AND a girlfriend

slowly became comfortable with living as both genders.” Tabitha was 18 before she told loved ones and dared venture outside as Tate.

She said: “I was lucky that everyone who mattered to me was fine with Tate but it was still daunting going outside in his clothes.

“I realised my walk was different, and much more masculine because of the fake penis I was wearing and you could hardly tell I had boobs.

Strange

“People stared and my heart was hammering when I used the men’s toilets in a pub.

“I rushed past the urinals and into a cubicle. No one said anything that day, but I did get some strange looks.

“Since then, some men have made comments but I have just ignored them.”

Tabitha says she’s handed out hundreds of CVs and been to countless job interviews, yet no one is willing to employ her. She said: “I don’t think I should be forced to tick a box on job application forms to say what gender I am.

“I had one really awkward interview recently where I’d told the company I was female and I woke up feeling like Tate.

“I wore his clothes and, although I tried to act like Tabitha during the interview, it felt forced and wrong.

“They knew something was up and I didn’t get the job.”

Tabitha says she’d like to adopt children. She’d raise them to choose their own gender – and for them to call her both Mum and Dad.

She added: “I think lots of people are secretly gender fluid but don’t have the confidence to live as who they truly are.

“I’m lucky the people around me have been so supportive and that they love both Tabitha and Tate.”