Girl Power

Grease

2008-07-23T23:24:00.000+01:00

We had made plans to meet a friend from India. He and his wife were over on a business trip. Unfortunately due to a breakdown in communications, we were unable to meet the couple on this occasion. We had already made it to London when the meeting was called off. So we decided to get something to eat from "Ed's Diner". We enjoyed our meal of beef burgers, chips and onion rings. The 50's style diner added novelty value, which made the meal all the more interesting.

Suitably refreshed we purchased tickets or the evening performance of "Grease" at the Piccadilly theatre. Then we took a stroll around the National Gallery, where I tried my best to learn the history lessons, in-between sneaking a perch on the benches! My feet were not at all in favour of all this walking around.

We still had a bit of time before we were due at the theatre, so we wandered down to Covent Garden as watched the street performers for a while.

On the way to Piccadilly we popped into Mc Donald's for a Mc flurry. I had hoped to get a seat there but it was standing room only!

We all enjoyed seeing "Grease". Unlike many musicals I have been to, there was no dancing in the aisles, but there was plenty of hand clapping from the audience. After the show we hung around at the stage exit so that the young one could collect some autographs. She was particularly pleased to get "Ray Quinn's" autograph.

My poor feet finally made it home at stupid o'clock, but it was worth it.

Hate Crime Unit

2008-03-15T21:20:00.000Z

I attended the Hate Crimes Unit at Bishop's Park Community Centre today. Is it good news that no member of the public attended, because presumably they are not affected? Or is it a travesty that the public are still unaware of the centres or unwilling to attend?

Maybe the advertising was not sufficient to spread the word! Maybe the units will be made more use of if they can be run more regularly.

The feedback I got from posting the events on transgendered website forums was very good, so if nothing else at least some people feel a little reassured that some good work is being done.

To pee or not to pee

2008-03-07T20:06:00.005Z

The Church Of Light- Spiritualist Centre For Healing and Awareness

Apton Centre, Apton Road, Bishop's Stortford

Clairvoyance and healing every 1st and 3rd Friday each month at 8pm, awareness development 2nd Friday at 8pm

I have been regularly attending the above mentioned group for over a year. In that time I have introduced family and friends to that group. I have even offered to set up or administer a website to help promote them.

So it came as quite a shock when on my way to join my family at the group, I was stopped by (Mike) the only male healer on the committee. His mission was to tell me to refrain from using the "Ladies" toilet. Apparently at the last meeting two women that also used the lavatory complained about me using them!

I expressed my dismay at being asked not to use the toilet, so he again asked me not to use the "Ladies" and suggested that I make do with the Disabled facilitates! He went on to say that the group have welcomed me, his inference being that they have tolerated me!

I should never have been asked not to use the Toilet in the first place, but to make things worse the committee dispatched a male to ask a transgendered-female not to use a Ladies toilet! Such an act could be seen as sexist bullying at the least and in my personal opinion is could be seen as hate crime. I will be seeking the advice of the police in regard to that.

I am no different to anyone else in that I am a human being, so what is there to tolerate! The fact that he did not suggest I use the "Mens" clearly points to either himself or other males being less than comfortable with me using that toilet. I do not have any disabilities so using a toilet designed for disabled people is not very practical. And it would also mean that any disabled person seeking to use the toilet would have to wait while an able bodied person used it!

What if next a disabled person was to complain that I was using the toilet! Would that mean that I would simply have to piss in my panties and if so which room should I do that in? Would it not represent a health hazard?

I pay the same entrance fee to the group as everyone else. As far as I am aware the cost of that goes towards renting the facilities including the toilets, so why should I be denied use to the toilets! I have supported the groups raffle to raise extra funds, introduced friends and family to the group. I have been a good ambassador for the group. I have helped clear away furniture at the end of the evening and even offered my services to build and maintain a website for them.

A precedent has been set in my opinion by the fact that I have been using the ladies toilets for a year already, so how can anyone justify my now being asked to use the disabled just because a couple of transphobic women expressed a concern about my using it!

As far as I am aware the facility is rented to various groups, so I will shortly be writing to the council and asking them if there is any legal recourse to such bigoted use of their hall, after all is the council not supposed to be actively seeking equality for all!

Mothers Day

2008-03-02T20:18:00.003Z

I was pleasantly surprised to receive chocolate, flowers and a heart balloon today. I was even more surprised when I was told that it was because "you are a Mummy too"!

My Guy

2008-02-29T22:14:00.002Z

After my rather anxious day yesterday, it was rather nice to be spoilt toady. I spent most of the day watching "Blade" DVD's with my guy. Then he treated me to a takeaway meal, before presenting me with the silver heart of my very own Vampire! :O)

Oh yes, and the man from Del Monte! He said the same as I did! :O)

Charing Cross

2008-02-28T23:55:00.003Z

Suzanne accompanied me to Charing Cross Gender Clinic for my first appointment with them. We decided to let the train take the strain, rather than drive through London.

We travelled by over ground train to Tottenham Hale and the by underground train to Charring Cross. At Charing Cross we stopped for a coffee and a burger in Mc Donald's. The young girl serving us was quite polite and pleasant, but I was quite annoyed at her closing with "enjoy your meal, sir"! If I had more time I might have had a word with her manager it. I am sure she meant no harm in her statement. However, it is likely that other transsexual women use the store on there way to the gender clinic. In my mind it is pretty simple to get right. Either don't state the gender in the closing speech or use the gender that the person in front of you is portraying!

Suzanne was allowed to come into assessment room with me, which was a help as I would never have remembered all the details asked of me. Or remembered enough of what was said to relay it all to her afterwards.

As I suspected they are going to make me wait another three months for a second opinion and only after that will they consider prescribing hormones. I was assured that at least in my doctors opinion there is no reason why I should not receive the hormones though. My doctor has recommended me for speech therapy as he felt it might help me. I voiced my concern at not wanting to end up sounding false. However, I have agreed that if the therapy is geared towards me simply softening my masculine tones then it may be of some benefit.

I was rather happier to hear that my doctor will backdate my gender trial as I have enough documentary evidence that I have lived my life full time in the female gender role. So, I have already completed the first year.

A case can be made for breast augmentation if growth on hormones is deemed to be inadequate, but this seemed to be a little vague. One thing that might go against me there though is that I self prescribed for a couple of months in the past. I would argue that I followed a pretty standard regime offered to transsexual patients. My interpretation of the Harry Benjamin Guidelines is that I am more likely to receive hormone treatments as I had already self prescribed. So, it is a bit of a duel edged sword.

Hate Crime Reporting

2008-02-22T23:46:00.013Z

OPPORTUNITIES TO REPORT HATE AND RACE CRIME

By Corporate Communication Dept

Following a number of successful surgeries, where members of the public have been able to meet their local Police Community Support Officer, several more have been planned for the coming year across East Herts.

A number of joint agencies have come together to tackle hate crime in East Herts and further surgeries have been planned for victims and members of the public to report it and seek advice.

Hate crime is harassing, victimising, intimidating or abusing someone because of their race, faith, religion, disability or because they are gay, lesbian, bisexual or trans-gendered.

It is a crime where the perpetrator’s prejudice against any identifiable group of people is a factor in determining who is victimised.

Police Community Support Officer Adrian Pomfrett from the Hertford and Ware Safer Neighbourhoods Team, has set up a series of surgeries across the area including a number of surgeries to address the problem.

The surgeries and initiatives are also supported by Victim Support, Neighbourhood Watch, People In Partnership, Riversmead Housing and East Herts District Council.

Adrian said: “Hate crime can come in many forms and this is an ideal opportunity for members of the public to report it and seek advice about it.

“I would urge anyone who wants to report a crime or seek advice and / or support on hate crime to visit us at one of the surgeries or to contact us on the non emergency number 0845 33 00 222.

”The dates and locations for the surgeries are as follows:

Sat 9th Feb - St Michaels Mead - between 12 - 2pm

Saturday 15th March - Bishops Park - between 3pm - 4.30pm

Saturday 19th April - Markwell Centre - between 1.30pm - 3.30pm

Saturday 10th May - Parsonage Community Centre - between 1pm - 3pm

......................................................................................................................................

Hate Crime Posters in adobe pdf format Hate_Crime.pdf

There will be members of the following agencies available to offer help and support in tackling Hate Crime....

Hertfordshire Constabulary

Victim Support

Neighbourhood Watch

East Herts District Council

Riversmead Housing

The PIP Project

Department Training Day One

2007-10-17T23:41:00.001+01:00

Today was a training day for many of us that will be working together in a new department at work. It was great to have the chance to jell with so many colleagues. Almost all of us are new employees and for most of us the department we will be working in is a new environment.

We had training on the use of some of the equipment we will be using and were introduced to the paper work and procedures we must follow. As part of the training we able to prepare and sample some of the product range. Yum! :O)

Armed with our knowledge of how we will operate and the measures we must take. We were sent off in small groups to sample the goods and observe the procedures followed by similar businesses operating in the local area.

It was a real eye opener comparing accounts of our experiences back in the training area.

Food Hygiene Examination

2007-10-11T19:03:00.001+01:00

Today was a training day for food hygiene. The training itself was okay but I hate it when they announce there is going to be an examination. I am glad to say that I passed it with flying colours.

I wonder if I will get my first certificate in the name of Miss Broxie Rothwell! :O)

Sweet

2007-10-08T19:47:00.000+01:00

Last week there was a special offer on some chocolate biscuits that the store I work for sells. If we sold enough boxes then we would receive a box of them for free. I was surprised that my name was read out at this mornings meeting, I had managed to sell enough boxes! :0)

I was checking some prices when a customer that I had served last week came by to say hello. She had asked where I was as she was so happy with the charming way that I served her last week! ;O

HR Meeting

2007-09-27T19:53:00.000+01:00

Having completed 3 days of training today was my first day on the shop floor. Well actually it was my half day. It was also the one day of the month that I could not shave before work. Once a month I have to let the hair grow so that my IPL laser treatment has a chance to work.

I only spent a couple of hours on the shop floor as I had two meetings today. The first was with a HR representative from HQ. I was glad that meeting took place on the day that I could not shave, as it meant that she got to see me at my least feminine looking state. All seemed to go well and I was informed I would be treated as female in all aspects apart from for pensions. They apparently have to reflect my male birth gender at least until I have passed my two year life trial and possibly changed my birth certificate.

The second interview was with my manageress and it was not very formal. It was more of a chance to get to know each other a little better. We seem to get along just fine, so I can't see any potential problems working with her.

Birthday Girl

2007-09-20T18:56:00.000+01:00

Yay! It's my Birthday! I had lots of cards, visitors and enjoyed a pleasant evening at home. I have some gift vouchers and some cash to pamper myself with. Trying to find time to do that will be interesting. I had a call from work and they want me to start on Monday!

The formal offer will not be with me by then, but the store is undergoing major changes and all new staff require till training.

Role Play

2007-09-19T18:29:00.000+01:00

After the blatant discrimination I received after my first interview in the female gender role, I was not particularly looking forward to today's interview. I had passed the online screening and today was the role play and formal interview at the recruiting branch of a certain well know high street store.

I have never attended a role play interview and wondered just how it would be performed. After a short introduction I was presented with some cards that represented my area of the store. My brief was to serve a customer that wandered in from another area of the store. The customer was played by one of my interviewers, while the other took notes.

After 5 minutes familiarisation with my product range, I interacted with my customer and helped her with her purchases. I had to maximise sales and keep within the customer's budget.

After the role play I was asked to take a seat for a few minutes while my interviewers conferred. Then I was called back into the interview room and informed that I had been successful! :0)

RIP Nan

2007-09-18T17:42:00.000+01:00

Sadly my Nan passed away. Most of my immediate family had recently moved to Carrick-en-Suir, Ireland and so they were able to see her before her fight for life was over.

I was uncertain as to whether it would be better to stay away or to attend the funeral. I know that not all my relatives are comfortable with my transition. I would have offended someone no matter what approach I took and so I decided to pay my last respects to Nan in person.

I would like to be able to say that all went well, but it would be more accurate to say that for the most part it was bearable. I am glad that I went all the same.

The town is steeped in history and under more favourable circumstances it would have been nice to explore my roots.

Discrimination

2007-09-17T22:17:00.002+01:00

Shortly before my holiday I attended a job interview for a post in Halfords Bike Hut at Harlow. There were two positions available and my interview went very well. I am more than capable of building and servicing a push bike. I was informed by the interviewers that I was the first decent candidate. They went on to say that they could not appoint as the store manager was away on leave, but that I should expect to be interviewed by him upon his return. I should have smelt a rat at that point as one interviewer had asked the other if they could appoint without the manager being available. In that case why were they interviewing anyway!

I returned from my holidays expecting to receive some form of communication inviting me to attend the second interview. Instead the communication I received was a standard rejection letter with no reason for the decision given.

This in my opinion amounts to blatant discrimination. My first thoughts veered towards pressing them for answers and reasons for the decision. However I decided not to bother as I would not want to work with such a bigoted company anyway. A sales assistant post just is not worth all the effort it would take to make my complaint official anyway.

Owning several pushbikes and several cars, I did used to be a frequent customer. Needless to say I would never knowingly spend a penny with Halfords now.

Summer Holiday

2007-09-04T22:29:00.001+01:00

About a month before the school summer holidays Samaya (Suzanne's daughter) unexpectedly came to live with us. At the beginning of the 6 week holiday she unexpectedly went back to live with her father. A month on and just as unexpectedly she returned to live with us. I guess that teaches me I should expect the unexpected! J

There were 2 weeks of the summer holidays left. We decide we could all do with a break, but it was the height of season, everywhere was booked and was too expensive anyway. The Wendy bus (VW Camper) had a fresh MOT certificate, but many of her fittings had failed after 2 years of neglect. I managed to get the gas to the cooker working and figured we could manage without a heater, microwave and fridge anyway.

We were a day late in loading the Wendy bus up for the magical mystery tour of Kernow's lay-bys. We did eventually get loaded up and headed off for the last 10 days of the school holidays. Apart from one small problem when I ran into some mouthy youths in a filling station at Salisbury, the trip went without any transphobic incidences.

We spent most of our trip camped up around the Bude area, but made a few trips to other places. I had a few surf sessions at Widemouth bay. The waves were not that big but it was great to be back in the water. I surfed Widemouth last time I was in Kernow. At that time I was still androgynous most of the time, but surfed wearing a bikini under my male wetsuit. This time I had a ladies pink and black wetsuit and a very pink bikini. Heading into the water I had makeup on, but that was pretty non existent by the time I exited.

One day we ventured into Newquay and browsed the shops. My favourite Kebab shop was now a burger type grill house, so we ate in a Pie and Mash Shop. As nice as the home madesteak and ale pies were, you just can't beat a nice beef and onion pie! Fortunately I had one of each type. The guy in the Longboard House seemed a little bemused when I first wandered in, but he soon warmed when he realised I did actually surf one of their boards already and that I had my eye on the hand shaped balsa wood longboard. No, I did not buy it. It is far too pricey for me to want to ding.

We went to the Cornish Markets near St Austell one day but never really got time to wander around all of it. We just managed to get burger and chips from the burger vans outside the market before they closed. I had quite a conversation with the two ladies in the burger van, they wished me luck and asked that I pop back and see them again next time I am in Kernow.

We travelled down to Lands End one evening and I took the opportunity to show the others Sennan Cove. We ate in the local pub there. I think they were a little shock to see a transgender person there, but they were pretty chatty and offered some tips on where it was best to camp up for the night.

The following day we headed into St Ives for a wander around the shops. We had a pasty and managed to keep the seagulls at bay. It was a good test of my heel walking ability! J

The last day of our stay had come around all too quickly. We had breakfast/lunch at the burger van in the lay-by on the A39 between the 2 turn off's for Widemouth bay. We had stayed in the lay-by a few times and made friends with the guys that operate the burger van. We exchanged email addresses and said farewell, before heading into Bude to buy a mirror we had seen in "Wild Wood".

We decided to head out on the A39 and followed it through Devon. Just before "Porlock" we picked up a Hungarian girl hitchhiking from work. She was glad of the lift and we chatted for a while before setting her down a few miles later. The Wendy bus was slow climbing the steeper sections of the road, but never once gave the impression that the hill was too steep. In fact I was more concerned about the descents, keeping the engine revs down without excessive wear on the braking system.

Taking this route home did put a few hours on the journey, but it was a much nicer route to follow.

Wedding Reception

2007-08-24T23:26:00.002+01:00

We attended a wedding reception. This was with much trepidation as most of those in attendance had never met Broxie or quite likely never met any transgendered person. Some may have heard of my existence through the grape vine, but many would probably not even know Suzanne had a new partner. The bride and groom were very welcoming and made an excellent couple. While the evening was not totally hitch free, I was glad to be in the company of some really lovely people.
I think it was about 4 am when we left the venue. The narrow roads and single tracks were encased in a thick fog! It was as much as I could do to keep Frankie the 1955 Ford Fairlane on the road. We made it home safely and tumbled into bed. Or was that flaked out?

Diagnosis

2007-08-11T15:39:00.003+01:00

How often do you get asked, are you a transvestite or a transsexual? The next most common question being, are you full time?

Other people would assume I was transsexual and that I lived full time in the female gender role.

In answer to the first question, I always replied that I did not know and I had never adopted a label. The second question always made me laugh as I was like many others I dressed only part of the time. I was in fact much less experienced than many of the people that asked so in the end I made some business cards. They had a picture of me, my name, address, website details and clearly stated I was a part-time girl.

How things change. I have been dressing now for well over 2 years, so I probably am no longer the new girl on the block. I have dressed full-time in the female gender for about a year, so I can not claim to be part-time anymore.

Living full time in the feminine gender role can have a few associated problems. One issue is presenting as female for work.

Some months ago I decided I really ought to protect myself and my right to be feminine. So I presented at my doctors and requested assistance. At that time I asked for a letter to help me have my documentation changed. The letter proved useful in that my passport and drivers licence now show my gender as female. The doctor also set up an appointment for me at a Psychiatrist. I wish to go on hormones to help soften skin and hopefully promote bust growth.

The original appointment was a shambles. Twice I was told that the appointment was for 10 am. Then on the day I was told that the appointment was supposed to be at 9:15 am and that I had to wait another month for the new appointment on the 7^th August 2007. I attended and was assessed with the following diagnosis:

Gender Identity Disorder

Transsexualism: ICD-10 Code: F64.0

Despite having a Deed Poll, Drivers Licence and a Passport all showing my gender as female, presenting as female and completing the clinics own questionnaire as female. The Psychiatrist constantly refers to me in her report as male and addresses me as Mr. The report was also addressed to Mr Broxie Rothwell. Obtaining a gender identity certificate is supposed to help protect me from such bigoted behaviour!

Bishop’s Stortford Carnival

2007-06-23T20:36:00.003+01:00

We were held up a bit, but we did eventually head off in Frankie and make it to the Bishop's Stortford Carnival. We had missed the procession but were able to gain entry to the show ground as Frankie flattered her eye lids. I spotted some kids Frankie and so I let them sit inside while there parents took some pictures of them. The skate park had a competition running and bands took to the stage nearby, so we stationed ourselves there for most of the day. Samaya was in need of cheering up so we treated her to a skateboard which Broxie could not resist playing with.

Mersea Motor Show

2007-06-10T20:42:00.002+01:00

Today we took Frankie to Mersea Motor show. We took a wrong turn and ended up having to turn around in a narrow side street, down by the harbour. This was made all the more difficult as some cars had parked up on opposite sides of the narrow road, leaving very little room to slalom Frankie between them. Once we had arrived at the car show we hooked up with Suzanne's family. We had been sat by Frankie chatting for a while, when a lady wandered up and congratulated me on my driving! At first I thought she was being funny and I wondered what I could have done to annoy her. It turned out though that she was the driver of one of the tightly parked cars in the road I had manoeuvred around by the harbour and she was genuinely impressed at how easy I had made it look. As is customary at motor shows Broxie took lots of photographs which can be seen in the gallery.

Ace Cafe

2007-05-26T23:58:00.006+01:00

Straight from the Enfield Pagent Motor Show we headed to the Ace Cafe for a Rock'n'Roll event. We exchanged a few friendly words with the female ocupants of a Pink Limo, traveling the same stretch of the A406. We arrived at the Ace Cafe and as we parked the battery cut out. It does not charge well from the dynamo, so I carry a spare battery charged and ready for use now. Unfortunately it was raining quite heavily and my electric window was now stuck half open. I opted to change it before the light faded. As I did so a young biker lad offered his assistance, which was nice of him. It turned out he is a mechanic by trade.

Once the battery was fitted and the window was closed, Suzanne and I headed inside for a coffee and a burger. Suitably refreshed, we decided to change into fresh clothes for the evening's event. I grabbed the bag we had packed from the car and then went off to change. I entered a cubical and changed out of the orange combats and see through mohair jumper that I had been wearing. Then I slipped on a blue dress. I had also been wearing a matching orange bra and knickers set. I kept the bra on, but I was not sure thong knickers would hold me secure when I started dancing. I figured better safe than sorry and swapped then for a pair of peachy coloured panties. The dress was not so short that anyone was likely to see that they did not match anyway.

I exited the cubical and commenced touching up my makeup. As I did so a lady entered clutching a change of clothes. It bought a smile to my face to see that Suzanne and I were not the only ones that bought a change of clothes with us.

I returned to the table Suzanne was keeping for us and then she headed off to change into her fresh outfit. Suzanne was pretty quick and returned before the lady that had gone it to change as I applied my makeup.

I dropped some flyers that I had from the B52's diner on the information stand.

The DJ was playing mostly Rockabilly tracks, some of which I knew in other forms by other artists. After a while the band started doing their set. As is usually the way, I danced pretty much all evening from that point on.

At one point as I danced some guy off to my right shot me a very odd look. Nothing new about that, but he kept then staring at Suzanne. She had earlier smiled back at him apparently, but now was taking no notice. He kept this up to the point it really started to bug me and I started staring back at him.

The band finished their set and began to load the equipment in the van. I stepped outside to cool off and take a few photographs of it. Again it was something I had never seen before, a custom painted Ford Falcon. I spoke to the owner who informed me it was a straight 6 engine under the hood and that it was already custom painted when he obtained it. The van will be at Billing Aquadrome next weekend.

I returned inside and danced to most of the tracks that DJ played until it was time to head home. As I started the car the guy giving the looks all-night happened to be admiring our wheels! J

Enfield Motor Pageant

2007-05-26T18:51:00.000+01:00

This morning Suzanne and I went to the Enfield Motor Pageant. We went in Frankie, but we did not enter her in the show. Instead we parked in the normal parking area. We wandered around the stalls and bumped into Suzanne's dad, brother and a friend of her brother that we recently bought our little runabout off of. I was in makeup, so it was nice that they spent some time with us and did not distance themselves. We returned to her brothers' car to exchange some presents we had for Suzanne's family. As we stood chatting, some idiot, raced along the grass in his little black hatchback. Then over cooked the slide he put himself into and slammed his car into the tow ball of a recovery truck! He hopped out of the car looked at the damage then, jumped back in the car and disappeared out of the show ground.

Fortunately there was nothing parked in front of the recovery truck that he hit with enough force to move it forward. It was all over too quickly to take the drivers number. He sure made a mess of the side of his car though! I don't suppose his passenger was too amused to have recovery truck sitting on his lap. The recovery truck seemed okay, the only visible damage being a broken tail light lens.

Suzanne and I said goodbye to her family and went for a wander around the show cars, most had cleared out as it was getting late in the day and it was beginning to rain. We came across a car that I had not seen before and spoke to the proud owner. He informed me that the doors were open and insisted I take a seat inside. It was a Borgward.

After wandering around the remaining cars we headed back to Frankie. Some thieving twat had nicked all the dust covers from her wheels.

Britain’s first transgendered mayor

2007-05-24T16:40:00.001+01:00

I seldom read a news paper but my attention was brought to this article from the Times Online. Britain will have its first transgendered mayor (Ms Jenny Bailey) and her mayoress (Jennifer Liddle) is also transgendered. It brings a ray of hope for transgendered people living in the UK. Hopefully this is a sign of the times (bad pun intended). Transgendered people might become more accepted in today's society.

Thank you, Ms Bailey for having the courage to stand for mayor. Good luck to both you and your partner in your civic duties.

Cinders

2007-05-20T14:45:00.002+01:00

Cinders was finally ready so I collected it from Harlow. The journey to Harlow was made by train which was a first for Broxie. There was some guy at the station that had a row with some girls waiting for the train. The guys own girlfriend tried to calm him down. He then threw her Mc Donald's meal over her. He was being quite intimidating towards everyone. I kept a close eye on him. He decided to exit the platform passed me and looked as though he was going to say something to me as he passed. However, I think he thought better of it as he drew closer and realised I was no shrinking violet.

B52’s

2007-05-19T00:59:00.003+01:00

Suzanne had a tutorial over at Chelmsford and we planned to go on after that to Southend-on-sea. We were a bit pressed for time so I slung on my dress and had a shave, but skipped the makeup. Unfortunately the mesh had partly come away from the elastic at the waist band of the knickers, I had chosen, so I put another pair on and packed them in a bag with some cotton and a needle. Suzanne packed a change of clothes for later in the day. Once we arrived at the campus I parked Frankie and Suzanne headed into her class. As I sat putting my makeup on, I became aware on a gentleman admiring Frankie. He was eating his packed lunch. He strolled over and commented on how nice the car was. Later I was to learn that he was in fact Suzanne's tutor.
My face finally applied I turned my attention to repairing my knickers. I stretched the elastic over the steering wheel to facilitate the repair. Again the car attracted more attention and a guy wandered over for a chat. Once I had finished repairing the knickers I changed out of the ones I had on and into them without interruption.
It was not long before Suzanne appeared with her tutor and another student. She asked if I minded going to a local pub with them for a drink. They all hopped in and we were at the pub within a few minutes. I got a few odd looks as we entered, but I was expecting it. When it was my turn to get a round in I wandered up to the bar. I got some smart ass comments from one of the locals, he made light of the situation when I stood my ground and looked him in the eye.
More annoying was the look of horror on a young woman's face as I passed her in the bar, on my way back from the toilet. Get a life, transgendered people are just people. And just like anyone else we do need to use toilets!
After finishing or drinks we dropped Suzanne's tutor and student friend at the train station. Then we continued the journey to the B52's Rock'n'Roll evening. By the time we got there Suzanne was not feeling very well. We sat outside for a bit while she gathered her composure. By now we both needed to visit the toilet. I went into an available trap while she waited. As I left she entered and I told her I would get her a coffee.
The coffee did take some time to arrive and Suzanne took even longer. One of the local guys chatted to me for a bit and said he was protecting me from the rest of the crowd! Suzanne had still not appeared so I went in search of her. As I entered the toilet area, I could hear cries of "Oh my god, he went into the ladies!". I exited holding Suzanne's hand as she was still a little shaky. Unfortunately there was not any food available from the bar. So after we had our coffee we headed down the road to the local fast food joint.
By the time we returned to the B52's the band (Bernie Woods And The Forest Fires) had started up. So we stayed near the stage area and enjoyed the performance. Eventually we needed another drink, so I headed to the bar. I was not amused at the reluctance of the bar staff to serve me. They seemed to be arguing about just who would have to serve me. The guy behind the bar referred to me several times as "The boy queen" and then informed his colleague that she would have to serve "THAT!" then added "person there!".
I am not sure how much the manager/owner knew of the situation, but at the end of the evening he did come over and thank us for coming along. I offered to post a few flyers into the Ace Cafe for him next time we go. Then we headed off home via the sea front and a few other detours. One detour was to capture a picture of a police car doing a stretch behind bars. All night long people were trying to tell me to get lost, so in the end I guess I did as they wanted! LOL