With a little hint of Trans!

I write this sitting having lunch at home with the warmth of a spring day peeking through the blinds. On days like this with winter disappearing into a not so fond memory, thoughts turn to getting away from it all.  I value travelling a lot. I like the journey as much as the stay. To me the excitement starts when you jump in the car or on the train to travel to the airport. However being Transgender creates difficulties well before you even start to think. Firstly passports. I was only allowed a passport in my identity if I had a letter from a specialist to confirm I would be living like this for life. No renewing or online application. No it was all paper documents confirming your identity to be sent and hope they don't get lost. The digital age is very much leaving my community adrift. You then think of where you want to go. Eastern Europe ❌ Middle East ❌ Most of Africa ❌ So you think what about first world countries  USA ❌ Oh yes, thanks to a Christian Nationali...

Oooh I bet you thought....where is she going with that title? Well if it tickled your fancy.....for this blog at least, you might be disappointed. I'm sure in the future I'll revisit the more salacious elements of being Transgender but for now I'll keep it clean. No this one's about biology. I was assigned male at birth. No DNA testing, no chromosomes tested and certainly I wasn't asked!  How therefore was the assignment undertaken....as was the same with my kids 30 years later by a glance between your legs. That however is a real inaccurate way of defining someone who will grow and develop into an individual who will differ fundamentally from ever other person. I get for medicinal reasons that certain things are defined by your biology and bits - there are some differences. However this is only a miniscule part of who you are. To be fair for 99.9% of your life, you are the only one who sees your bits. Yet we find ourselves in a position where a decision as a baby i...

I'm writing this on Valentine's Day. I've always been a bit blase about Valentine's Day. Whilst it's nice to celebrate a relationship it does have a sense of commercialisation about it now and to be honest if you only celebrate your relationship once a year.... That said I'm not going to rain on anyones parade for being romantic and lovely with their partner. Being trans 🏳️‍⚧️, dating and relationships are a tad more complex. The market varies hugely dependent on your status. I know from my experience that the pull from being pre op to post changed 360 degrees. I'm sure you can work out why. Throw in the variances in sexualities and all the combinations would confuse the most complicated algorithms. I'm on the record as being bisexual. Not historically but very much in my acquired gender. I find females and males equally attractive. For instance I wouldn't turn down Andrew Garfield any more than Anya Taylor Joy or Gal Gadot over Henry Ca...

Been a period of reflection these past few weeks. This time of year is always important. I came out to work 8 years ago this month and got my deed poll changed in February as well. I now add my GRC too in February! It's like my traniversary! 🗓️ I look back at how I've got here and to be honest I feel amazing. It's been a rough ride at times but it's so been worth it. There's been loss of long standing friendships and family connections but I've come to accept that some people are just either bigoted or not open minded enough to accept people for who they are because this is who I am. If you haven't read my journey blog, then please do because it's a learning journal for me and the reader. It shows the trek, the emotions and frankly tough decisions. What price is your personal happiness? Is there a cost that's too much? Generally no. To me there shouldn't be a price on happiness. We should as humans be accepting of your fellow homosap...

I mentioned in my last post about the trials and tribulations of trying to get a GRC. If you haven't read it I recommend you do. To qualify you need to have lived in your gender identity for 2 years. That means every last scrap of paper needs to be in your new name, you need to be out and physically you need to be obviously your lived gender (not necessarily involving surgery). Being a hoarder of documents this was relatively easy for me and of course surgery helps despite it not being a prerequisite. That said I still felt applying that I was laying bare my whole life to an anonymous panel despite it being bloody obvious I am who I am. It seems my worry was misplaced as I've been granted my Gender Recognition Certificate now! This will now in time erase my past. Aside from criminal record checks, my past will disappear. I'm free to marry in my acquired gender but once bitten.... Now there is an attempt to diminish our rights from the TERFs of the world who very...

Gender Recognition Certificates  First full post of 2026 so can I get away with a HNY to you all still? 🎆🥂 So if that's ok then let me tell you a little tale..📖 Last summer with a worsening situation for my community I applied for my GRC. Never felt the need previously but took a belt and braces view going forward. 🏳️‍⚧️ What a palaver. I've got evidence coming out of my ears and being a lawyer getting a colleague to do the statutory declaration, declaring on pain of death this is permanent, was a doddle but this was just administrative overload. Yes it's an important decision but it's by far the most bureaucratic process I've come across....and as a lawyer that's saying something.⚖️ Then I found out the birth certificate I have had for xx years wasn't a full one so this was not enough for the mysterious people behind the GRC. So I applied for that which it seems anyone can (so much for birth certificates as possible ID proof - yeah I know t...