From Gay Times – 20th December 2015
As I write this, we’ve just entered December; traditionally a time for reflecting on the past year, and our place within it. This year, trans people have a lot to reflect upon.
Suddenly, we’re everywhere, or so it seems; regularly in the press, increasingly on television and starting to emerge in films. Caitlyn Jenner and Kellie Maloney captured the headlines. Stephanie Hirst took to the airwaves again, and Paris Lees was invited onto Question Time. Twice.
Trans people certainly seem to have captured the zeitgeist. But this ‘overnight success’ isn’t quite what it seems, and has emerged after many years of struggling against public indifference and hostility.
When I transitioned in the late 1980’s, in my early 20’s, trans people were the faces you saw in the Sunday papers, being forcibly outed , or on daytime chat shows being harangued by a hostile audience and presenter. I therefore believed, rightly or wrongly, that I had two choices before me: Come out and risk going through all the kind of public attention I didn’t want, or keep my head down and just try to ‘blend in’. I was lucky enough to be able to do the latter. Most of time I was happy, but I always felt I was ‘on watch’; fearful of discovery, which, in my mind, would inevitably lead to losing my job, my friends, and possibly my sanity.
26 years later, the landscape in 2015 is remarkably different to those days, and more trans people are finding the courage to be themselves, publicly, and with support, without the need to hide for fear of what the rest of the world will say or do to us. They are many and varied; doctors, lawyers, teachers, army officers, journalists, TV presenters, musicians and, yes, actors as well.
This has not been an easy journey. Over the years, support systems gradually took shape, from small closeted self-help groups into nationally recognised organisations, even going so far as to help trans children and their families. Dedicated campaigners, often unsung and working unpaid and unrecognised, devoted their time, skills and energies to persuading the lawmakers of the country to recognise trans people and release them from a kind of legal ‘gender limbo’.
Along the way, the public were gently being persuaded that we weren’t the threat or challenge the tabloids took such glee in portraying us…persuaded by an increasing number of sympathetic documentaries and dramas. Trans characters were, however, almost universally portrayed by non-trans actors, sometimes, justifiably, earning high praise and awards for their efforts.
The appearance of Coronation Street’s Hayley Patterson was a ground-breaking moment in British television; a transgender character appearing in one of the nation’s most popular soap operas, three times a week. Hayley was hugely popular, and her love story with Roy Cropper captured the hearts of the fans. Through the narrative, it brought an understanding of trans issues to ordinary people which was more effective than a dozen documentaries. Maybe trans people weren’t such a taboo any more.
As the millennium passed, more stories featuring trans characters started making their way into the mainstream, on TV and in film, until by 2007, they started to be played by actual trans people themselves. The USA led the way with Dirty Sexy Money, Orange is the New Black and Transparent, with the UK following close behind this year with Cucumber, Banana, Boy Meets Girl, Hollyoaks and EastEnders.
Trans people who had previously kept their pasts a secret (such as myself) started to feel that they could live openly without fear, and many young people are transitioning openly now, with support from their families, friends and schools.
But of course it’s still not all rosy in the garden. There is still a huge amount of prejudice and hatred towards trans people, and there were over 270 people killed worldwide over the last twelve months JUST for being trans. Trans people still get badly bullied, have problems getting employment, and are discriminated against on a regular basis. It’s not a perfect world by a long chalk.
I’m a strong believer in the power of drama to educate and entertain, such as the work All About Trans have been doing with my storyline at Hollyoaks. I feel that the creation of these dramas, featuring trans actors in trans roles, have made a major contribution to the wider acceptance we are seeing today. Even the subject of trans children has been recently addressed, with documentaries on the BBC and Channel 4, and in the States with the I Am Jazz programme.
We’ve come far, but still have a long road ahead. I hope that this increasing visibility will continue, both in the media, and life in general, until, hopefully, in the not too distant future, being trans won’t be a novelty any more, and will simply be another accepted facet of human nature.