But she’s
A COUPLE who have been married more than 40 years are staying together despite the husband having transitioned into a woman.
Steff Barnett, 65, who was born Steve, knew for many years she was a gay woman trapped in a man’s body.
Steff, who secretly wore women’s clothes for decades, only started the process of changing gender after the couple’s children left home.
Wife Lynne, 62, had to deal with the “loss” of her husband, but wants to stay.
They no longer have an intimate physical side to their relationship.
But they say they are still happy together despite the problems the sex change has posed.
Radio presenter Steff said: “Lynne misses her husband desperately...
“The guilt was horrific. I felt as though I’d let Lynne down. I love her passionately even now.
“She’s stayed by me, she was brave enough to do that, even though she has just about lost her husband. There is this huge love thing going on between us.
“It’s almost a meshed soul but something is twisting it, trying to pull it apart.”
Lynne, a nurse, said: “When he started to transition I knew there was no turning back.
“But I loved Steve enough to know this was the only way forward.”
The pair, from Bradley Stoke, South Glos, met in a pub in 1971 when Lynne was 16. And they watched movie Shaft on their first date.
But Lynne was not initially convinced by her suitor – leading to several awkward months.
She said: “He would come to my house
I miss the intimacy. But Lynne can’t make that leap
STEFF BARNETT ON LIFE AFTER SEX CHANGE