Monika: Courts and policymakers often lean on so-called “biological definitions” of womanhood. In your view, what do these definitions get wrong?
Andrea: There is no justification whatsoever for the restrictions being imposed, as the data shows. Twenty-one countries have a form of self-ID law where trans women have the same rights as cis women, and there has been no recordable increase in abuse against cis women or girls. The real threat remains aggressive cis men, who have always been the biggest danger to women and girls, whether cis or trans. They are not going to be deterred by a sign saying “biological females only,” nor are they going to put on a dress, which is something they never did anyway, it would be too much of a challenge to their fragile egos.
The Supreme Court decided that a woman means a biological woman, without any explanation of what that means, except to add that it is the sex recorded on a birth certificate. That is not a biological description of anyone. The opinion of a hurried midwife or doctor in a delivery room is not accurate or determinate.
Monika: When people talk about biology, they rarely define which aspect they mean. How do you see the flaws in these different interpretations, chromosomal, hormonal, anatomical, or neurological?
Andrea: Chromosomal sex? Most people don’t even know their chromosomes, and there are so many variations that it is nonsensical to claim they mean anything. Hormonal biology? That can be changed, and hormones profoundly impact the body, muscles, fat deposits, skin, and hair all change. Anatomical biology? That too is affected by hormones and surgery. A trans woman who has had full GRS is anatomically identical to a cis woman who has had a full hysterectomy, yet the Supreme Court and the EHRC refuse to acknowledge this.
Neurological biology? Evidence is mounting that trans women’s brains are more similar to cis women’s brains, and trans men’s to cis men’s. No wonder, the brain forms later in pregnancy, influenced by a completely different set of hormones, proteins, and chemicals than chromosomes. Identity sits in the brain, not in the genitals, but that is effectively what the Supreme Court claimed. No wonder the BMA called the ruling illiterate.
Monika: After all this struggle and advocacy, do you ever wish you could step back and live quietly?
Andrea: Yes, there are times I wonder how much easier it would be to just fade into the shadows and live as a “normal” woman, making jewelry and letting it all pass me by. But I can’t, it’s just not me. So I continue to campaign for trans rights, women’s rights, and the rights of the oppressed and minorities.
Monika: Choosing a name is such a deeply personal decision, one that can hold layers of significance and meaning. How did you come to choose the names Andrea and Christine? Do they carry a special resonance for you, perhaps representing a part of your journey or embodying a particular feeling or aspiration?
Andrea: I really do not know where the name Andrea came from; it just has been the name I associated with my female identity as far back as I can remember, and no, it has no relevance whatsoever to my old first name. Christine came from when I was going through the process of transitioning back in January 2020. I thought that, as I have always had two first names, I would like to continue with that, so I ran through female names in my head, sounding them out, and Andrea Christine just sounded nice and flowing. Also, as this was just around Christmas time, I thought it also commemorated the time of the year too.
Monika: Transitioning affects not just our sense of self, but also the way we interact with those around us. Have you noticed any changes in how friends and acquaintances treat you since your transition?
Andrea: Most definitely. First, I have a lot more friends, friends I can relate to on a more personal level. Not just Facebook friends, but real-life ones I meet and talk with. And not just trans friends either; I have many cis friends too. I am also heavily involved in the LGBTQIA+ community through my work for Pride and have many friends from, and allied with, the community, and also many outside of it.
Monika: How has your transition affected your relationships with your family?
Andrea: My family has been difficult; there are only three of us left. The biggest problem has always been misgendering and deadnaming, but mostly that has been unintentional, so I let it go. Underneath, I have felt there was a sense of “he’ll grow out of it,” but as time has gone on, that has diminished, especially as I show no signs of growing out of it.
Very recently, my sister has even been quite supportive. I am not going to raise any of the more controversial topics with them, and they haven’t with me. For many who knew me before, and those who have known me since but also know I am trans, there is an understanding of how difficult the journey has been.
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| "I really do not know where the name Andrea came from." |
Andrea: One change that has happened, and does reinforce the fact that I am a woman, is that in some conversations where I may have been included in detail before, I am not so much so now. Oh, and mansplaining, I really thought that was a myth or quite rare, but now I know it isn’t!
Monika: Many people look to role models for guidance and inspiration during their transition. Were there any transgender figures, either public or personal, who influenced or supported you along the way?
Andrea: I’m ashamed in a way to say not really. No one person stood out, nor any famous person, I learned of many later in my transition but not before. There were a few local trans people I met who did help me enormously, especially Alison.
Monika: Many trans people describe moments of realization or small affirmations that mark their journey toward authenticity. Can you recall the first time you truly felt aligned with your identity?
Andrea: When I tried on those clothes I found in the bag in the shed, I describe that as my St. Paul on the road to Damascus moment. Suddenly the world stopped spinning, and everything began to make sense. And there have been so many confirmatory moments since.
The first time I was wolf-whistled (doesn’t happen very often), I had a sudden skip in my step, then I stopped and thought, “Male chauvinist pig!” But yes, free is a good description of the feeling I had from the moment I threw away the old male clothes (well, mostly to a charity shop) to today. I am Andrea, I am woman, I am me.
Monika: Beyond that first realization, were there other moments in your transition that gave you a powerful sense of affirmation?
Andrea: One little episode was on the day of my return from Spain after the operation. I put on leggings, as it was going to be cold in England, it was the 1st of February, and they just fitted as they should, no lumps or bumps, no tucking or hiding away under an overskirt, just a smooth feminine outline. It felt like I had arrived in my true self.
Also, the first time I had my hair cut, styled, and colored in a salon, four hours later this woman with a beaming smile stepped out of the door and into the street. My shoes did not touch the pavement, as I was up in the clouds. These are all moments that, for me, made the world feel a little more stable on its axis.
Monika: Hormone therapy can be a deeply transformative part of transition, often affecting both body and emotions in unexpected ways. Looking back on your journey with HRT, how has it changed you physically and emotionally?
Andrea: I can honestly say I love them. I always used to have emotional reactions to things, but now I can openly cry when I feel moved to do so. I watched Paddington 2 soon after starting on HRT and in the closing scene [spoiler alert] when his grandmother visits from Peru, I was in floods of tears.
Physically, one of the first noticeable effects was when I started to grow boobs, which looked right, not like moobs, and that was great. But it heightened my hatred of another anatomical part a bit lower down, and I could not look at it if it could be avoided. But I have not had any negative reaction whatsoever to HRT.
Monika: Living authentically often requires courage, especially when it means risking relationships, community, or even livelihood. When you came out, what was the hardest part for you, and how did you find the strength to face it?
Andrea: It was the losing friends aspect. When I started to transition, I went round to each of my friends that lived locally and met with them to let them know about this change in my life. They were mostly supportive, but I did lose a small number. I reconciled this by remembering that anyone that has a problem with me is the one with a problem, not me.
Monika: Representation matters so much. Do you recall the first time you encountered a trans woman, whether on television, in media, or in real life, that made you pause and think, “That could be me”?
Andrea: I know that they were not trans, but I always loved the representation of women that Ronnie Corbett, Danny La Rue, and Paul O’Grady did. They were respectful of women and not making a mockery of them, the same is true with my regard for drag queens (I do know quite a few). Those that present their character in a positive light (no matter how foul-mouthed they might be) are fine, but the ones that present a caricature of a woman are not. The same applies to drag kings, by the way.
I remember seeing a trans woman in the street opposite St. Pancras station in London and thinking first, “Oh, she’s tall,” and then, “Oh, she’s trans,” followed by, “How gorgeously she’s dressed,” and then, “I wish...” Her height did not really mark her out for me, as the women in my family are tall, my mother was 5 foot 9, and my aunt 5 foot 10.
Monika: Many transgender women struggle with the constant pressure to “pass” in a world that keeps judging us, no matter what surgeries or steps we take. How do you personally handle those outside expectations?
Andrea: Can I say this? Fuck them! I do not dress so much to pass now. It’s nice when I do, as the second looks and comments, heaven forbid anything worse, can be tiresome, but I dress to please myself. I was mortified the other day when I saw myself in a full-length mirror and realized I had paired a busy floral top with a sunflower-patterned skirt.
That was not because I thought I had outed myself but because, when I saw it, it looked awful. If I had not been in such a hurry that day, I would not have made that pairing, but I did, and as soon as I got home, I changed. This is not because I am dressing to pass but because I want to wear something that looks good on me and shows me off in the way I want it to.
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| "I would love to emigrate to somewhere like Spain, buy a property where I have enough space to do my jewellery making and sell them at local markets." |
Monika: When you talk with trans women who are just beginning their journey, what advice do you give them about passing and building confidence in public?
Andrea: When I am advising early-phase trans women how to pass, as passing does increase your confidence no end, I always suggest first that they should have a coffee in a busy shopping mall and just look at what women are wearing. Then, if they dress to blend in, it will increase their confidence.
Wearing a microskirt and fishnets when shopping in Tesco will draw attention to you, that makes people study you harder, and then they will pick up on the things they wouldn’t have noticed otherwise. It’s also important to remember that if people see what they expect to see, then that is what they will see. If it walks like a duck and looks like a duck, it’s a duck.
Monika: Do you remember your own first experiences of being out in public after transitioning? What was going through your mind?
Andrea: I say that the first time I walked through my local shopping mall I thought that every time someone looked my way they had “clocked” me, but after a while I realized they were looking at me the same way they would look at any other woman. If it was a woman, they would generally be thinking something along the lines of, “Didn’t she look in the mirror before coming out?” or “I wonder if they have that in my size.” If it was a man, they would generally be thinking something else entirely, especially if looking at you from behind, I’ll leave that to your imagination.
Monika: How do you see the current legal and social climate for transgender women in your country?
Andrea: God awful! The Supreme Court ruled that trans women are not women (and trans men not men) and that only the binary sex allocated at birth is relevant. And in the same ruling they stated that trans people should not be discriminated against.
First, how in hell do you reconcile two diametrically opposed statements like that?
Secondly, what about intersex and non-binary people? They were totally ignored, even though there are about 1.2 million intersex people in the UK.
Thirdly, as they used the phrase “biological sex” and said it was so obvious it didn’t need explaining, how do they consider this to be anything but biological and medical nonsense or illiteracy, as the BMA pointed out.
Monika: Beyond the courts, how have government bodies and institutions responded to this ruling, and what impact has it had?
Andrea: The body that is supposed to ensure that the laws are applied fairly and in accordance with the Human Rights Act and the European Convention on Human Rights, the Equalities Commission, came out with some draft guidance that is so transphobic it might as well have come straight out of Project 2025. It probably did, given how corrupted the commission has been over the past few years.
Now we have politicians praising the ruling for bringing clarity, when in reality it has done exactly the opposite. Companies and organizations providing single-sex services are caught between a rock and a hard place, as they could be sued for discrimination whichever way they turn, whether they remain inclusive or choose to be exclusionary. Fortunately, there are a lot of protests happening, I’ve organized three, and legal actions are being taken to resolve the situation. I have no doubt that eventually we will be back to, if not in a better position than, where we were a few years ago. The question is how much longer it will take.
Monika: I remember the time right after my transition, it was pure euphoria. My closet is still full of dresses and shoes that I literally bought by the dozens back then, and I must have tried on hundreds. I felt like I had to make up for all those years that were taken from me. Did you feel the same way?
Andrea: Yes, I have a full wardrobe, two chests of drawers and a walk in wardrobe now and oh so many shoes! Some of it was finding my style, especially as much of the early shopping had to be online as we were in the midst of the Covid epidemic.
But I have always liked shoes but finding them in my size can be difficult, I am a size 10/10.5 or 45/46 which are just not easy to find on the High Street. I used to just put on whatever was on top of the pile in my previous life, but now I can literally empty my wardrobe onto my bed when deciding what to wear and what to pair with what. Such a dilemma LOL.
Monika: Did you ever feel pressure to meet a certain ideal of femininity, like I did by trying to look like the women around me?
Andrea: In the beginning I suppose I did, see my answer above, but over time I developed my own style and trained myself to walk and talk differently so that it became second nature - I still catch myself today and have to stop and reset.
Monika: What was the most surprising part of your transition, something you never expected, whether good or bad?
Andrea: I think it was probably the realisation of the truth of the patriarchal nature of society, when you are in that side of society even though it is not where you feel you should be, you don’t realise it is there, but when you cross that boundary to the female side you suddenly find it exists. Being overlooked in meetings or being talked down to, being expected to do menial tasks, because you’re a woman, being expected to dress or behave in a certain way, being “up for it” - doubly so if they know you are trans as well. Of course, this is a generalisation and by no means are all men like this, but enough are that it is noticeable. I sometimes wonder whether this is one of the “advantages” that the TERFs think we are after when we transition.
Whilst talking about TERFs, I find it upsetting that these women have been convinced to support the same patriarchal system that is the root cause of the real oppression against women to distract from the fact that this system is removing rights from all women.
Monika: Many trans women are writing their memoirs these days. Have you ever thought about writing your own book, and if so, what would its central message be?
Andrea: I have thought about it, but there are so many other wonderful books on the market now that I don’t think my story would add much to the genre. I would like to write a series of fictional stories featuring a trans central character but to be honest I just do not have the time and I question the ability either to do this.
Monika: Finally, what’s next for Andrea? What dreams and goals are you working toward now?
Andrea: A restoration of the rights for my siblings in this country and elsewhere and I am doing my own little bit towards that, I have largely organised three protests in Reading and have worked on overcoming some of the trans exclusionary practices in organizations. But once that is done or I can’t cope with it any more, then I would love to emigrate to somewhere like Spain, buy a property where I have enough space to do my jewellery making and sell them at local markets. Just grow old and grey as that anciana loca.
Monika: Andrea, thank you so much for sharing your journey and insights.
Andrea: You are more than welcome and I hope my ramblings made some sense.
END OF PART 2
All photos: courtesy of Andrea Christine Brookes.
© 2025 - Monika Kowalska
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