‘I FEAR FOR MY LIFE AT LEAST ONCE A DAY’
Transgender teen reveals daily abuse
WHEN Willow-Jayne was around five years of age her mum took her to a local supermarket to pick out a Halloween costume.
Standing in an aisle with an assortment of classic Halloween costumes like zombie, skeleton and dracula outfits, five-year-old Willow-Jayne pointed to a purple witch’s dress with fairy wings – that was her Halloween costume.
With the witch’s Halloween costume in the trolley, the five-year-old and her mum went to the checkout counter and were met with a confused glance from the server behind the counter. ‘Is this for you?’ the server said, pointing at Willow-Jayne, to which her mum replied, ‘yes, problem?’
Although five-year-old Willow-Jayne didn’t know it at the time, that was the first time she would experience prejudice for being who she was, but it would not be the last.
Now 18 years old, Willow-Jayne Davies was born and grew up in Swansea but realised from a young age that she wasn’t like the boys she went to school with. While they gravitated towards sports, Willow was fascinated with make-up and picking out pink stickers in school rather than the ‘stereotypical blue ones.’
The 18-year-old was born William Pulford but gave herself the name Willow-Jayne after coming out to her friends and family as transgender in 2014.
“I remember writing my mother a letter and putting it under my pillow. It was there for around four weeks and I didn’t show it to her until one day I gave it to her,” recalls the 18-year-old who lives in Llansamlet.
“She read it and said ‘ok that’s fine.’ My friends said the same, they were like ‘that’s great, we think you should do it.’ I thought there’d be drama, but there was none of that. They were fine with it.”
Willow-Jayne began her transition at the age of 15 and three years later she is still undergoing the process but recalls one of the first times she felt like she was finally living as her authentic self was in 2016 after standing on stage as Willow-Jayne at an event called Swansea Sparkle.
Swansea Sparkle was an event for the transgender and LBGTQ+ community and from 2016-2018 WillowJayne was crowned Miss Swansea Sparkle.
“I found out about Miss Swansea Sparkle and wanted to get involved so I tried on my first wig and that was it. I got up on that stage and looking back I think I probably looked terrible, but I felt amazing, I finally felt like I was living my life,” she adds.
The teen who left school as William in the summer of 2016 came back to start a new academic year finally feeling her authentic self as Willow.
But although she had a network of supportive friends and family, the teenager suffered from horrific bullying from other students.
“They just didn’t like me because I was different. Most of the hate came from other girls and at one point I was physically attacked by a group of five or six girls in sixth form.”
Speaking about the shocking incident, the teenager said: “The group of them pulled my hair, pulled my clothing and two of them were holding my arms back so that the girl in front of me could hit me.”
After the incident Willow left the school and is currently studying theatrical hair and make-up at Gowerton College.
But even after leaving school, transphobic comments, online death threats and threats in the street have become a cruel part of her day to day life.
“I try my best to put on a face now and I’ve got really good at having a thick skin. I get horrific, transphobic comments and death threats all the time,” says the student.
And while many vicious trolls remain hidden behind keyboards and computer screens, the teen says that she’s faced face-to-face abuse for the most menial tasks, such as walking on the beach.
Only last week while she was walking near the Swansea Civic Centre with her boyfriend Ben, two young boys threatened her.
“We weren’t doing anything and two boys in their late teens years shouted ‘uh, what do you look like?’ I said: ‘can you leave me alone please’ and they said ‘I’m going to glass you and your boyfriend.’”
And while the teenager has developed a hard exterior to the abuse, it has a daily affect on her day-to-day life as she has to consider things that many cisgender people wouldn’t think about.
“I fear for my life probably once a day, that might sound dramatic, but I really do.
“I don’t go anywhere on my own, I don’t leave the house unless I’m with someone. I won’t pass anywhere where I know a group of boys are hanging around,” she adds.
And while much of this disturbing treatment comes in the form of online trolls and terrorising transgender people in the streets, words from public figures with far-reaching platforms can be just as painful.
Last week, author JK Rowling was criticised after a number of tweets she posted which have been branded as transphobic.
Amongst many of the author’s claims were that she held concerns about trans people using ‘single-sex spaces.’
Willow said that the comments were upsetting to members of the community who have followed Harry Potter as a form of escapism: “She’s someone with an absolutely huge platform and a really big LGBT platform, so I don’t understand why she would use that platform to spill so much hate to the trans community.
“She says that ‘sex’ is real but she’s an intelligent woman and should know the difference between sex and gender. It makes me really sad and I feel like saying to her ‘no-one asked your opinion’,” adds Willow-Jayne.
“With regards to the bathroom situation, most trans women are attracted to men, so I don’t see why she thinks girls feel threatened in that sort of situation. When I go to the bathroom, I go in, go to the toilet, wash my hands and get out.”
JK Rowling’s comments have been condemned by many members of the LGBTQ+ community as well as wellknown Harry Potter cast members.
“It’s Pride month this month, we should be recognising the works of trans and gay rights activists like Marsha P. Johnson instead of talking about her. Trans people are dying every day, and that is not ok,” Willow said.
The group of them pulled my hair, pulled my clothing and two of them were holding my arms back so that the girl in front of me could hit me
WILLOW-JAYNE DAVIES