RLE, or not RLE, that is the question!

     I'm a member of a couple of internet forums that deal with the transgender community. These sites have been good to me as regards to advice and making friends. One of the big topics recently has been to do with the Real Life Experience. This is a period of two years (set by the NHS) in which you have to live in the gender role you subscribe to. It's mainly so the psychiatrists know that you are serious about transitioning and that the irreversible op is the right way to go. The last thing they want to do is to create transsexuals.

     Personally I 'm all for the RLE. I think it's probably got a lot to do with the fact that I've had a good one. It's gone smooth and I've not had any real problems over the past 19 months. One of the main points that got raised on this forum was that why should people need to go full-time before the op and I just thought that that was such an absurd and naive thing to say. Surely if you are transsexual then you'll start living as a woman (or as a man in F to M cases) as soon as you can. Surely you'll change your name to something that fits better as soon as you can. I couldn't, I still can't, see why anyone would even think that giving someone an irreversible operation before they live as that gender as being a good idea. Living as a woman 24/7 is so different to doing it part-time. It is such hard work that only genuine transsexuals will carry on doing it. The main thing you loose is the novelty value and that can be a tough thing to miss in your life. Also, if the op was given straight away, the waiting lists would only get longer as more and more seeked. What a lot don't realise is that the RLE gives you time to have proper counselling and psychiatric assessments. It's designed to weed out the people who don't need the op leaving a clearer path for us who do.

     I'm sorry if I've waffled on for a bit but some people just infuriate me with their inability to see that the transition process is about far more than the operation.

     On a lighter note I'm going out tomorrow night. A couple of my friends have started a monthly night out in Nottingham. It's a great idea as there wasn't really anything like that around here before. The first one last month was a resounding success and it looks like there'll be a good turn out tomorrow night too. It's important to support nights like this.

     On another note, I've applied to Derbyshire Friend with a view to doing a bit of volunteer work. Derbyshire friend work closely with the transgender community and I'd really like to get involved, give something back. Due to my work commitments my involvement would be pretty minimalistic but every little helps doesn't it.