Age, 77
From London, UK
Retired (Joking Of Course)

“At about 2:30 on the morning of the 20th December 1934, Frank Ernest Noble was born in the East End of London. For 66 years I was Frank. Then, on the 29th of October 2001, through Deed Poll, I officially became Kathy Anne Noble. By the 15th of November 2001, I became as completely Female as I could possibly be. The journey has been long and protracted and I have become what my General Practitioner (GP) calls a "Changeling". As you may know, people from the East End of London are often called "Cockneys" and are renowned for their sense of humour. Since becoming aware of my situation, this is how my Family and I approached it. My Daughter, Debbie, said; "Kathy is not quite four years old, but she is a big girl, and early into Puberty. We have watched her struggle to come to terms with the changes in her body, the changes in her mind, her appearance and the fight to find the Woman she so desperately wanted to become. What follows, is her story.”

Let’s go back 50 years to a time when I was growing up in London. I had these irrational feelings and just did not understand them. You do not know what they are, or what causes them, and you certainly do not go to bed one night and wake up determined to be a cross-dresser or a Transsexual. At that age I had no knowledge or comprehension of these states of being; in fact I did not know they even existed. I used to look in the mirror and wish I was a girl. I was big, played sport and excelled in my education, but there was something missing. It was not until 1953 when in the United Kingdom (UK) Royal Air Force (RAF), that I read about the first Transsexuals—Christine Jorgensen in America and Roberta Cowell in the UK – that I realised this is what I was and wanted to be. But where do you start?

I had married at 18 years of age and thus buried myself in all the Male things – Marriage, Kids, Mortgage, Work and Sport. My Wife and I had a Son but in 1957, when he was just one year old, he died. This left me completely distraught. I dared to show my emotions and cry about the situation, to which my Mother-in-Law said; "Men don’t do that, they are supposed to be strong and have no feelings." Is that correct? I do not think so. For some reason this loss also catapulted my need to cross dress. At first, as I was a lot slimmer then, I used to wear my Wife’s clothes, but I also started to buy my own. Over the next 20 years I cross dressed as often as possible. This wasn’t difficult because twice a month I was away on business and would take Jan, my Female self, on these business trips. This went on until 1978 when I was Divorced. There was nothing wrong; we just fell out of love and decided to go our separate ways. My first Wife, Joan, never really left because in 1980, I married her sister, Jean. When I did this, I threw out all of Jan’s gear. I had gone to counselling and was now sporting a beard. I no longer saw the reflection in the mirror that had haunted me for years; Jan was gone.

At the end of 1980 we moved to Australia, where Jean had been living and, once again, I took on the Male mantle. This time we both worked hard to build our business, pay our Mortgage and raise two of Jean’s kids who were with us (her other two children were with their Father in Sydney). We worked hard and prospered. We were fortunate to have a good standard of living and visit some great conventions throughout the World. Jan was no longer in the picture; I had won. Then in 1988 I had a minor heart attack and double angioplasty. The heart attack shut down all but the essential needs and caused many problems. I lost my hearing and my sex drive failed, or became even worse than it had been. But that was just the beginning; the worst was yet to come.

Ten years later, in 1998, I began to feel emotional, weepy and have very odd feelings that I could not understand. This state of being led to tests which confirmed that my Pituitary had packed up and that instead of making the Male hormone, Testosterone, it was manufacturing the Female hormone called Prolactin, in great quantities. It was then that I started to develop breasts. My GP put me on a Male hormone replacement therapy, but to no avail. In 1999 I had had enough, so off came the beard and out to buy clothes for Jan. I also bucked up the courage and told Jean about my “Problem” and showed her the other me. She laughed, cried and said; “Too much make up, understatement is the way.”

We lived differently now, and I was coming up to retirement. I had told Jean that if she wanted a relationship, I would not stand in her way. She found someone and we started to decide what should happen. She knew now, as did I, that I was on the way to hopefully make a full transition from a Cross Dresser to a Transsexual. Jean also suggested I change my name from Jan to something softer. So I chose Kathy, which was my Mother’s middle name. I began to spend more and more time as Kathy and Jean tried very hard to come to terms with her. Jean also told our daughter, who at first was shocked, especially with the fact that her Dad now wore skirts, but courageous enough to meet Kathy. Upon meeting her, she gave her a hug and said, “I’ll support you.” To help her come to terms with Kathy, our daughter thought of her as Frank’s twin sister and this seemed to work for her.

My GP told me to, “Enjoy the hormones”, Jean helped me to find a support group, and that is how I finally met Denise and Madeline in November 2000. Unfortunately in October the same year, Jean was killed in a car accident. This incident and being retired were two catalysts that helped me stop putting things off and so, with each passing day, I became Kathy more and more. I now knew what I wanted to be and realised I had little time to achieve this. I went through all the channels that are required, Transsexual GP, Endocrinologist, Psychiatrist, Surgeon, electrolysis and of course received more hormones as part of the treatment. I really enjoyed being Kathy and felt that she had been robbed of everything that a female enjoys while growing up, even the drawbacks too. I am extremely lucky that all my Family, friends, neighbours, ex-colleagues and people who I deal with in my everyday life accept and support me. I am also blessed with the help, advice and friendship of several Ladies. I have hidden nothing from anyone and can go out as Kathy and enjoy being her without fear or favour.

As I said before, I have been through all the channels required in order to make this Transition. On August the 20th, 2001 my Psychiatrist gave me the O.K. to go ahead. On November the 15th, 2001 I had the Operation, and am now as female as I can ever be. The journey has been long, but in the last four years things have moved quickly; for some they have moved too quickly. Now I want to settle down and enjoy my remaining years as a woman; a woman who has always been inside of me. Now I definitely enjoy my feminine side of going shopping, getting hairdos, facials, nails, am not too sure about waxing, I watch soaps and read women’s magazines. The cost of being a woman is horrendous, as you ladies will no doubt agree, but I think it’s definitely worth it!

I now have three birthdays a year, one more than the queen; no pun intended. There is my usual birthday, my heart attack, and finally, the birth of becoming Kathy. I feel I have been doubly blessed to have lived virtually as two people. To live as two entirely different people is, in itself, mind blowing, but to change from one to the other is awesome! My inner conflict has been abated and at last I can express myself as I wish to be and as I knew for a very long time who and how I should be. For my last years I intend to fully enjoy this new life. If I can help others in the same situation, then this will be my new life’s mission. My only regret is that I waited so long and, as my daughter Debbie said, “Fooled a lot of people for a very long time”. Unfortunately this was because the knowledge and technology was not available in the 50s and 60s. Also at that time I did not have the funds, guts or determination that I needed. I now see girls in their teens and early twenties who are transitioning, and realise what it takes to get there. Their immense commitment, will power and, above all, their supreme faith that they will succeed in face of all things, is fantastic.

Through-out history Transsexuals have been known as “SHAMAN” or “People of Two Spirits”. Usually we were revered as Healers, Leaders or Spiritual Leaders. This is still the practice in some Cultures, but in the Western World being a Transsexual has been largely buried and discredited by other teachings. This is what someone wrote on the point of Transsexuality; “I have been fortunate in living and exploring both my male and female sides.  For those that have not, I feel they have missed out on a great journey of learning. However, I would not wish this on my worst enemy, let alone my best friend, even if he or she were Transsexual.”

My father, who died in 1976, consistently comes to me in dreams and once also in an out of body experience after my heart attack in 1988. He always tells me the same thing; “We don’t want you as you have things to do.” Never once has he indicated what they may be, but now I feel I know what they are. Thank you, Dad, for giving me time to learn and adjust, I will use my new life to do just that – to help others because I feel that, that is the road you wish me to travel.”

I gave the above story at a congregation of my Spiritualist church on Sunday the 13th of January 2002. My talk was well received, even though the atmosphere was filled with “Disbelief, Stunned silence, but Compassion.” Afterwards several people came up to me and congratulated me for the “Courageous Way” in which I acted. Even the Reverend said that they should change the Church’s name to “Courageous.” I was also told that I will definitely be on the road to help others and should expect plenty of involvement from their behalf. I hope so.

Whilst recovering from my surgery in Hospital, I found that a lot of Girls go through the procedure without any support.  So with the consent of the Nurses, Surgeon and the Hospital management, we set up a support group to cover their needs. This means that I willingly open my home to someone before and after surgery. I take them to their initial check-up and during the surgery I make trips with them to and from the Hospital. The support group also helps anyone who wants to take the operation, understand the procedures involved. Basically, as most professionals do not really understand us, it is imperative that a Transsexual is on hand to help.

In 2001, I went to New Zealand (NZ) for the AGENDER convention and have been involved with that group with the hope of bringing it to Australia. We achieved this on the 15th of June 2002 with the launch in Queensland. It is different to other groups in Queensland as it covers all areas of Transgenderism, where others are fragmented. We cover Cross-Dressers, Transgender, Transsexual – both Male to Female and Female to Male – intersex and hermaphrodite. The group also involves that important group of people who are the Support Crew. They back their partner in whatever they do. I will never fully understand how they do it, but they do it with Love and Compassion that transcends all known levels and boundaries.

At present NZ is well in front of us here in Australia; they have more understanding of our situation and their Government is more willing to listen and learn. Perhaps having a Transsexual in Parliament helps. At present they and AGENDER NZ are involved in more legislation that will help our community. I just hope that in time the same will happen here, in Australia. I realise that this is going to take time and effort. We are concerned about our lack of rights, especially when changing our Birth Certificate, lack of research into our problems, and also about being used as experiments by the drug companies and some Professionals.

A change of name through Deed Poll allows us to change most of our legal requirements, such as our licence and medical cards, but not central records for the Health Insurance Commission (HIC). When you have had the Surgery, you are issued with letters written by your Surgeon stating you are now “Anatomically Female.” A separate letter for each entitles you to change the last two requirements; your Central HIC Records and Passport. In my instance, because I was born in the UK, I cannot change my Birth Certificate. Holland, NZ and South Africa allow you to change everything, including your Birth Certificate. Here, in New South Wales, Australia, you are only allowed to change your Birth Certificate if you were born in NSW. The lack of a change in your Birth Certificate can cause problems later in life – for example if one has to enter a home for the elderly. It certainly can for inmates of our Prisons and the only recourse we have is the “Anti-Discrimination Act.”

As I said before, NZ is far ahead because it only has a Federal Government. We not only have a Federal, but State and Territory Governments, and it appears that each acts autonomously of the other. The aim of AGENDER is to try to redress these situations in any way that we can. I am willing to stand up as our spokesperson and be counted.

Thank you for inviting me to speak to you on this topic, and I hope it has given you an insight into where my community is coming from. Since putting all of these details together in 2003/4 I have become an activist and advocate for Trans-issues. To do this, I formed the organisation Changeling Aspects and since its inception we have created our Web Site that reaches all the Wide regions of the World.
Since 2003 I have had dealings with the Queensland, UK and Federal Governments. The UK was concerning their 2004 Gender Recognition Act. I took part in the New Zealand Human Rights paper – To Be Who I Am – concerning Trans-People, as well as the Australian Human Rights Commission paper – Sex Files ­– on Trans-Issues. In March 2009 I attended the launch of the Australian paper in Canberra. I am sad to say that until recently, it has simply sat on the shelf. We only recently ratified one section of the paper. This ratification stated that we do not have to undergo surgery in order to be able to amend our passport.

Now you understand why I use the following quote, as many consider me to be like a dog with a bone.  I am a Sagittarian, as was Sir Winston Churchill.

“Never give in – never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” Sir Winston Churchill, Speech, 1941, Harrow School British politician (1874 – 1965).

I also work with Anti-Discrimination; serve on several Government Forums and three Aging Committees. In December I turned 77, so working with the Aging Committees is something really close to my heart.

In May 2011, my book that tells my story was published. It holds many interesting stories and tales and hopefully when new legislation is passed to improve the lives of Trans-People, it will be updated to reflect the progress.