Reena Gibson is a British writer, musician, and transgender advocate whose life embodies courage, creativity, and perseverance. She is the author of The Long Road Ahead (2015), a strikingly honest autobiography that documents her experiences through two transitions while capturing the many layers of her life beyond gender identity. Originally written as a personal diary to help her come to terms with her past, the book evolved into a published work that highlights not only her struggles but also her triumphs and determination to live authentically. For Reena, sharing her story became an act of both self-healing and inspiration for others who might find strength in her words. Alongside her writing, Reena is the lead singer and guitarist of the Birmingham rock band Milestone Road, where she channels her passion for music into performance and storytelling. Her musical journey began in her teenage years, inspired by artists like Tiffany, Debbie Gibson, and Olivia Newton-John, and later rekindled through the example of Laura Jane Grace, whose courage in living openly as a transgender woman gave Reena renewed motivation to continue her own career in music. Since forming Milestone Road in 2011, she has embraced her role not only as a performer but also as the creative core of the band, proving that music remains a vital thread in her life’s fabric.
Reena’s path has been shaped by periods of reinvention, including a difficult detransition in the late 1990s, followed years later by the decision to fully embrace her true self once again. Along the way she has faced family challenges, societal prejudice, and personal battles with depression and self-doubt, yet she continues to frame her experiences in terms of resilience and growth. She describes herself as a “normal woman trying to find her way through life,” but her openness about hardship and survival has made her an important voice in the transgender community. Beyond her own journey, Reena emphasizes the importance of kindness, perseverance, and self-acceptance, often reminding others that gender identity is not a choice but an essential truth. Her admiration for figures such as Caroline Cossey, Julia Grant, Namoli Brennet, and Paris Lees reflects her deep respect for those who paved the way for greater visibility and acceptance. At the same time, she insists that trans people must be recognized as individuals whose lives are defined by far more than transition alone. Today, Reena balances her music career with new creative projects, including writing short stories inspired by her songs and working on the continuation of her memoir.
She approaches life with a mixture of humility and determination, cherishing the role of love, family, and friendship while acknowledging the complexities of being a transgender woman in the modern world. Through her artistry, her honesty, and her willingness to share both the painful and joyful parts of her life, Reena Gibson has carved out a space where her voice resonates not only as a singer and writer but also as a source of inspiration for others walking their own long road ahead.
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Monika: Today I have the great pleasure and honor of speaking with Reena Gibson, a British writer and the author of the autobiographical book The Long Road Ahead (2015). She is also the lead singer and guitarist of the Birmingham rock band Milestone Road. Hello Reena!
Reena: Monika, thank you so much for inviting me. I’m truly honored and a little overwhelmed that you’ve asked me.
Monika: Could you tell our readers a little about yourself and how your journey has shaped who you are today?
Reena: How long do you have? Seriously, I could chat for England! I’m just over three years into my second transition as a woman. I first came out when I was 24, which was 21 years ago, a time that was still very unaccepting of people coming out as trans. This time around has still brought some rather difficult challenges. I have a family now, which has added strain on all sides. There have been times of self-doubt and even a few occasions when I’ve wanted to give up on life altogether. But really, I’d call myself just a "normal" woman, trying to find her way through life like anyone else.
Monika: What inspired you to write your autobiography, and how did the project evolve from a private diary into a book for others?
Reena: At first I felt I needed it for myself, a book that would never be released to the world, but kept as a complex and detailed diary to look back on later in life. As I went along in my transition, however, I realized I had a story that needed telling, although I did not want it to be a typical trans-related account focused only on transition.
Monika: When you decided to make the diary public, what did you choose to include and why?
Reena: My life is more than just transition, I am more than that part of my life. So I decided to include everything about my life in the first 27 years, which takes me to the end of my first transition, the highs and the lows, and who I am as a person. I think I also needed closure on those early years, and writing the book offered me a way to come to terms with my past and with who I am.
Monika: From your own journey, what message do you feel could be most valuable for other trans women?
Reena: I think what really stands out to me right now is the message to never give up, but also to remember to be kind to yourself and to those around you. When I detransitioned for the first time in 1997 at the age of 27, I believed that I could push it all away and pretend it had never happened. The truth is that it never goes away, it just stays within you, hidden, waiting to return when you least expect it. There is no cure for gender dysphoria, nor will there ever be.
Monika: How did you cope during the time when you detransitioned and tried to live differently?
Reena: In 1997 I reinvented myself and my persona, much like Bowie did in the seventies and Madonna in the eighties. I created a new version of myself and tried to become the alpha male, someone people would look at and never guess had once tried to transition as a woman. I think I was afraid of my past, that it might come back to destroy the new life I had tried to build for myself and for my family.
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| Courtesy of Reena Gibson. |
Monika: Based on your experiences, what do you wish society understood better about being trans?
Reena: What society needs to understand most is that we don’t just wake up one morning and decide to be trans, it is who we are. Many of us, myself included, go through long and painful periods, sometimes months or even years, trying to deny ourselves. Why? Because the world does not readily accept people who don’t fit into its narrow categories, at least that has always been my perception. But as this current journey has shown me, there are probably more people who accept you for being yourself than there are those who don’t.
Monika: Many people know you as a musician. How do you personally define success in music?
Reena: Wow, successful musician? I only wish I was, but then I guess the question is how do you measure success? Now, this may sound silly to many people, and to our fans too who might be reading this, but for me success has always been more about the joy of creating and performing rather than fame or recognition.
Monika: When did your passion for music and performing first begin?
Reena: I got my spark for writing and wanting to perform when I was 17, inspired by the American singers Tiffany and Debbie Gibson, no family connection that I know of. Tiffany had that youthful raw voice, much like Stevie Nicks, which I loved. I was also very drawn to her album material.
Monika: Which artists influenced you the most in those early years?
Reena: Debbie Gibson was probably my biggest inspiration. She wrote and performed everything she did, and as a young girl she was immensely talented. Both she and Tiffany were a year younger than I was, yet they had already achieved so much more in life than I had. That really motivated me.
Monika: Did your love of music connect in any way to your gender identity?
Reena: I always loved singing as a child. I think, looking back, my desire to sing and perform was also a reemergence of my gender identity from before my teens, though I wasn’t aware of it at the time. I wanted to sing and perform just like them, in the same way I used to want to sing like Olivia Newton-John in the seventies.
Monika: What happened to your music during the years when you detransitioned?
Reena: My writing and the music I created at home continued until I was 27, the time I detransitioned. Like so many others, I tried hard to create something that would be a success, but I felt I had failed. I struggled to translate vocally how things sounded in my head.
Monika: How did you eventually find your way back into music and form your band?
Reena: In 2008 I found a new love for music and writing. I wrote and recorded two new tracks from out of nowhere and realized my passion and talent for writing were still there. I also found my voice again. By the end of 2010, I felt this huge need to get a band together and share my music with the world. At 41, I believed I was still young enough to make it in music. The band finally came together in January 2011, and although there were many changes along the way, by the summer of that year the core of the band and the name Milestone Road were firmly in place.
Monika: Are there any new projects you are currently working on with your music?
Reena: If I tell you, will you promise not to say anything? Gig-wise, things have slowed down a little as we prepare to go into the studio in the next month or so to record a few tracks. We’ve been writing, rehearsing, and performing so much over the last four years, but losing and auditioning for new band members has meant that we’ve never had the opportunity to make any official recordings of our music. Our music has matured so much over these four years that it’s probably been for the best we held back on recording until now.
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| Courtesy of Reena Gibson. |
Monika: Has your transition influenced the way you see your art and your role as a performer?
Reena: In all honesty, it’s probably made me a better performer and writer. I’m also more aware of what I do on stage. It has taken me back to my roots as a writer. Remember when I said before about not being able to fully translate what was in my head and the way I wanted it to sound? One of the tracks we perform, “I Want You,” which I wrote last year, is the first track where I feel I have musically connected with how I used to write songs and with myself. It’s not so much the heavier rock sound I was looking for, but it is more musically connected to how I felt at the time.
Monika: Contemporary music has given rise to a new wave of transgender female artists, including Mina Caputo of Life of Agony, Laura Jane Grace of Against Me!, Marissa Martinez of Cretin, Amber Taylor of The Sexual Side Effects, Namoli Brennet, Sissy Début, Jennifer Leitham, and many others. Do you think we are going to see more and more transgender artists in the future?
Reena: Yes, I really think so, and I recognize a few of those names too. I actually have Laura Jane Grace to thank for being the inspiration for me to continue in music. She came out a month before I did. I read her Rolling Stone interview in July 2012, just at that point when I was seriously considering walking away from music altogether. I thought at the time that my chance of ever continuing in music was over, that the band would reject me and so would any fans we had then. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Monika: How did your band react to your decision to come out and continue your musical career?
Reena: My band has been behind me 100%, telling me that I am Milestone Road and that without me there would be no band. I was really humbled to hear that, and we’ve all been best friends ever since. But to really answer the last part of your question, yes, I believe so. The more awareness and acceptance there is for trans people, the fewer people like myself will be afraid to come out into the media spotlight. We will eventually be accepted in the same way gay artists once were, like Bowie, Elton John, Boy George, and Andy Bell of Erasure. There will be a time when we are not regarded as having a cash value by the media, and we will simply blend in like the normal people that we all are.
Monika: How old were you when you first transitioned, and what challenges did you face during that time?
Reena: It was 1994 when I first came out as trans. I was only 24, and the process of coming out had tormented me for the previous eight months until I could no longer hide who I was. The biggest and most traumatic challenge back then was losing my job because of my need to transition. There were no laws to protect us, the world was a very different place, and I was also quite scared to come out, always worried about what people might say or think about me.
Monika: When you transitioned the second time, what was that experience like for you?
Reena: I was 42 when I came out again for the second time. At the risk of losing everything I knew, I had no other option but to be true to myself. The following year was very difficult, filled with depression and suicidal tendencies born out of the need to escape and finally be true to myself.
Monika: During your transitions, were there any transgender role models who inspired or guided you along the way?
Reena: When I was 24, I looked up to Caroline Cossey, Julia Grant, and Fay Presto. Julia and Fay had their documentaries aired on TV in 1994, which more or less cemented the idea in my head that it was okay to be trans. This time around I still looked up to those early role models, but my main focus has been on people in music, such as Laura Jane Grace and Namoli Brennet, seeing how they have made a success of being trans women in the music industry.
Monika: Are there any transgender women today who you particularly admire or respect?
Reena: Wow, there are so many. Musically, I’d have to say Laura Jane Grace, Namoli Brennet, and Isley Reust. In film and television, I’d highlight Michelle Hendley from Boy Meets Girl and Laverne Cox from Orange is the New Black.
END OF PART 1
All photos: courtesy of Reena Gibson.
© 2015 - Monika Kowalska
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