31st: Well here we are the last day of 2007, seems to have been quite an up and down year. I have a feeling that 2008 is going to be an incredible year for me following what has happened over the last couple of weeks. Firstly as I mentioned on my homepage there was a Govt News Network press release praising my work; read here following that my local newspaper the Sheffield Star published an article about me Why I had to tell my wife I was a woman Since that article went out certain positive things have happened which I will talk about as they are hopefully put in place. I had a fairly quiet Christmas, however, between then and the New Year I have been having a good time meeting up several of my lovely friends. Wishing you all a wonderful and prosperous 2008
7th: On the 2nd I did a workshop on trans issues for Rotherhan LGBT an organisation I was with when it was set-up, but because of commitments elsewhere I have not been able to attend many meeting during this last couple of years. They are about to launch a new helpline and I shall be there at the official launch event in February next year, which is being held at a venue in the town where I onced lived until I transitioned nearly 7 years ago.
1st: I was in Maidstone Kent on Nov 29th to present on the behalf of Gender Trust a Transgender Masterclass for Kent Police at their Training College. It was also to look at issues around custody and search where a trans person may be involved.
November
27th: I travelled to London yesterday to attend the pre-launch of LGBT History Month 2008, which was staged at the Royal Courts of Justice. It was a well attended event and among the many speakers was the attorney-general Baroness Scotland, I was very disappointed because she reeled off the laws/acts that have been passed, however, she failed to mention the Gender Recognition Act. I has travelled by train from Sheffield to St Pancras International and it was wonderful to finally see it finished, as I have seen the changes when I have passed through there many times these last few years.
21st: I had a wonderful time yesterday as a guest speaker at the Pride in NACRO conference in Birmingham. I think my presentation was well received, because I had some really good questions asked after, then people coming to me asking questions during lunch and during the days event. There was also excellent presentations from Jonathan Finney of Stonewall and Stella Duffy the writer and performer. I was looked after really well by the chair of Pride in Nacro and the Chief executive of Nacro on the Monday evening prior to the conference. I was taken out along with a few other Nacro people to the excellent Shimla Pinks Indian restaurant in Broad St.
18th: Today I attended the Transgender Rememberance Day Vigil in Sackville Gardens Manchester, despite the horrible weather it was nice to a small group attend. It was also nice to socialise in Taurus afterwards with people I already know and also it was good to make new friends.
7th: I had to see the Nurse Practitioner at my health clinic yesterday to discuss my weight increase which I believe is impacting on the joints I'm having trouble with at the moment. She has put me on the obesity drug Xenacal which I hope that along with a change in my diet will bring down my weight, it is hard to understand because I believed I had a healthy diet anyway, although as some as you may know being on Hormone Replacement Therapy can cause problems with weight increase.
I attended another meeting at Calderdale PCT this afternoon, although it is only around a 80 mile round trip I was in a lot of pain when I got home, it didn't help being stuck in traffic for over an hour on the M1 after an accident. I must rest up and give myself time to recover, therefore, I have decided not to attend Gender Trust's AGM in Brighton on Sunday the 11th, I have sent my apologies and a fellow trustee will read out a short statement for me.
3rd: I've had a lovely couple of days with some female friends of mine. I had been asked by me dear friend Joan if I wanted to go with her, her daughter Emma and another lady whom I had met only once to a Charity Dinner for 'Cot Death & Scope charities'. This was at the Hilton Hotel in York on Friday night, we shared a family room at a lovely small family run hotel near the racecourse. We all wore black and if I say so myself we all looked wonderful and we had a fantastic evening. Then on the Saturday we spent around five hours around the shops in York before driving home late in the afternoon. I had such a wonderful time just being myself.
However, my arthritis has caught up with me since and I am experiencing a lot more pain in my right hip and both knees, so it is time to rest.
October
31st: It was nice this evening to travel to the Equity Centre in Bradford, I had been invited to attend their AGM. I had a lovely relaxed evening catching up with friends there and meeting new people
27th: I attend a meeting of the trans group of the Metropolitan Community Church in Manchester. I had only attended to hear my friend Tomboy give a talk and finished up giving a short one myself when they realised I was on the board at Gender Trust. It was nice after to go to Taurus, my favourite place in Canal St for a drink.
25th: Something different today, I spent the day at my local Age Concern overseeing the electric blanket testing day and doing the clerical stuff. This is a service we provide annualy for the older people in Rotherham, I thing around 130 were tested in the day, of which around 65% failed, however, each one that failed was replaced free of charge.
17th: Last night I gave a 2 hour presentation on trangender issues to student volunteers working on the Nightline service at Manchester University. I must say although I enjoy doing every presentation, last nights was really good because it was fun as well, this was because of the type of questions I was asked and they laughed at all of my quips.
10th: I've had a busy one today. Firstly this morning I had a meeting at the Police Training College in Wakefield with the West Yorkshire Police's Equality & Diversity Manager. This was to assist her with transgender issues and inparticular issues around custody and search, hopefully, at a later date I shall be doing a workshop for them. In the afternoon I was in Leeds at the invitation of Leeds LGB Mental Health Partnership. I had been asked if I could attend by Bernie a lovely lady I had previously met at the LGBT Health Summit in Manchester. Bernie felt that it would be suitable for me attend this meeting because they had nobody on the board who had knowledge of transgender issues and this was an area where they were starting to get more requests for information. The result of the meeting and the talk I gave is; that I have been co-opted to their board and it was pleasing to see when I received the minutes of the meeting that the heading said; Leeds LGB&T Mental Health Partnership.
September
27th: Yesterday I went over to Halifax to assist a trans woman who is helping her Primary Care Trust (Calderdale PCT) to rewrite their protocols/criteria for referrals, where to access best service for assessment etc, funding of treatments and surgery for trans people. I had a nice afternoon at our Age Concern AGM. they do seem to come around quicker each year.
24th: Picked up my daughter and her partner from the airport tonight, I had a shock she had her arm in a sling. She had a dislocated fracture of her right wrist, she had slipped on a step coming out of a shop, ironically she had been scuba-diving for the first time while on holiday, then slips on a step while shopping.
21st: The quiet couple of weeks are over. I took my eldest daughter and her partner to the airport on the 17th they were going to Bodrum for a week. I had an Age Concern board meeting on the 19th, so that is 2 board meetings close together. This is something new to me, today I started a course 'Understanding Social Enterprise' at Northern College which is in the beautiful grounds of Wentworth Castle at Stainborough near Barnsley. This is an Institute of Leadership and Management Level 5 award which I am doing on behalf of Age Concern.
15th: It has been a pretty quiet couple of weeks, so it gave me chance to catch up on stuff at home and finish a book I started a while back. I had a drive down to High Wycombe today for a Gender Trust board meeting, always nice to catch up with the other board members.
August
31st: I had a lovely couple of days at Manchester Pride, Bank Holiday Saturday and Sunday. On the Saturday I was in the parade again with the Royal College of Nursing (North-West) I just love the atmosphere of the parade, waving to people during the parade and seeing familiar faces in the crowd. On the Sunday I just browsed around the Expo stalls and the market place. I relaxed in the 'Women's Space' in the afternoon with my dear friend Jessica and her partner Eileen.
It was my birthday on Tuesday (28th), I had gone over to my friend Helen's house for lunch on the Monday, however, that turned into a barbecue on Pete's insistence, later Joan and a friend joined us and we enjoyed a really nice day together. So, I finished up staying until Tuesday. I received many lovely cards and presents, my eldest daughter cooked dinner for myself and her sister on Tuesday night, a lovely ending to a couple of enjoyable days with family and friends.
22nd: I've had a really purposeful 2 days at the LGBTHealthUK National Summit, which was held in Manchester Town Hall, what wonderful facilities, atmosphere and hospitality. Excellent workshops which I attended and it was really hard to choose which ones to listen to. I had a lovely evening on Sunday. having dinner and conversation with my co-presenters Ian Trafford, Bernard & Terry Reed, although it was only Bernard presenting this time. It was also a great opportunity for networking and forging new links, also meeting old friends and making new ones, especially Emma from Gay Advice Darlington , Denise from Spectrum Haringey and Suzanne from Liberata.
16th: I was shocked to see that it has been a month since I updated this diary. The main reason for this is that I have been busy constructing my new online shop Magnotherapy Healthcarewhich went live 2 weeks ago. I have also been busy networking, especially with my friend Joan and her daughter Emma, they also asked me for help on how to build a website. Helen (Joan's sister) and I have become firm friends as I mentioned last month, we are having a girly night at Helens on Friday, barbecue, lots of wine and tarot readings.
I'm going to Manchester on the 19th for the LGBTHealthUK national summit which is on the 20th & 21st, I'm looking forward to my presentation for the workshop 'enabling lgbt youth' on the 20th, also looking forward to seeing friends old and new. Then it is Manchester Pride over the bank holiday weekend, I'm in the parade again with the RCN group, where did the last year go? I've also got a profile on Facebook now, great way to share stuff with friends. Alas the 'Take A Break' article will not be published now, they had a change of heart because it was too similar to the 'Chat' magazine article I did last year, despite the main story being around my near death experience in April 2006, which was never covered by the 'Chat' article. I won't leave it as long to write here next time.
July
16th: It has been nice to have a quiet period this last week, which has allowed me to catch up with stuff I've neglected. I went to my friend Joan's house warming party last Friday night, had a lovely evening with people I hadn't seen for a while and also meeting new people. One in particular, Helen, one of Joan's sisters, we had never met before, we chatted for absolutely ages and I know we are going to be great friends. At the end of the evening, I told Joan, (Joan knows my history) that I had to tell Helen about myself especially if we were going to be friends. When I told Helen, she replied: 'that it didn't matter about my past, all she saw was a lovely woman' It does mean so much when you have acceptance like that, in fact Helen phoned me last night to say she was hoping I was going to a girl's night that Joan and herself are organising. Talking of girls night, I'm going out for a meal tomorrow night with my two daughters and Gillian (my ex), it will be lovely for the four of us to be together and have a good old gossip.
As I mentioned in January's entries, I had an interview with Lucy Laing a features writer, she wrote an article about me and her partner did a photo shoot. Well! last Friday I had a final conversation with Vicky the features editor for the 'Take A Break Special' magazine, the final composition of the story has been done and it was read back to me for final approval. The article will be in the Autumn edition which will be out on October 11th.
9th: Christine Burns of PFC kindly passed on my remarks (entry July 4th) to Carrie Gardner the research coordinator for the survey: Gender Identity Treatment Satisfaction Research [AIAU] Today I received a lovely email from Carrie and she has given me permission to show it here:
Dear Carol,
"I hope you do not mind me contacting you but I just wanted to say thank you for your very supportive message and I hope we can do your vision justice.
I read your dissertation and found it really interesting. It mirrors the comments we are getting re NHS v private but the main thing we are finding (although obviously still very early days) is that there is no such thing as a standard care pathway for gender reassignment services and attempts to pigeonhole trans people are inappropriate at best and potentially life threatening at worst.
We have a way to go yet but if you would like a copy of the final report (probably Spring 2008) then just let me know and I will add you to the mailing list".
Kind regards
Carrie
4th: Gender Identity Treatment Satisfaction Research [AIAU]
I find it really satisfying that this survey is finally being undertaken. Back in 2003/04 I undertook a very small research project as a dissertation for my Degree; BMedSci (Hons) Health and Human Sciences at the University of Sheffield. In my conclusion I stated: "The evidence from this research indicates the need for a larger userorientated project possibly in partnership with Gender Trust or Gires and an academic team. This may be the best way to avoid medical and other practitioner perspectives from being dominant and to acknowledge the recognition of these ‘expert patients’."
It was MtF focused and titled; A Male to Female (MtF) Transsexual User perspective on the whole cycle of gender reassignment treatment: funding patterns and service quality levels. Research Dissertation Gender Identity Treatment Satisfaction Research [AIAU] thank you for putting this together, for me my vision came true
1st: I attended London Gay Pride yesterday as part of the Older LGBT group, I got involved through being a Trustee of my local Age Concern and was I was invited to attend. I was also interviewed by a film crew who are putting together a documentary about London/Riga Gay Pride events. Many of us travelled the route, Baker St, Oxford St, Regent St then into Trafalgar Square in Rickshaws, which save us from getting wet, despite the rain and heightened security because of unsuccessful terrorist attack in London the previous night it all went well. Also in Trafalgar Square in the afternoon there was a wonderful atmosphere with the live concert and all the stalls for different groups all colourfully decorated, I helped out with the Older LGBT stall and I had a wonderful day meeting friend old and new. Chilled out for a couple of hours in Soho with everyone else celebrating Gay Pride, with different other events happening there into the evening. Forgot to take my camera, so I took these on my phone camera. (Above: Rickshaws being decorated)
Mayor of London's bus
June
26th: What horrendous weather we have encountered for the 24 hours up to last night (25th). I live in a village on the border of both Sheffield and Rotherham, we have just had a months rainfall in that 24 hours. I'm fortunate that I live on high ground, however, leaving here before this morning was virtually impossible as all the roads lead to lower ground and were flooded. Sky News have done brilliant coverage of the floods in this area and the rescues that were being undertaken last night by the RAF Sea King helicopters. Across the area there is a danger of a reservoir being breached and more flooding occurring.
Wicker, near the centre of Sheffield Ulley reservoir Rotherham
19th: I'm still recovering from a busy but wonderful three days of conferences. 15th at Trans with Pride conference inBethnal Green, then 16th & 17th at TG07, UEA Norwich. At the Trans with Pride conference I was part of the Visibility Workshop. I really enjoyed this workshop, which was run by Trans Youth members and was facillitated by Jamison Green, they came up with some great solutions. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Kate Bornstein speak at the closing of the conference. It was then the long drive for me to Norwich, arriving there around 8.30pm.
Kate Bornstein
TG07 was excellent, good speakers, especially Joan Roughgarden and Dr Ousterhout along with others that presented, some which I have heard before, especially Bernard & Terry Reed because of my research and presentations on Gender Variant Adolescents, it was nice of them to mention that during their presentation. I had a little chat with Phil Thomas having not met him before. Richard Ekins & Dave King are lovely guys. Michelle Bridgman gave an excellent presentation on Psychotherapy an Obstacle or a Support
Richard Curtis gave a presentation, which I was not impressed with. He has taken over from Russell Reid and I am pleased to hear from some quarters that he is doing a good job. However, he is now offering or going to offer a wide range services for trans people at his clinic and he mentioned some of his clients will get funding from their PCTs for some of these treatments. I questioned him about this during his presentation: which PCTs will fund and are there any from the Midlands or North? There are trans people north of Watford, I would like to see funding available to access services for trans people in these areas, to have the right GI clinics, NHS funding to access other services in these areas, to cut the massive waiting lists at those that are providing a service at the moment, and not have to travel to London all the time, (heads soon turned to see who was putting this question to him, I got the feeling from certain looks, of how dare you, I could be wrong) although I know trans people would travel anywhere to get the treatment they so rightly deserve. I didn’t get a really satisfactory answer. http://www.transhealth.co.uk/
I met many lovely people, especially those that were at the same table for dinner on the Saturday night. Georgina & Karen, Rosie, Karen, Zoe and lovely Zophyra who lightened up the evening with her humour and vitality. The all event was down to the wonderful work done by Barbara Ross and her team.
If anyone is at London Pride on the 30th, look out for me I will be with the Age Concern group in the parade and then helping out with their stall at sometime in Trafalgar Square.
6th: I have a busy couple of weekends ahead as mentioned in my May 27th entry, really looking forward to the two trans conferences. On the 2nd I did attend The Gender Trust Trustee's meeting, myself and Celia Macleod were co-opted to the Board. I also managed to get back to Sheffield to see some of the launch of the Trans Men 2008 Calendar. I know Lee Gale one of the organisers, also he modelled for the calendar and it was nice to meet some of the other guys who posed as well, especially Jacob who had been part of the Sex Change Uncut documentary series, it was good to meet someone else who had been involved with that series.
Earlier this week I was contacted by an American independent filmmaker PJ Raval, who is in the process of putting together a documentary titled 'Best Kept Secret' ( bestkeptsecretthemovie.com)which is about the town of Trinidad Colorado and known to many as the sex-change capital of the world. Stanley Biber performed the first sex change surgeries there then after his retirement Marci Bowers took over. Within the documentary PJ wants to include a montage of trans women through history, during his search he came across my Trans History page and asked if I could help him. I have helped with some high definition photos of trans women suitable for video, also these included one of myself, I look forward to seeing the finished documentary. It appears to have been in the making for awhile and they managed to interview Dr Biber before his death.
27th: After having such a nice April, this month has been such a mixed bag of weather, here we are with a really wet Spring Bank Holiday. Last Tuesday I was informed that my submission for a workshop at the National LGBT Health Summit in Manchester in August had been accepted. I will be part of the workshop; Enabling and Understanding LGB and T Youth, I am really looking forward to this and working with the others involved with this workshop.
I watched the first episode of Sex-Change Hospital on More4 channel last Wednesday, I thought it was good and the participants Vicki & Jim came across really well, I know what it is like to put yourself before the cameras like that. It was nice to see Marci Bower's work and her techniques. I was in Bradford at the Equity Centre on Thursday evening giving a presentation on Issues for Trans People and a short history on Transsexuality, Rachel who had asked me to do the presentation emailed me on Friday saying; "I found your presentation really helpful! From the discussion afterwards so did other people"
I have something happening the next three weekends. On June 2nd I am attending a Trustee's Board meeting of Gender Trust, I have been invited to become a Trustee, after that I hope to get back to Sheffield to see Lee Gale's Transtastic, the launch of the trans men calendar at The Workstation. On the 9th I am attending a regional conference for Age Concern Trustees in Hull, then I have Trans with Pride conference on the 15th, Transgender 2007 on the 16th & 17th.
16th: It is not often I miss the Lesbian Diners group, but I had to this time. I wasn't feeling too good, still having bouts of the post viral fatigue, but not as bad as before. However, the way the weather turned out last Sunday. 'horrendous', I was probably better staying at home than driving over the Pennines. I have quite a few thing happening next month which have come together over the last week. I have got a place at the Trans with Pride conference in London on June 15th, my place is in the workshop Visibility: Safety & Education which is being facilitated by Jamison Green. After this I shall be driving to Norwich for the Transgender 2007 conference which takes place on the 16th & 17th at the University of East Anglia, there are some excellent guest speakers whom I am really looking forward to hearing. There is also a Dinner & Dance on the Saturday evening which will give me a chance to meet friends old & new.
7th: The month of May already! I'm a bit late with my first entry for this month, I've had a problem with the photo editor for my photo gallery and I couldn't publish anything until I had sorted it out and re-built the photo gallery, all sorted now I hope. Last Wednesday (3rd) I had a nice reunion with Tracey a friend from my college days and whom I hadn't seen for around five years. On Thursday I had coffee and a bite to eat with Ruth from Restoration Therapy, I got to know Ruth through Porterbrook where she was Senior Nurse Psychotherapist. Ruth introduced me to a lovely lady called Billie who is from Nottingham and Ruth is interested in putting together a team (including yours truly) for some future projects, I will talk about them if and when they happen. I have also been approached to do something else, I may be able to enlighten you on this in early June. l'm looking forward to the 13th which is my bi-monthly date at the Lesbian Diners Group in Manchester.
April
28th: I had a couple of days in London this week 25th & 26th, it was nice to have an evening out in London.On the Wednesday I had nice meal early evening at Apeggo just off Leicester Sq, then I had a slow stroll through Chinatown and later visited a few gay friendly pubs and bars in Soho. On the Thursday I attended the full day "Gender Duty: Are You Ready" seminar at UCL [photo]. It was a full and interesting programme with excellent speakers and it was nice to have a chat with Christine Burns:
Speakers
Gill Mayo: Department of Health Gender Advisor "An Overview of Gender Equality and Discrimination Law Review"
Paul Deemer: Gender Lead NHS Employers "Creating A Robust Gender Equality Scheme"
Norma Jarboe: Director of Opportunity Now "80 Exemplar Gender Equality Employers
Liz Owsley: National Co-ordinator British Association for Women in Policing "Encouraging Women to make a Full Contributio to Policing
David Wilkins: Policy Officer Men's Health Forum "Addressing Men's Health in Line with the Gender Duty
Christine Burns MBE: Trans Rights Campaigner and Educator "Transgender and the responsibilities for Organisations under the Gender Duty Listen toChristine’s presentation
Barbara Limom: Gender Equality Duty Manager Employment "How to use the Gender Duty to make a Difference"
20th: I just seem to have forgotten about writing here, I did get my results back from the blood tests I had done on the 3rd. They were fine, except my immune system and allergy levels were a little low, but nothing too much to worry about. I had a lovely night out on the 11th, I went to The Boardwalk in Sheffield to see 'Horse' and 'Belinda O'Hooley'. I had seen 'Horse' before at the Lesbian Arts Festival In York last October, she has a great voice, I hadn't seen Belinda before but had heard good things about her and I wasn't disappointed.
I visited the Equity Centre in Bradford on Tuesday, they had invited there to help with there understanding of Transgender Issues and I shall be going back there one evening towards the end of May to give a talk to all groups affiliated with Equity Centre. I'm off to London again on the 25th for a couple of days, I was invited by the Ambulance Service Association as a delegate to their Gender Duty Seminar on the 26th at UCL, they are keen to forge links with Gender Trust. It appears my name had been passed on to them after my meeting with Natalie the Equalitites & Diversity manager at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
5th: So here I am, a year after my breast augmentation and my near death experience. Feeling somewhat better, seem to have more energy and it is a much sunnier and warmer day. I think my spirit has been lifted by having my hair coloured and re-styled, I've let it grow for over 3 months, I've had it cut back into an inverted bob and its amazing how it has thickened up by allowing it grow down to my shoulders. Last night I was looking through some emails I had saved from when I used to be on 'eldertg forum' I found one which I want to share with you.
This letter was written around 16 days after my surgery, for me this was a time that I was feeling REAL for the first time in my life. I believed my real transition started after surgery, I discovered so much about myself, my friend Jess and I have had many discussions on this matter:
[I hope everyone is well?
I had my 'Realignment' Surgery on Feb 1st and went in theatre at 1.30pm, I was in theatre for four and a half hours (which was filmed) and I came around in recovery at about 6.15pm. I was back in the acute ward at 7.00pm and I was talking on the phone to my daughter at 7.30pm which she found incredible. I had my packing removed on the evening of Feb 5th and allowed solid food for the first time for nearly 6 days. My catheter was removed on the morning of Feb 7th and I was shown how to douche and dilate, (dilate 3 times a day for first fortnight). After that I douched and dilated with no assistance and I was very pleased to find I was slightly sensate in my clitoris already. I returned home on Wednesday Feb 9th. I met many nice people in hospital and it was wonderful to have in the next bed xxxx who had her SRS 5 years ago and was in for a minor repair operation on her Urethra. I had contacted her over a year ago by e-mail and it was lovely to finally meet her, we supported each other whilst in hospital and we have become firm friends. xxxx has also invited me to visit her in Bournemouth (South England Coast) in the summer, where she lives and works as a nurse in a private hospital. While in hospital I had received 15 cards, 4 bouquets of flowers and 3 teddy bears.
I have now been back home 16 days and I am just listening to my body, resting and recuperating. I found I was getting quite tired during the early days and even now I seem to be needing plenty of sleep. I have a district nurse (experienced with post-op transsexuals) visiting me 2 or 3 times a week and she is very pleased with my recovery. Dilation is going very well and I am now down to twice a day which I do until 6 months. The whole experience has been a wonderful journey, along with the discovery of my new experiences at this joyous time.
The documentary producer asked me to do a video diary entry on how I felt when looking at myself full length in the mirror. I just remarked that on seeing myself, although there was still some swelling I felt complete, whole and mostly I have this feeling of contentment, however, I did not have to look in a full length mirror to see that. Both family and friends have said they can see it in my face and that I look so well, losing 12 lbs since my surgery has helped and I have now lost a total of 19 lbs since the middle of January. If I feel up to it I may try driving sometime next week I was advised not to drive for around 3 weeks after surgery. Family and friends have been doing my food shopping and visiting me, but they do realise when its time to go if I am looking tired.
Jessica has been a wonderful and supportive friend through all this. She visited me in hospital and sending me a lovely basket of flowers and a gorgeous teddy bear. Since I have been home she phones me regularly and her words of wisdom and encouragement have been wonderful and we often seem to talk when when I am doing my nightly dilation and we have a laugh about it.]
4th: Here we are speeding towards Easter. It is hard to believe that it is a year tomorrow (5th) that I had my breast augmentation and nearly died (see April 2006 Diary) It has been a quiet week, still not feeling right, lethargic etc, mind you these last six weeks or so with one viral infection after another. So I went to see my GP yesterday, she said I may have Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome more commonly known as ME in some cases, so they are doing a full blood screen, should get results next week. It is nice to see the lighter evenings and it is feeling a bit warmer, which I love. I've just joined a lovely forum for older trans people called OlderTees my dear friend Jess recommended it, although she is a moderator of that forum. I want to share with you something I wrote the other day on a Health forum of which I am a member:
The following was in reply to letter on GID classification within DSM & ICD:
[Here lies the problem that Gender Identity Disorder is still under a diagnosis criteria within the Psychiatric DSM and the ICD which is the International Classification of Diseases. The sooner this diagnostic tool is removed and the medical condition of Gender Identity Disorder/Gender Dysphoria/Gender Variant/Transsexualism whatever name used; the better. However, I will say that because of the many issues trans people encounter during transition; also these issues can be a causal effect of the lack of understanding and treatment that trans people encounter from the medical profession, they may then become patients within the mental health system. Therefore, there is a need for many trans people to seek the help of psychotherapists and relevant trained counsellors. Hopefully, like homosexuality, one day we will also refer to Transsexuality, as was ONCE being classified within DSM & ICD]
March
30th: Yesterday I attended the The North West Regional Assembly LGBT Health Symposium in Manchester. Although I live in Yorkshire I am interested in hearing what is happening in other regions, also it gives one an opportunity to network, which I am a big believer in. The Welcome & Introduction was given by Evelyn Asante-Mensah: Evelyn is the Chair of Manchester PCT and Strategic Diversity Advisor Government Office North West.
The speakers were; Christine Burns who explained why health policy needs to be targeted towards the needs of different groups in society and what that means in terms of fair and equitable provision for trans people. To hear presentation: Christine Burns
Stephen Whittle explained what the law demands of public bodies, including health trusts, he also highlighted some very specific statistics from his recently published research for the Equalities Review. To hear Stephens presentation: Stephen Whittle
Paul Martin the Chief Executive of Lesbian & Gay Foundation gave a presentation: The Changing Face of Health Services and LGBT Communities. To hear presentation: Paul Martin
Cllr Paul Fairweather: Lead Councillor for Gay Men's Issues Manchester City Council gave a presentation: The Key Role of the Local Authority in LGBT Health. To hear presentation: Cllr Paul Fairweather
Dr Justin Varney: Specialist Registrar in Public Health, London gave a presentation: Why Should the Public Sector Care About LGBT Health Issues? To hear presentation: Dr Justin Varney
25th: This last week has been pretty quiet, I just seem to have lacked the energy or will to get ready to go out anywhere, although I did manage to visit my friend Jill on Thursday, also I needed to get a gift and card for another friend's birthday. I don't think I am totally recovered from the virus etc that I seemed to pick up over the last couple of months, it has left me feeling so lethargic, at times I am finding it hard to be around other people, which is so unlike me. Also, I am finding it hard to live life with no love interest, not sure whether this is because of my past history or my age? probably a combination of both, it is sad really because I still have so much love to share with the right person. Thats my miserable moan out of the way, its the first day of summer today, I love when the evenings are bright and light, I'm sure I suffer 'seasonal affective disorder' (SAD). It was a disgrace to see that Steve Stanton (Largo Florida) lost his appeal against his dismissal because he declared he was about to transition (Susan). See front page and News & Views for stories about this case.
18th: Yesterday, I visited Trans Youth Manchester, I had contacted them when I saw they were screening the Trans Youth Arts film; 'Sci:dentity whats the science of sex and gender'? also some participants of the project were going to attend. Unfortunately I could not attend when this was first shown last November at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. It was nice to meet Catherine McNamara along with some of the participants of the film, to listen to their views and discussion of the project. I also want to thank TomBoy and Louis from Trans Youth Manchester for allowing me to be able to attend, also I thoroughly enjoyed my discussion with them and hopefully I will be able to do some work for them in the future. I later went for a meal in my favourite place in Canal St, as you can all guess by now is 'Taurus' As I drove back home over the Pennines [photo] you could see and feel the change in the weather, turning so much colder. I have driven many times over Woodhead Pass but I still marvel at the stunning beauty of the Pennines through all the different seasons.
12th: For the second in a few weeks I have been suffering a really bad cold and feeling feverish, feeling somewhat better today. Went over to Manchester yesterday to the Lesbian Diners group, I had a nice afternoon but really wasn't feeling up to the mark, made some new friends though, however, I left earlier than normal, I was driving because the train service was down due to repairs, really hate that because going over on the train allows me to have a drink and I always stay longer.
Taurus Restaurant Canal St Manchester [inside & out]
I have been following the disgusting way in which Steve Stanton (Susan) has been treated by the town officials of Largo (see my news page) I do hope they come to their senses and reinstate her to the position she has held for many years, doing an outstanding job for that town. I am hoping to be able to visit Trans Youth Manchester on the 17th for their film-screening and workshop Sci:dentity documentary film; which tells the story of the Sci:dentity Trans Youth Arts project so far and which continues debates about the social and scientific construction of sex and gender.
2nd: Things been a bit up and down since my last diary entry. I picked up a virus from somewhere? I had one of the worst head colds ever, felt feverish for a few days, then had bouts of nausea etc, really knocked me sideways. I have been busy writing an evaluation on a Client Review and Care Survey for Age Concern Rotherham, in my capacity as a Trustee. On Feb 28th I had a meeting with Natalie Comrie the Assistant Director Equality and Diversity for Bradford Teaching Hospitals Trust, I shall be helping them to get up to date on all Transgender Issues. A bit of a last minute rush job yesterday, I went to London for a meeting in an advisory role along with some other people, this is for a new initiative, hopefully I will be able to tell you all about it, at a later date.
February
19th: Its good to get back online, my computer crashed on Saturday morning, fortunately Chris who does my computer repairs etc managed to save all my files, more important work and photos. However, I had to have a sort of part rebuild, new motherboard, processor etc, on the monetary front I could have certainly done without this, just getting over the expense of moving home at the end of November and Christmas. I did my workshop presentation at Sheffield University on Friday for the 'ESRC Invisible Boundaries Childrens' Sexualites Seminar Series'. It was nice to meet Stephen Whittle and Lewis Turner, both also presented in the same workshop. I also made a couple of decent contacts, people asking for more information on transgender issues.
7th: For the last few days I have had some tenderness and slight swelling around the areola of my left breast. I attended my health clinic this morning and I had it examined by the nurse practitioner, she believed it to be Mastitis, however, she asked the doctor to examine me as well. He thinks it is Mastitis and has put me on a weeks course of antibiotics, if the swelling and tenderness does not improve he will refer me to hospital for further tests, fingers crossed. The one thing I have learnt to do, which every woman should do, is to examine my breasts on a regular basis for any abnormalities; lumps etc. I was due to travel down to the South-West on Thursday morning to interview someone for my research, stay overnight and visit a friend in Weston-Super-Mare on Friday, then drive back north late on Friday. Having seen the advance weather forecast of heavy snow, I decided to postpone my trip and have rearranged the interview for in a few weeks time.
6th: I hope you like the two new pictures on my Welcome Page, it was weird for me having my picture taken without my spectacles on. They are part of the photo shoot I did on Jan 29th, Lucy the journalist sent me a collection of the photos' on a CD. I must thank the photographer Gary Roberts http://www.garyrobertsphotography.com/index.htm for the wonderful pictures he took, also Lucy for the hospitality shown me during the shoot at their apartment.
1st: I believe all of us who have gone through transition remember certain dates, because they were special dates, milestones maybe? The day you transition full time, change your name, get referred to see the right health professional, start hormones, get your surgery date.
Two special ones for me are; when I received my new birth certificate, also February 1st 2005 the day I had my realignment surgery, my rebirth. I mentioned in my last writing that I was to have a meeting at Bradford Teaching Hospital on Feb 2nd, Natalie the lady I was going to have the meeting with, has unfortunately had to cancel, because poor dear is having to have dental surgery, she has my best wishes. We have re-scheduled for the 28th.
January
30th: The first month nearly over. It was lovely to read the story this last weekend about Kim the 14 year old from Germany who was being hailed as the youngest transsexual in Europe to receive treatment, also to have such loving parents who have come to terms with their now daughters gender identity. I enjoyed having my picture taken professionally yesterday, must admit I quite enjoyed the posing bit. I may have copies in a week, so lookout I might put some on the site, if they look o'k. Going over to Bradford on Friday to meet with the equalities and diversity officer at the Teaching Hospital, to bring them up to date on 'Transgender Issues'. I joined my local WeightWatchers club just before Christmas, we meet every Tuesday, don't seem to be losing any weight 'sigh', but at least I'm not putting any on, hope to have better news after tonight.
21st: Well here I go again. I have just deleted my former entries for this year whilst updating the site, tried to recover them but to no avail. So! I shall give a synopsis of my year so far.
As I mentioned before I had a great New Year in Newcastle with my lovely friends Laura and Rachel. They had a nice surprise for me, in that they had a ticket for me to go with them to see Kylie at Wembley Arena London on the 8th, just had to get down there by train and book the hotel for the night.
At 11pm on the 1st I watched episode 3-Sex Change-Uncut, I was shocked! that in the main I thought it was quite awful. The dinner party scenario I thought was horrendous, it did nothing for educating the public and as a friend remarked; 'it probably gave out a completely wrong message'. For me that part of the documentary was purely 'theatrical documentary'. However, without blowing my own trumpet, several friends who also watched it, have voiced the same opinion and that at least my participation brought some credibility to the programme. Of myself, it did contain quite a bit of footage of film which was done for the original Sex Change series when I had my SRS nearly 2 years ago, however, more explicit scenes were shown this time. I was disappointed that there was nothing shown from all the filming they did at the Lesbian Diners group I attend in Manchester. It would have been good to show some of that social life of mine on the gay scene in comparison to that dinner party scenario. Nothing against the trans women who took part in the dinner party, but I am so glad I was not involved in that.
I met Laura and Rachel in London at lunchtime on the 8th, went for a meal then headed for our hotel in Wembley. The concert was amazing, Kylie was in great voice and her costume changes were wonderful. We had great seats at the side of the stage, the whole night was brilliant, a wonderful colourful show. On the 14th I went over to Manchester to the Lesbian Diners Group, we meet every 2 months at Taurus in Canal St for a meal and a gossip. It is nice to catch up with friends old and new.
I did an interview on the 15th with Lucy Laing who is a features writer, I shall be going to Manchester for a photo-shoot for this on the 29th. I still do not know when the interview I did for the Independent Sunday Review is going to be published. I have been contacted by the Equalities & Diversity Officer for Bradford Teaching Hospitals, she has asked for my assistance in bringing the Hospital up to date on Transgender Issues and the possibility of running a workshop at some later time, we have an informal meeting scheduled for February 2nd.
Copyright 2005-11 Carol Robson BMedSci (Hons) [All Rights Reserved]
31st: I had a lovely couple of days at Manchester Pride, Bank Holiday Saturday and Sunday. On the 
Saturday I was in the parade again with the Royal College of Nursing (North-West) I just love the atmosphere of the parade, waving to people during the parade and seeing familiar faces in the crowd. On the Sunday I just browsed around the Expo stalls and the market place. I relaxed in the 'Women's Space' in the afternoon with my dear friend Jessica and her partner Eileen.
I've had a really purposeful 2 days at the LGBTHealthUK National Summit, which was held in Manchester Town
Hall, what wonderful facilities, atmosphere and hospitality. Excellent workshops which I attended and it was really hard to choose which ones to listen to. I had a lovely evening on Sunday. having dinner and conversation with my co-presenters Ian Trafford, Bernard & Terry Reed, although it was only Bernard presenting this time. It was also a great opportunity for networking and forging new links, also meeting old friends and making new ones, especially Emma from 
Concern and was I was invited to attend. I was also interviewed by a film crew who are putting together a documentary about London/Riga Gay Pride events. Many of us travelled the route, Baker St, Oxford St, Regent St then into Trafalgar Square in Rickshaws, which save us from getting wet, despite the rain and 
heightened security because of unsuccessful terrorist attack in London the previous night it all went well. Also in Trafalgar Square in the afternoon there was a wonderful atmosphere with the live concert and all the stalls for different groups all colourfully decorated, I helped out with the Older LGBT stall and I had a wonderful day meeting friend old and new. Chilled out for a couple of 
the border of both Sheffield and Rotherham, we have just had a months rainfall in that 24 hours. I'm fortunate that I live on high ground, however, leaving here before this morning was virtually impossible as all the roads lead to lower ground and were flooded. Sky News have done brilliant coverage of the floods in this area and the rescues that were being undertaken last night by the RAF Sea King helicopters. Across the area there is a danger of a reservoir being breached and more flooding occurring.
16th & 17th at TG07, UEA Norwich. At the Trans with Pride conference I was part of the Visibility 
presented, some which I have heard before, especially Bernard & Terry Reed because of my research and presentations on Gender Variant Adolescents, it was nice of them to mention that during their presentation. I had a little chat with Phil Thomas having not met him before. Richard Ekins & Dave King are lovely guys. Michelle Bridgman gave an excellent presentation on Psychotherapy an Obstacle or a Support
the 2nd I did attend The Gender Trust Trustee's meeting, myself and Celia Macleod were co-opted to the Board. I also managed to get back to Sheffield to see some of the launch of the Trans Men 2008 Calendar. I know Lee Gale one of the organisers, also he modelled for the calendar and it was nice to meet some of the other guys who posed as well, especially Jacob who had been part of the Sex Change Uncut documentary series, it was good to meet someone else who had been involved with that series. 
together a documentary titled 'Best Kept Secret' ( 
18th: Yesterday, I visited Trans Youth Manchester, I had contacted them when I saw they were screening the Trans Youth Arts film; 'Sci:dentity whats the science of sex and gender'? also some participants of the project were going to attend. Unfortunately I could not attend when this was first shown last November at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. It was nice to meet Catherine McNamara along with some of the participants of the film, to listen to their views and discussion of the project. I also want to thank TomBoy and Louis from Trans Youth Manchester for allowing me to be able to attend, also I thoroughly enjoyed my discussion with them and hopefully I will be able to do some work for them in the future. I later went for a meal 
in my favourite place in Canal St, as you can all guess by now is 'Taurus' As I drove back home over the Pennines [photo] you could see and feel the change in the weather, turning so much colder. I have driven many times over Woodhead Pass but I still marvel at the stunning beauty of the Pennines through all the different seasons.
