INSPIRED ELLIE IS NOW LUKE
A TEENAGER found the confidence to change gender – thanks to Prince Charles.
Luke Levine was a 14-year-old girl called Ellie when he started a Duke of Edinburgh Award. And after throwing himself into the scheme he went on to meet the prince at a volunteering event.
Now 21, he said: “Speaking to Prince Charles, seeing how involved he was with volunteering and how passionate he was saved my life. I’d never felt the same as everybody else but didn’t know why.
“It wasn’t until I started the award at 14 that I realised I identified as a trans male. It was a very hard time for me but I realised people want to do good in the world and that they wouldn’t be as dismissive of me as I thought.
“After feeling inspired – and seeing how volunteering can do such good – I carried on with the stages of the Dofe which gave me confidence to transition.
“I had to go to the gym a lot to get fit for the activities and I started to want to get muscular. It made me realise that what I wanted physically I also wanted mentally. I cut my hair and started taping my breasts.”
“Going from bronze to gold gave me a safe space where I could help relieve my stress.
“If I ever felt bad about my body, I just went to the gym.”
A month before achieving his Gold Dofe award Luke, then 18, found the courage to come out to par- ents Sharon and Stuart, both 53. “I came out to my sisters first, then my parents,” he said. “They were very shocked so I gave them a couple of days to let the news sink in and stayed at a friend’s house. “When I came back they told me they just wanted me to be happy. They were really supportive.” Luke’s journey mirrors powerful new ITV drama Butterfly, about 11-year-old Max who identifies as a girl called Maxine. Last year Luke, from Buckhurst Hill, Essex, spoke at a Dofe ceremony hosted by Charles’ brother Prince Edward in London. He recalled: “I told a packed room of VIPS how my Dofe experience literally changed my life. “I revealed that I was a trans boy and was born a girl. “Somehow I don’t think what they heard was anything like they were expecting or had heard before.” Now Luke is on hormones and hopes to have surgery soon. “Over 45 per cent of trans teens attempt suicide,” said Luke. “So it’s so vital people realise the value of programmes like the Dofe and how they save lives, like mine.” Prince Phillip – who set up the awards in 1956 – once said they had helped “countless young people on their sometimes difficult path to adulthood.” Now Luke knows just how right he was.