Transgender woman speaks out over years of prejudice

SHE TELLS OF STRUGGLE WITH ‘IGNORANT’ MOCKERY AND OPEN ABUSE IN PUBLIC

ATRANSGENDER woman has spoken of her experiences of transitioning from male to female and the struggles she has overcome in the face of the “ignorant” public.

Stacy Winson, 27, from Caernarfon, told of the prejudice she has endured over the years, from people laughing at her in the street to being called a “tranny” while at a previous place of work.

Growing up, Stacy (pictured right) said she always felt like something wasn’t “quite right”, but it wasn’t until she was 16 that she started to realise why.

She said she would always wear women’s clothing in secret, but it wasn’t until she saw a Channel 4 show about transgender people that she finally realised why she had been feeling this way.

Stacy said: “I knew from a young age something was different, I didn’t fit in. I couldn’t work out what it was so I put it down to my old name beginning with an A while the rest of my family’s began with an M.

“I’d always wear women’s clothing in secret and when I was 16 I started watching a programme called My Transexual Summer. I had it on really quietly so my parents couldn’t hear and I realised this was why I’d always felt the way I did.

“I came out to a few of my friends but it wasn’t until I was 20 that I felt able to come out to my parents. Initially my dad found it difficult but he has never been unsupportive.

“It was an adjustment but now I think he would find it strange to see the old me!

“While my parents were fully supportive, I struggled with some of my extended family. One relative kept telling me it was a phase and a waste of time so I cut ties with him and his son who held the same opinions.”

So far Stacy has been taking oestrogen for seven years, has had pitch elevation surgery to make her voice sound more feminine, and a tracheal shave which reduces the size of the Adam’s apple.

She plans on taking out a loan to pay for breast implants, which she said she was refused by the NHS.

In 16 to 18 months Stacy will also undergo gender reconstruction surgery bringing her transition journey to an end.

She added: “Thankfully I’ve always had a feminine figure anyway.

“But I couldn’t even stand looking at myself in the mirror, I would always look down while brushing my teeth.

“I still struggle a bit with that now but I think it came hand in

hand with feeling like in the right body.”

Stacy, a supervisor at a petrol station, has admitted that she has struggled with mental health issues over the years during her transition which hasn’t been helped by “ignorant” comments she would often receive while in public.

She added: “When I was 21, so a year in to my transition, I was working at a retail store in Bangor. I was the only person on the till when a man jumped the queue, slammed a bag down on the desk and demanded a refund for the items.

“When I told him he would have to wait in line he looked at me and said ‘oh my God it’s a f***ing bloke’.

“He went outside and started pointing at the shop while shouting at the top of his voice “there’s a f***ing tranny in there.’”

Before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Stacy had to travel to the transgender clinic in London eight times.

Due to Covid restrictions, some services have had to be held over Zoom.

She added: “So really the pandemic has sort of improved the system, but it has its negatives in that people who are just starting their transition journey or have just come out don’t have access to the same support in that they cannot meet with like-minded people.”

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