A 21-year-old said he first came out as transgender when he was eight but had to wait a decade before he could medically transition.

Jamie Bennett grew up in Whitefield, Greater Manchester, with his mother and stepdad.

He said he always knew he was a boy but he was ‘assigned female at birth’. When he was 13, the headteacher at his school said to his mother: “She just can’t wear those trousers, she really can’t. Girls have to wear navy blue. Only boys can wear black.”

He said that those words broke his heart.

He told BBC: “The black trousers were nothing special – just the standard ones my mum got me from the supermarket. It wasn’t the navy trousers that bothered me. What really hurt was hearing myself referred to as “she”.

“Just to be clear, I am a boy. Well, a 21-year-old man now and I’ve always known that I was a boy. But I was AFAB – “assigned female at birth” – and as a child, the outside world saw me as a girl, even though I tried to make myself look as ‘male’ as possible. For a long time, most people just couldn’t see me for who I really was – and it was a really lonely feeling.”

He was seven when he first told his mum that he “felt different” and that he didn’t think he was supposed to be a girl.

He said: “She told me it was just a phase, that I’d grow out of these feelings as I got older and that things would eventually make a bit more sense.”

He again told his mother that he “felt different” and this time, she took him to the GP.

The doctor told them he wouldn’t be able to medically transition until he was 18. He had to wait for a decade and went through a lot during this period.

He said: “There were a few times I considered coming out publicly but whenever I did, something happened that would me hold back again.”

When he was 17, he decided to start his transition. He spoke to his mum and GP and was referred to a clinic specialising in gender identity.

He said: “I changed my name by deed poll to Jamie and started telling people who knew me that my pronouns had changed – so instead of she and her, I now asked people to use he and him. It was a huge step. I was officially, completely out.”

He was surprised at how well his family and friends accepted him. One of his friends even told him that she knew he was a male and she was just waiting for him to tell her.

He said: “Today, for probably the first time in my life, I feel totally comfortable with who I am. I no longer have to put on a fake smile with people calling me she and I’ve been volunteering for the last few years with a charity which specialises in helping trans children and teens, mentoring kids in the same situation as I was. Finally, I can be totally, unapologetically myself – which is something everyone should be able to be.”

 

 

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