She recalls a recent conversation she had with a gay rights activist in the United States.
“He said to me, ‘I think a lot of the discussion and arguments and noise that’s happening about trans issues at the moment is kind of like the discussions and the heated debates that were happening around gay and lesbian communities 20 years ago.’ And we probably have to go through this phase.”
"When I came out in ’85 I wasn’t even considered a person."
She continued: “Now, when I came out in ’85 there was no discussion, I wasn’t even considered a person. I was like a non-person or a toxic person, definitely not a person who’s part of society.
“So even though these discussions are quite heated it’s better than nothing at all. And we will get through it. So I’m not going to take positions on this and that, I don’t have all the answers, I just know that I exist, I’ve been honest – I knew when I was five, I came out when I was 23.
“Thirty-seven years – if anyone’s got a problem, I gave everyone 37 years notice. I don’t know what they want – 38 years notice? I don’t know quite what the difficulty is.”
She insists that she doesn’t have “all the answers” – and says nobody else does either.
“We just need to keep moving forward and talking and being open and discussing. And I will keep existing.