I was at Lewisham hospital yesterday for a CT Scan. I went on the train, in a knee-length denim skirt and reasonably light make up. My NHS records are all in my new name now which allows me to present as my true self both at the doctors and at the hospital. It used to be embarrassing being there en femme, and then having to get up when they called out my male name!!
So far I've not had any problems with the NHS regarding my transition, other than the ubiquitous inefficiencies due to lack of funding. I'm on the enormously long waiting list for an appointment at the Gender Clinic... one day....
I've heard stories... of women being misgendered and receiving inappropriate treatement or doctors calling them by their male name, or identifying them as male after they transitioned... that sort of thing. All that ever happened to me was a nurse asked me if I thought i was pregnant right after I'd told her i was transgendered! Thick or what...? I think she was reading from a script to be fair.
After my appointment I went outside to sit down and
send a text to my sister who also had a hospital appointment yesterday, though her problems are a lot more serious than mine. There was a lady - about 30 - already sitting
at the bench. She had her hand in a bandage.
The lady
started talking to me... she'd had a whole load of crappy stuff happen
to her and just wanted to talk to someone. She'd been assaulted by a man
and wanted to vent. Told me she'd got to the stage where she was
avoiding men at all costs.. asked if I'd ever had bad stuff happen to
me, and i had to affirm I did - never told her it was back when i was male though. She said then that I'd understand, being a
woman, and having that happen to you... at this point I began to
think that maybe she hadn't read me as I assume everyone does
immediately.
Anyway, she began to talk about men and what she
liked in a man, and asked me what i liked... I mentioned Robert Downey
Jr, and she nodded agreement... but then started talking about sex with
former partners and I suddenly realised I was out of my depth, Stella
not actually having had a partner yet! So i said, thinking that she had
probably read me, despite the way the convo had gone, that I hadn't had a
lot of experience in that area, and was just finding my feet. she
looked really confused... so I said, I only started transtioning this
year. She said, "you're kidding"... "so you're telling me you used to be
a man," then she asked again, how long, I said since January... Then
she made me stand up and looked me over, we sat back down and she said
something along the lines of, I just can't believe it! After that she looked at my hands, my legs... told me she was jealous... told me there were many natural born women who'd be jealous of my looks. She asked me how I could look so much like a woman in such a short time. I had no good answer as I wasn't really aware I looked that good. Maybe, as Nick Cave once said, at a certain angle and in a certain light, but this lady had completely read me as cis! I can't argue with that!
And the best thing... after finding out I was trans she continued to be accepting of me.. I was worried she'd flip out. She was religious, which I knew becasue she told me my slight frame and small chin were a gift from God. I told her, it'd have been a better gift if I'd have been a woman from birth...
Anyway - it perked me up no end!!I was walking on air after that... and noticed I never got read again the whole journey until I nearly reached my home... obviously tired by then, a young couple saw me, pointed and gawked!! Normal service has been resumed!!
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