Doubled oestrogen gel to 1mg twice a day resulting in feeling better. Dose reduced to 1mg per day - ok
Mar 2017 NHS funded electrolysis commenced
May 2017 Requested gender reassignment surgery at my next appointment at Nottingham Centre for Transgender Health
May 2017 Full time female at work as well
Jun 2017 Change name by deed poll and all other documents
May 2018 Blood tests: oestrogen 582 pmol/L, testosterone 1 nmol/L - perfect
May 2018 Second opinion at the Nottingham Centre for Transgender Health and referral for surgery at Nuffield Health - Brighton Hospital
Aug 2018 Surgical assessment at Brighton Hospital
Oct 2018 Gender Reassignment Surgery at Brighton Hospital: surgeon Mr Charles Coker
Oct 2019 Applied for new passport
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6 Leeds First Friday.
Self explanatory really. Normally there are over 200 transgender people, transvestites, wives, partners etc. We meet in the venues below and anywhere nearby from about 19:00 on the first Friday of the month. If the first Friday falls on the 1st of January, normally it's postponed to the following Friday.
Venues such as the Cosmopolitan, Viaduct, Fibre, The Loft, The Smoke Stack and Blades are all close by. The Cosmopolitan is quieter than the other venues and allows meaningful conversations to actually occur. Normally start there, and then finish there later.
I usually go to the Picture House first to eat. It’s a carvery at about £4. I’ve always been female there, and no one notices at all. There also a decent Indian restaurant nearby called the Shabab on Bishopgate Street.
If it’s warm in the summer, I first go to York and have my sandwiches next to the river. Afterwards, a wander around the shops or a bit of sightseeing.
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7 Advice When Using the National Health Service for Gender Dysphoria.
Well, when you first go to the doctor’s to say you might have a problem, they are there to help.
Before you go, it might be wise to do a bit of digging around and make a list of GICs (Gender Identity Clinics). A bit of phoning to them would be required to find out their current referral waiting times. They may be very long.
The following would be helpful for you, but not guaranteed to happen, but don't worry.
1. They should enquire what name you like to be called.
2. They should assure you that you may be suffering from Gender Dysphoria, and that this is a very common condition.
3. They should explain that there are many treatments available ranging from counselling, psychiatric help, to hormone treatments and also surgery.
4. They should explain that you would need to be referred to a Gender Identity Clinic (GIC), and that the waiting times may be very long. They should explain that there are a few GICs around the country with different waiting times.
5. If you haven’t done this already, you should ask for a list of GICs from the doctor. But he/she may not have the resources to provide this information, so a bit of digging around by yourself would be necessary.
6. They should enquire which GIC you want to be referred to, and make the necessary arrangements. The doctor may only refer you to the nearest GIC.
7. Now at this point, you may wish to commence taking hormones. CR181 Good Practice Guidelines (see below) refers to bridging prescriptions for hormones. These are specifically intended to address the long waiting times for referral to a GIC. You can ask the doctor for a prescription, but this is likely to be declined because the doctor does not have this experience / training. However, there should be no reason why the doctor cannot also refer you to one of the GIC’s own endocrinologists. Therefore, the doctor should also make an enquiry on your behalf to the GIC for contact details for a hormone prescribing endocrinologist. However, it is not clear at this time, if this type of patient approach is successful.
8. The doctor may also refer you for any psychiatric assessment to satisfy the GP’s own requirements as to the suitability of such a referral to a GIC.
9. You should request for you to have your blood fully tested. This is for the purposes of providing a benchmark against which comparisons can be made for any future hormone treatments. The very minimum should be oestrogen and testosterone levels.
10. You can ask for a list of contacts of local transgender groups and also websites of such groups. Again, they may not have the resources to provide this information, so a bit of digging around would be necessary.
11. The doctor may advise you of the existence of the Equality Act 2010 which will give you protection.
12. The doctor may ask you if you have any other questions.
When the psychiatrists come to see you, this is just to make sure that your gender aspirations are real and are likely to last. They want to be sure that you are level headed and are not wasting the NHS resources.
When you get your appointment for the GIC, you should check their website for any relevant information. They may have a questionnaire for you to fill in which will save time. Also, if you write your life story (from a gender point of view) this would be helpful. Make a list of all the questions you can think of as well for your first visit.
It would probably be best if you go as your preferred gender. Also take some photos with you demonstrating that you are perfectly comfortable in public as your preferred gender. Again, they need to be convinced that you are genuine.
At the first interview, you will find out they are dead friendly. They have tons of experience, and know much about the rich variety of transgender people. They may ask what you are expecting from the NHS, and what help you need. You can revise your ideas on this, it is not fixed in stone.
You may find it advantageous to live full time in your preferred gender, and also changing your name by deed poll too. By demonstrating this commitment, this may help at a Gender Identity Clinic in reducing your waiting times.
You also may feel down because of the situation that you find yourself in. But you should be comforted in that your future may very well change for the better in ways you may not be able to predict. Believe it or not, life may become very fast for you.
The Equality Act 2010.
This deals with the following protected characteristics:
Age, Disability, Gender Reassignment, Marriage and Civil Partnership, Pregnancy and Maternity, Race, Religion or Belief, Sex and Sexual Orientation.
The act splits gender into gender (Gender Reassignment Surgery) and sex. This is not particularly helpful in recognising Transgender people who are not electing for surgery, but no matter.
Our basic belief is that we reserve the right to have a personal gender which does not relate to the physical gender that we were born with, and also this may or may not be linked to our sexual orientation.
The Act is simply for protecting minorities and the various characteristics are treated equally. Therefore, if you have been treated differently because of your gender, this is seen as important and if it was your race (for instance).
Gender Recognition Act 2004.
Search for “How to find an NHS gender identity clinic - NHS Choices”
CR181 Good Practice Guidelines for the assessment of adults with Gender Dysphoria produced by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
You can normally find this on an NHS website. It’s a good read and tells you tons of stuff.
Other organisations: Stonewall, Gires, Beaumont Society, Transforum (Manchester), Chameleons (Nottingham) & Trans-Staffordshire. Usually there are transgender support groups in most cities.
Other events: Pride marches and Transgender groups in most cities throughout the year. Leeds First Friday and Nottingham Invasion. Also, the Sparkle weekend held in Manchester every July. It is said that 8500 people visited the Sparkle event in 2015, so you will not be alone.
TVChix: a website to befriend other transgender people, or generally chat over the internet. Susan’s place and other websites.
Our basic belief is that we reserve the right to have a personal gender which does not necessarily relate to the physical gender that we were born with, and also this may or may not be linked to our sexual orientation.
Our terminology should reflect the distinction between gender and sexual orientation. The public can understand this and warm to this idea. We should keep it simple.
Trans*:
This is the umbrella term for gender related aspects which are distinct from the gender extremes.
Includes: transvestites, transgender people, cross dressers and the list goes on.
Transgender:
This is for people whose personal gender differs from their physical gender that they have or have had. They may be changing their physical gender, or may be somewhere in between the gender extremes of female and male. This may be dynamic and vary with time or occasions.
Includes: pre-op, post-op, no-op.
It should be recognised that some transgender people who have transitioned their gender (personal and/or physical), may wish to be now regarded as their new gender. I.e. a male or a female, and this wish should be respected.
Transvestite:
Someone who wears clothes which do not necessarily align with their physical gender, but retains their original personal gender. If they regard their gender as different, then they would be better described as a transgender person.
Gender:
This relates to the extremes of gender of female and male or somewhere in between, and also with regards personal and physical gender.
Inter-gender:
Someone who was born with a gender which was not a gender extreme. Commonly called inter-sex, but this term can mislead.
Sexual orientation:
This is the sexual attraction that someone has for someone, or something else. Most commonly sexual orientation is directed towards a particular gender of a person. Most common are females who are attracted to the gender of a male and males who are attracted to the gender of a female. This understanding helps to explain that it is quite acceptable for a transsexual person to be sexually attracted to a transgender person. I.e. the sexual orientation is directed towards that person’s gender. A transsexual person is more commonly used to describe a transgender person changing their physical gender. This meaning is not helpful in improving the public’s understanding of trans* issues, and as a consequence would be simply better to be used to describe sexual orientation given that the term contains the letters “sex”.
Using the terminology: “transgender person” is perfectly acceptable for describing someone who is changing their physical gender.
Sex:
This is simply the physical manifestation of sexual orientation. Commonly confused with gender. Many forms and documents ask the question: “What is your sex?” This would be better put “What is your gender?”
Certain countries may be quite homophobic. Also, some countries might think that you are travelling in disguise if you do not match up with your passport photo or other gender related information, and you could end up in trouble.
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11 Acceptance in Society.
Your sexual orientation will probably not show in public at all, but your gender probably will. With the common understanding of the use of gender re-assignment surgery, transgender people are widely accepted and understood in public.
Not only is it commonly accepted that people are electing to have or have had gender re-assignment surgery, it is becoming more commonly understood that other transgender people have the right to be quietly accepted as well. So, it is important that a transgender person who thinks they cannot “pass” as their preferred gender, recognises that this does not matter in society today.
I cross-dressed for a year without any problems. In fact, I found members of the public quite friendly and happy to talk with me. If you are a proud transgender person, then people will recognise this and warm to your courage.
It would be helpful to others if you present yourself in public as you wish. This gives the chance of the public accepting yourself and other transgender people. There is no need to hide yourself away. Everyone is so friendly in this day and age, and the public are getting used to us.
I am finding that I am passing more and more in public now. I put it down to dressing down just a little, getting my hair right and having laser and electrolysis on my face. The voice helps as well. Markedly so. It's higher and gentler, but not soprano.
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