A new beginning

The first thing you notice about David Beattie is his height. At 6’2, he towers over lesser mortals. The next is his stylish dress sense. What is less obvious is that David is an articulate and sensitive 18-year-old, who has recently self-published an autobiography about growing up trans in Ireland.

David is in the process of transitioning but currently still using his birth name and male pronouns. Although many trans people prefer to excise all references to their past identity, David does not feel the need to do that.

“I really enjoyed growing up as David,” he explains, “which is probably strange for some people, so I am happy to be referred to as David. After I have transitioned, I want people to call me by my new name, but it would be a shame to pretend I never was this person.”

The book, Who Cares? Life For An Irish Transgender Teen, plots his journey, but anyone who is still a teenager or remembers these anguishing years will relate to a lot of his experiences: unrequited love, being bullied at school, underage drinking and body image issues.

“I was trying to make people see that I wasn’t that different, although I have had different experiences,” says David. “I thought it was important to include every part of my journey, including the parts when I needed help with my mental health. I am not a freak and I am not trying to be unreasonable. I’m just trying to live my life as normally as I can.”

Each chapter is headed with a quote from Beattie’s heroes and favourite artists, including Lana Del Rey, Marilyn Monroe and Marina and the Diamonds. Music is an inspiration and a comfort for him.

“I have used music as therapy in the past,” he confides. “I always have my iPod with me, and when I write I have music in the background. I think that music has been medicinal almost, to help me through any issues I was dealing with. I love Lana Del Rey and Marina and the Diamonds, Hozier and Keywest – but I have always been obsessed with Lana Del Rey.”

BATHROOM PANIC

March 31 is the International Transgender Day of Visibility, but being out is not always an option for trans people, in particular trans women, who face high levels of violence. David and his family were concerned that writing a book would make him a target, but he says the visibility of famous trans women like Caitlyn Jenner and Laverne Cox opened the doors for him.

“When I saw Caitlyn and the acceptance she was getting and saw how normal, I suppose, she was, I was inspired and thought: I could do this, and I should do this. That visibility changed my life.”
David hopes his book might help other young trans people. “It would be lovely if people reached out to me,” he says. “I am not trying to represent the trans community or anything like that, but if I could help someone, that would be amazing.”

Alongside greater visibility there has also been a rash of transphobic laws passed in the US. Bruce Springsteen cancelled his April 10 show in North Carolina over a new law, which requires trans people to use the public bathroom that corresponds to the sex listed on their birth certificate. The Boss said he wanted to “show solidarity for those freedom fighters” protesting against the law.
“Some things are more important than a rock show,” he explained. PayPal, meanwhile, have dropped plans to build a new operations centre in Charlotte, which would have employed 400 skilled people, because of the legislation, and Google, Apple, IBM and American Airlines have also registered their disapproval.

The “bathroom panic” issue is one David knows all too well.

“I have been following what’s been happening in the US, and I am horrified,” he says. “I have been in situations where I have been chased out of bathrooms, especially when people have drink on them. In school it was a huge issue as well. There were a lot of younger people who would stare, because I’ve always had long hair. I was chased out of my school bathroom too. I think it is really dangerous to force people who have transitioned to go to their biological body’s bathroom. A lot of the discussion around these bills is trying to paint trans people as child molesters and freaks. It’s crazy to think they are getting a voice in the media. It is a great injustice.”

FREEDOM TO TRANSITION

Unfortunately the hate speech is not confined to the USA’s conservative red states. Prominent feminists in the UK, including Germaine Greer as well as the rather more right wing Julie Burchill, have made inflammatory comments about trans women. During an interview Greer angrily argued: “Just because you lop off your dick and then wear a dress doesn’t make you a fucking woman.” As a result, a number of feminists, including Greer, have been no-platformed from speaking at universities, a position David supports.

“I think it is very harmful to let them have a platform,” he says. “Anyone who is maybe on the fence or not sure what to think and is listening to those opinions may be swayed. It generates hate. It is inspiring, in the aftermath, that people stand up against them, but that these opinions are given such a strong voice in the first place is scary.”

For its part, Ireland is still coming to terms with the existence of trans people.

“People are fearful of us almost,” David observes. “But I think that is changing. People who are gender non-binary and gender-fluid, I think they are the ones who are really suffering and who are being spurned by society. No-one gives them a voice. At the moment I look quite female but I identify as male, so I think I have a slight understanding of what they are going through. Although trans people have a long way to go, I think we also need to help people who are gender non-binary.”

Last year’s Gender Recognition Act allows people to self-define their gender and have it legally recognised. However, medical transitioning is still an onerous process.

“There are a lot of medical professionals who get a say in whether you can transition or not,” says David. “To me that kind of feels as if I am not trusted to make my own decisions, despite the fact that I have very much come to terms with it. You have to have three psychological assessments just to go on hormones, and you have to go through the process again if you want any other procedures done. I am overwhelmed at times.”

As well as the medical process, there are all the expectations of how one should dress and behave to be a woman. What is David’s view on all of that?

“One of my friends, when I told them I was going to transition, said to me that I needed to do something about my eyebrows!” David laughs. “I get a lot of people who want to teach me how to do make-up, but I’m not that interested in make-up. I prefer the natural look on myself. People want me to dress a certain way and have a high-pitched voice and do all kinds of things to be accepted, but no-one will actually come out and say that.”

As with his desire not to completely erase his former identity, David feels no need to “pass” — a loaded and controversial term which is often used to imply that trans women are not really women. He wants, quite rightly, to be accepted as he is.

“People almost want me to hide the fact that I was born in a male body,” he says. “I can’t really do that and I am not willing to do that either.”

Who Cares? Life For An Irish Transgender Teen is available from Amazon