XIAM007

Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World

Tuesday 20 August 2013

An unusual love story: boy (formerly girl) meets girl (formerly boy) - 



I first met Jamie Eagle and Louis Davies by chance and if, after the hour I chatted to them for, you'd asked me to describe them, I'd probably have just said they were a nice young couple, besotted with each other and warm and witty to talk to. What I would never have guessed was that they are both in the process of undergoing gender reassignment. Jamie, 20, who was born a boy, plans to marry her fiancé, Louis, 25, who was born a girl, although not before they've finished their respective operations.

I gasped when they told me. "Did I hear that right?" one twentysomething man said to me later. "But, but… she's gorgeous," he said, looking confused and uncomfortable, though also impressed. "No way!" his friend said, as if waiting for me to say I was joking.

The next time I met the couple, they'd gone public with their story, appearing on ITV's This Morning and talking to tabloids including The Sun. They have paid a heavy price, particularly Jamie, who has since received daily threats. "I can't go out alone," says Jamie, who is a student who lives with Louis in Bridgend in south Wales. "I mean, it's not new, me getting nasty comments, because I live in a small town. I've always suffered hate crime and have often been followed. But since the publicity, it can feel like someone shouts something from almost every car that drives past and I've had my fair share of internet trolls. I'm on antidepressants."

Yet they don't regret going public. "It's like gay people, black people and women," Jamie says. "None of these groups would have the rights they do if they hadn't fought to change negative stereotypes and perceptions. By going public, I feel like I'm doing my bit to help change history."

In any case, she adds, it hasn't all been negative. "So many people have told me I've inspired them and loads of people have come to me for advice, including parents of young children."

As young as three years old, Jamie remembers being attracted to girls' clothes and dolls. By 16, she was wearing girls' uniform and make-up to school, along with hair extensions. "People, including my family, assumed I was gay. But I knew I wasn't because even though I liked men, I saw myself as a girl."

Many transgender people say they were born in the wrong body. "But that's not how I feel," Jamie insists. "It's not the wrong body I've got, just the wrong parts. I literally hate my parts and tried to cut them off as a teenager. But with surgery hopefully happening within the next 12 months, that will change."

Also helping is the fact that in the past six months, Jamie has been on hormones preparing her for surgery. It's got rid of her facial hair and given her breasts, thicker and longer hair, and more curves.

Jamie's parents have found it all rather hard to stomach, she admits. "When I first transitioned, they found it very difficult. But they are in a better place than they were four years ago. My twin brother still struggles with it, although my sisters have been great. In fact, the first person I told when I had just turned 16 was my sister."

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