...and doing a great job too. The conversation started about the 8 phonecalls that Childline receive every day from children who are uncomfortable in their bodies and have queries about being trans. She then went on to talk to an adult transwoman who shared her very sad story, about being expected to be a tough macho little boy when that wasn't how she felt inside, and relating how miserable she felt as a child. This transwoman talked about having 'testosterone poisoning' and said that she has felt so much more like herself since living 'as a woman'.
Shelagh very gently suggested that what this caller had been longing for was to be seen and heard and validated, and to be accepted as the person she was, rather than' as a woman'. Shelagh made the point (which I've seen on here many times) that she herself doesn't feel 'like a woman', because not all women feel the same, and she actually just feels like herself, and happens to be a woman. I don't think the transwoman understood the points she was making, but I thought she handled it extremely sensitively and was challenging in a very respectful way.
In reference to children being encouraged to think about transitioning if they raise concerns about their bodies, she said she was wary of 'something being treated as normal when its actually just a nonsense'. Good stuff. We need more of it