My Trans Life, Episode 1 of 2, RTÉ2, May 17th at 9.30pm
Nicky Manning (Dublin)
In the first of a two part series we meet Dubliner Nicky (22) who has suffered from social anxiety and depression since he was a teenager. Gendered female at birth, Nicky struggled with his gender identity for most of his early life.
Having come out as a lesbian during his teens, a chance encounter with a transgender person gave him the sudden realisation that he was in fact trans.
Having recently undergone a hysterectomy and a double mastectomy, Nicky is still unhappy with the appearance of his chest and undergoes a further procedure. He hopes that just one more surgery will give him the male chest he desires.
Jamie O’Herlihy and Harry Matthews
Trans couple Jamie from Cork and Harry from Northern Ireland, live together in a house in north Dublin.
With Harry already well on the road to transition, Jamie is eager to start her own journey – having delayed it to harvest her sperm, in the hope that she can have children of her own in the future. Jamie never had a father figure in her life, so she desperately wants to be around to raise her own kids, and hopes that she and Harry will have a family together in the future. To make that happen, Harry would have to stop his own transition now to harvest his eggs. It’s a conversation that they need to have, but the repercussions of just stopping hormone therapy is a huge worry for Harry, having come such a long way already on the road to transition.
While Harry is struggling with this choice, Jamie is devastated by the effects of hormone replacement treatment.
Dylan Clarke (Dublin)
Having come out as trans at the age of 16, Dylan (20) has been waiting years to begin the journey to fully align as a female. Having finally gotten her diagnosis of gender dysphoria she can finally move on to start her medical transition. However, having recently found love with boyfriend Jack, she is beginning to have second thoughts. A trip to see Dr Donal O’ Shea in Loughlinstown Hospital helps her to come to a big decision.
Luke O’Reilly-Kane, Dublin
Luke is 19 years old and is just about to complete his Leaving Certificate. He has struggled from an early age with gender dysphoria. Having spent years wearing a binder to flatten his chest, Luke is suffering from severe back pain and a curvature of his spine. He is hoping that chest surgery will not only help with his back problems, but it will also help him move on from the years of agonising over his body image. His mum, Maura, fully support him in his transition. With very long waiting lists for public surgery, Luke and Maura are forced to look at going private, but the cost is a major issue and they are left with the big decision as to what road to take next.
Series Overview
My Trans Life to air May 17th and May 24th RTÉ2
In July 2015 Irish citizens were given the right to change their legal gender based on self-identification alone, without medical or state intervention, making Ireland a global leader in trans-rights and one of just five countries in the world that has legislation based on self-determination.
This legal recognition gave many Irish transgender people the courage to publicly come out and live as the gender they identify with.
Today, at least one per cent of the population or some 46,000 people, experience some form of gender variance.
Filmed over the course of two years, My Trans Life offers an intimate portrait of the lives of five young transgender people on their journey to transition.
Nicky Manning (25) from Dublin suffered from depression for years as he struggled with gender dysphoria. Gendered female at birth, Nicky came out as a lesbian in his teenage years but, within a short space of time realised that, to be true to himself, he needed to transition to live as a man. Coming from a religious background, that decision meant that he lost close people in his family and social circle, as they struggled to accept him as male. It’s a long and difficult journey – with some major surgeries and the loss of his fertility to come to terms with but his medical transition is ultimately Nicky’s path to fulfillment and self-realisation.
Leaving Cert student, Luke O’Reilly Kane, was lucky to have the support of his mother Maura from the start. “He’s my son and I’m going to support him. If people don’t like it, they don’t bother me”, says Maura. Binding his chest for up to ten hours a day since his early teens has caused Luke a permanent curvature of the spine, and he needs a double-mastectomy to resolve the problem. Although Luke knew from an early age that he was not a girl, he is only able to take the first steps towards his medical transition and surgery in sixth year, just before his Leaving Cert.
Brought up in a small village in the midlands, graphic artist and burlesque performer Lily Kelly, was unwillingly outed as bi-sexual by a friend in secondary school. Feeling she couldn’t cope with the additional scandal of coming out as trans, she suppressed her gender identity for years. It was only on moving to Galway to study at art that she felt empowered to transition to a female identity. Her mother Miriam, a taxi-driver in Mullingar, is her biggest supporter and, though some in the family don’t accepted Lily’s transition, she is been fully behind her daughter. Outspoken Miriam admits that she still grieves for the son she lost, but their close and honest relationship is a testament to the value and rewards of family support.
Jamie O’Herlihy and her sister Chloe, who is also transgender, caused a media frenzy when they came out together, very publicly, a few years ago. Now something of a YouTube celebrity, Corkonian Jamie came to prominence in the transgender community when she and her partner Harry became the first trans couple in Ireland to go public with their story. In real life, she and Harry have struggled going through transition together. Her bright and bubbly public persona didn’t stop Jamie hitting rock bottom, as hormone replacement therapy started a second puberty, causing profound changes in mood and personality.
For Dylan Clarke (21) also from Dublin, having a number of family members already out as gay, paved the way for her when going public as trans. Her mother Nicola, although supportive of her decision, had a tough time when the son she knew started to transition. In recent times Dylan has embarked on her first long-term relationship and has been pursuing her dream of undergoing a medical transition.
The largest study of transgender people in Ireland (through TENI Transgender Equality Network Ireland) showed that 40 per cent of trans people have attempted suicide at least once, 78 per cent reported thinking about ending their lives, 83 per cent suffered from stress, 82 per cent from depression and 73 per cent, anxiety. In addition, more than 80 per cent of participants avoided some public places or situations due to fear of harassment.
This two-part series explores what it is to transition in Ireland. It’s brave participants share their experiences of the depression, anxiety and mood-swings that are part of the journey, the rejection by family and friends, the fear of being ridiculed or even attacked on the streets and the dream they each have to lead a normal life.
My Trans Life documents the progress the trans community have made in recent years, as well as the struggles they are still engaged in for acceptance and understanding.