"There'd be no Anna without Andrew" says 22 year old Anna Drew, who has been taking hormones for two years to aid her transition into a woman. After coming out as gay as a teenager, Anna - then, Andrew - began to realise that it wasn't enough. Victim of frequent assaults and decrying the way in which transgender people are often depicted as sex workers, Anna says "we're just normal human beings" – choosing to be filmed by AFP to help make it easier for other young people that could want to transition. This is the story of Anna Drew's gender transition, told in her own words.
A SELF-VOICED AFPTV REPORT N°34948XB
A SELF-VOICED AFPTV REPORT N°34948XB
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Hi, welcome.
00:02 I'm 22 years old, I'm from Hertfordshire.
00:05 Welcome to the Pussy Palace.
00:07 So I came out as gay when I was 14 or 15,
00:12 and that sort of felt like that was the right decision,
00:15 I felt like that was enough.
00:17 And then, like, you know, you start to get these feelings
00:20 that that's not enough.
00:21 This is where all the magic happens.
00:24 So I thought, like, doing drag, that's the thing.
00:27 That's my outlet of, like, femininity.
00:30 But it just sort of, every time I'd take off the drag,
00:33 I'd get home, I'd feel amazing, I'd look in the mirror
00:35 and I'd be like, "Oh, my God, I see myself. I see me, hello.
00:38 "Nice to meet you."
00:39 And then I'd take it off and slowly you're like, "Oh, who's this person?"
00:43 Cos I loved anything fluffy.
00:46 And then I was very depressed at that time,
00:48 so I wasn't helping myself on looking up anything.
00:50 My mum actually sort of started to push things upon me,
00:54 like, "If you're really feeling this way, go here, go there, go to a doctor."
00:57 So I spoke to my local GP.
00:59 Getting hormones or starting your transition,
01:01 it's a bit of a lottery ticket, you know, it's hit or miss.
01:03 It's kind of down to if that person feels comfortable issuing those hormones.
01:08 Or you can go privately, but that's just very expensive.
01:10 A lot of people don't have the funds.
01:12 I visited a sexual health clinic in...
01:15 ..Soho.
01:18 And they offer a pilot service called Trans Plus.
01:22 Which is a charity that will...
01:25 That gives out hormones and starts women...
01:27 Trans women and men on their transition.
01:30 I've been on hormones now for...
01:32 ..two years.
01:33 And after you've started your hormones, if you're too far down the line,
01:37 you... It, like, fucks with your sperm count sort of thing.
01:40 So I've got to be very careful.
01:42 And that's probably why I haven't...
01:44 I'm not as far into my transition as I'd like to be,
01:47 just because I don't want to make any decisions I can't.
01:50 Well, I don't want to make that decision that I can't turn back.
01:52 It's quite strange, wanting something so badly,
01:54 but at the same time, it really bloody scares the life out of you.
01:58 I think I was probably about, like...
02:00 ..13 in these pictures.
02:03 SHE LAUGHS
02:05 This is me and my brother.
02:07 Me and my twin.
02:10 I was a very happy child, I have to say.
02:12 I was very jolly, very chatty, very giggly.
02:15 And, like, my mum asked me, "Is that what you do?"
02:18 And, like, my mum asked me as well, she's like,
02:20 "Do you still, like, like that person?
02:23 "Do you feel bad looking at that person?"
02:25 I'm just like, "No, not at all. I'm proud of me.
02:28 "I'm proud of him. I'm proud of you now."
02:30 Like, there'd be no Anna without Andrew. Never.
02:34 No-one was going to call me Anna overnight.
02:37 And I think also partly I kept...
02:39 Because I've changed my name to Anna Drew,
02:41 so I'm still sort of in the same realm as Andrew.
02:44 And I sort of think that kind of made it a bit easier for people.
02:47 You know, I think being a trans woman is, like,
02:50 20% medically transitioning and 80% socially transitioning.
02:55 Time to get glam.
02:57 It really took me a lot to understand that it doesn't matter
03:00 how big my boobs are or how small my waist is
03:03 or how long my hair is, as long as I feel like a woman
03:06 and I know that I'm a woman.
03:07 That's it.
03:09 And the people around me that matter to me,
03:11 see me that way and treat me that way,
03:13 that's the only thing that really matters.
03:15 So now it's, like, every couple of days I shave.
03:19 And I can get away with, like, a light stubble
03:22 because I have laser hair removal.
03:26 So it kind of has made the hair get a bit fairer.
03:30 So I'm going to take you to my forest.
03:34 It's just my spot. I'm always walking through there.
03:37 And nowadays I spend my time making wigs for people
03:43 and performing.
03:45 I started performing just after lockdown.
03:48 It was just by chance.
03:50 I turned up at a show to see a friend
03:52 and I got invited on stage because a performer didn't turn up.
03:56 Please put your hands together for the one,
03:59 the angry, and the trans woman.
04:01 And I met a whole group of friends and other trans women
04:06 and we started a night called Temptation.
04:08 And it's just a night for trans girls and their admirers.
04:13 And it's so nice to have a place where you've got people
04:15 you can relate to and have, like, you know,
04:18 it's so nice not to have to explain every aspect of your life
04:21 to other people.
04:23 It's very hard to see what my future will look like.
04:27 I would just like to be a successful, like, businesswoman,
04:30 to be honest. I'd like to just be happy and content.
04:33 I'm trying to sort of start my own, not a salon,
04:36 but a salon space where I can actually make wigs for people
04:39 out of that space.
04:40 And I'll have my own little work space that I'll be able to welcome
04:44 people in and start doing their hair and doing their wigs
04:47 and, like, a safe space for trans women, especially.
04:51 I want them to feel like they can go into a salon
04:53 and they're not being looked at or judged.
04:54 It's usually, like, a bit of a side part moment.
04:58 You know, we're shown a lot of sex workers,
05:00 so I think a lot of men sometimes don't view us in the nicest ways.
05:05 You know, they wear their heart on their sleeve in the wrong way,
05:09 they, like, speak to you in ways you never thought.
05:11 You know, you get sexually assaulted,
05:14 you get, you know, attacked by other people on the street,
05:18 get shouted at.
05:19 It does frustrate me sometimes when, like, that is such a hot topic.
05:24 Who are you to tell me that I can't be a woman?
05:27 You know, I'm not here to tell you you can't live your life
05:30 in a certain religion like this or that.
05:31 The best, like, activism I can do is not always just shouting
05:36 at the forefront, waving posters, banners,
05:38 standing up here, chaining myself there,
05:40 making massive, bold, bold statements.
05:42 It's blending in to society, being a normal human being.
05:45 We are normal.
05:47 We just work nine-to-fives, have families,
05:52 some people have kids, we have passions,
05:55 we, you know, we're just normal human beings.
05:58 I can't explain that really badly.
06:01 I don't know what else to say about it, yeah.
06:05 [BLANK_AUDIO]