Me and tech

I’ve written about my transgender identity often but not about my tech roots. I took and passed an A Level in Electronics 1982-84 and used a Commodore PET 2001 and a teleprinter with acoustic coupler during that time. I also soldered 555s and 741s into small circuits. Add Maths & Physics A Levels and 40 years ago I was quite […]

Looking back in time

Both of my “legacy” social media accounts were created some time before my transition but both had ‘Shiraz’ in the account name. One such platform (aka cesspit) reminded me that today that it’s the 12th anniversary of the account creation, so 11 years before transition, dating it to 20 March 2012. The other one dates to mid 2015 so is […]

My transition

I made a concious move to a feminine non-binary appearance in 2019 although this wasn’t a destination but rather another way-point on my journey to my eventual social & legal transition a year ago. I had known for 30+ years I needed to transition, so the outcome wasn’t in doubt. Four years of non-binary appearance meant that when I did […]

Transitioning story

NB The following text refers to my personal experience and is not intended to suggest this is the correct way to handle transition. I’ve transitioned twice, so you could say that I detranstitioned but that’s not how I looked at it at the time. My first transition, in 2008, was a spur of the moment decision (in the kitchen next […]

Referral timeline

Summary: My journey through the UK Gender Identity Referral process. It won’t be quick. I initially transitioned in 2008 without any support, having been refused a gatekeeper interview. That transition was short lived and ended after 6 weeks with a mental health breakdown. I next applied in 2012 and received approval, but the papers were lost. Finally in 2022 I […]

Moving forward

2023 is definitely a year of change I spent a large part of 2022 getting my referral to a Gender Identity Clinic under way, ten years later than originally planned (and a full decade after being authorised!) However, I didn’t feel that my GP was working with me. Scroll forward into 2023 and I hadn’t had a full response to […]

Woe LGBTQ+ resources

There’s plenty of anti-LGBTQ+ talk (and now legislation) across so-called democratic countries but one promoted (flawed) theme is that if you remove LGBTQ+ literature and support for children / young adults then they are less likely to be self questioning? However I was born in the 60s, before mass media (three UK TV channels) and started school in 1970. Before […]

Writing schedule

My current writing project is the long-awaited third book in the Unaccounted Gains series, Diminishing Returns. That book takes priority over everything else and I’ve set myself a target of mid-May for third-party proofing – someone will be the lucky first reader! Once UG3 is concluded I’ll turn to the next Tammyverse story. In this case it’ll be the Summer […]