Jacqui Gavin: 'Transitioning to professional success'

After marriage equality it seems like transgender rights are going to be in the spotlight this year and the following one. However there is still a lot to be done: according to Pace, an LGBT mental health charity, 48% of transgender people under the age of 26 have attempted suicide. Even though nowadays, the portrayal of transgenders in media has improved and the acceptance has never been greater.

But it has not been always like this. I have gone a long way to reach the point in my life that I am at now. I had to run away from home. I wanted to find a place that was more accepting compared to working class Scotland where I was living. I went through hell there because I started to feel that l was in the wrong body. In school I tried to talk to my teacher and said “I don’t like the way my body is changing, I am becoming too masculine”. He put me in front of the class and said “He thinks he is a girl”. The bullying had started. I had no other choice but to seek a safer place for myself.

I moved to London looking for a place where nobody cared. The city lights astonished me. They were beautiful and different but nobody looked at them. My happiness did not last for very long. Mum had cancer and I had to go back to Dundee to support her and I had to "detransition". After she died I enrolled in the Forces. I was always gifted at sports and thought it would be good for my future. One day I fell off a fence and injured my knee and an officer asked me to stand up. I could not move, the pain was too bad. In order to punish my refusal he crushed my knee and I was sent to surgery and could not walk for months. During my recovery, my kit suit was searched and they found a brassiere in it. They knew I didn’t have a girlfriend and at the time being LGBT in the army was considered a crime. I was scared but I came out. They let me leave the Forces without too much complication. Nowadays, I would probably have a lot of support from the officers.

Nevertheless, I found my place while working in the Post Office in Dundee, where I had the chance to work with some wonderful people. I felt completely supported and the Post Office is actually one of the first employers to develop policies to protect and support transgender people.

Transition leads you to better performance

It was after this period when I finally transitioned. I was 21 and my career just started raising. The future looked brighter than ever. Being a transgender person never leaves you. You wake up and go to sleep knowing that you are a transgender. When you accept it you can be some much more productive and successful.

I pursued a career as a model in London and introduced myself as a woman to modelling agencies. I was earning good money and liked the job. Unfortunately all my dreams came to an end when the Sun newspaper revealed I used to be a man. My agents ended my contracts and called me “fake” for not being a real woman. After hiding for so many years in Scotland, I had to hide myself again.

Since then I have been fighting for my rights over the years in order to promote understanding of transgender issues as a role model for many younger generations. I want to help them on their journey to self-acceptance. I want to tell them it might be hard but it will be ok. I am here to fight for their rights. Now I work as National Vice-Chair at the National Civil Service Network for Gender Identity & Intersex; Advisory Board Member at myGwork; Patron for Gender Identity at Pink Triangle Theatre; Talk Show Panelist at Gaydio; and Diversity Role Model at Diversity Role Models. It’s never enough.

I have the need to demonstrate my long-term commitment to fight for transgender rights. However, there is a lot to be done on workplace issues for transgender people in order for them to be themselves. To be successful you don’t need to try to be someone you are not. It is exhausting and counter productive. The government and organisations have the responsibility to address the diversity gap at work. I don’t think we see enough diversity of race for transgender people at work.