In the News (with pictures & videos)

[Betty]

Award-winning Swiss director Stefan Haupt may have to make room in his trophy cabinet with his latest film The Circle (Der Kreis).

Switzerland has submitted the film, set in post-war Zurich during the gay rights movement, for the Best Foreign-Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards.

“It’s an honour to represent Switzerland but this is just one step on a long road,” Haupt tells Screen from his Zurich base.

Beginning in 1958, The Circle is based on the true story of young teacher Ernst Ostertag who falls in love with transvestite star Robi Rapp. Ostertag becomes a member of gay organization Der Kreis, seen at the time as the pioneer of gay emancipation, and follows its rise and fall.

The film received its world premiere in the Panorama section at this year’s Berlinale and won both the Teddy Award and the Audience Award.

“We hoped to make a successful film but also a good film on an important subject,” said Haupt of its success to date. “We have been overwhelmed by the awards and great reactions.”

The Circle has been sold in more than 15 countries in Europe and Asia and has been invited to more than 70 international film festivals to date, winning prizes in Boston and Los Angeles among others.

The film opened in Swiss cinemas last weekend through distributor Ascot Elite and will be released in Germany by Salzgeber and the US through Wolfe Video in October.

Speaking ahead of the festival, Haupt said: “At the moment, I’m working day and night on a new script. But I won’t miss the opening night of the festival.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_qO03QFGT8

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3148952/

[Betty]

Primary school introduces unisex toilets to prevent prejudice against transsexual people

Angry parents have complained after a primary school introduced unisex toilets in a bid to 'prevent transphobia'.

Shocked pupils discovered they had to share the 'gender neutral' toilets at the start of the school year, sparking concerns from mums and dads.

Many say their children do not want to use facilities shared with the opposite sex and it makes them feel 'uncomfortable'.

Harbour Primary School in Newhaven, East Sussex, has defended the move, which it says is about 'preventing transphobia' - a prejudice against transsexual or transgender people.

There are around 500 pupils at the school for three to 11-year-olds.

One concerned mother said her seven-year-old does not feel 'comfortable' using the toilets.

She said: "I know of several parents who have raised complaints and they have now invited us to a meeting about transgender equality.

"There are seven-year-old girls using the same toilets as 11-year-old boys.

"Although we are all up for equality we feel this is not allowing our children to choose."

Headteacher Christine Terrey said the decision to include single sex toilets in their new building had been taken by East Sussex County Council.

She has invited parents to a meeting on 'transphobia', which will include a discussion about the toilets.

Mrs Terrey said: "The toilets are all in cubicles and they all lock. We just want all our children to be able to use the toilets."

And a letter to parents said: "We want all the children in our school to feel safe and be happy.

"We also want our families to feel informed about how to effectively support transgender and gender questioning by their children, preventing any transphobia at the school."

East Sussex County Council said it chose to install unisex toilets because they are better for 'hygiene, maintenance and pupil behaviour'.

Marcus Clark, 36, and Greta Clark, 33, said their two children do not mind sharing.

Mrs Clark, from Newhaven, East Sussex, said: "If it doesn't bother the kids, it doesn't bother us."

Mr Clark added: "I think it's more than reasonable for kids to share."

[Betty]

A transsexual has been stoned to death in Colombia’s second largest city, Medellin, a local gay rights group said on Wednesday.

The victim was stoned to death by a group of attackers allegedly because of the victim’s evident sexual orientation, according to Hernando Muñoz, the Medellin representative of gay rights NGO Colombia Diversa.

A 19-year old friend of the victim has said he witnessed how the 46-year old Gabriel Mario Duque was murdered and is willing to testify against the attackers, said Muñoz who urged the local government to take action.

“This is of an incredibly brutality. We call ourselves the most innovative, the most cosmopolitan, the best city, but we are leaving this entire, extremely brutal situation rest,” Muños told radio station Blu.

According to the radio station, local authorities have already committed themselves to investigating the alleged hate crime.

[Betty]

Dexter will be your next Hedwig. Michael C. Hall is set to take over for Andrew Rannells in the Tony Award-winning production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, EW has confirmed. Hall will begin his run Oct. 16 and will leave the show in January. Hall recently appeared on Broadway in the play The Realistic Jones, but he is a veteran of taking over roles in storied Broadway musicals, making turns as Billy Flynn in Chicago and the Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret. The latter role proves he’s also used to copious amounts of makeup.

Girls star Rannells made his debut as the titular transgender rocker from East Berlin in August after Neil Patrick Harris, who won a Tony for his work, departed the show. Lena Hall—another Tony winner, who plays Hedwig’s husband, Yitzhak—will remain in the production alongside Michael C. Hall.

[Betty]

'Transparent' brings transsexuals into the mainstream

Amazon's new TV show "Transparent" aims to do for transsexuals what "Modern Family" did for gay parents -- bring them firmly into the mainstream.

"In terms of changing the conversation, these shows have an immense amount of reach," said Jay Brown of the Human Rights Campaign, which supports the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender communities.

Produced by Jill Soloway and with Jeffrey Tambor in the central role, the show reflects a "cultural shift," added Larry Gross, professor of journalism at the University of Southern California and author of a book on the subject.

The online series, released Friday, is far from the first to depict transgender characters. Hilary Swank won an Oscar in 2000 for "Boys Don't Cry," and other big-screen examples include 2003 movie "Normal."

More recently, "Orange is the New Black" broke ground when Laverne Cox, its transgender star, made the front cover of Time magazine in May, under the headline "The Transgender Tipping Point."

But the depiction of transgender characters remains relatively rare, and they are in general portrayed as victims or in "oddity" roles, said Brown.

The first season of "Transparent," on the other hand, "looks like a fairly accurate portrait of transgender parents," said Kim Hutton, head of an association for parents of transgender children.

Brown, who is himself transsexual and a father, stressed: "We're brothers, sisters, lawyers, doctors, in every facet of human lives. But the media pictures only our transition."

"When I wake up every day I don't think of being a trans person. I think of making my kids breakfast or taking them to school," he added.

- Roles reflecting their lives -

Hutton said the TV show "Glee," which includes an adolescent transgender character happily interacting with schoolmates, is "probably the most important thing that happened" for transsexual youngsters.

"Orange Is The New Black" is also widely seen as a key model in changing the image of the LGBT community.

While Cox is herself transgender playing a transgender role, casting decisions have sometimes raised eyebrows.

"There is a long tradition for straight men" playing gay characters, said Gross.

In 2008's "Harvey Milk," Sean Penn played the gay activist, for example. The real "change in acceptance and visibility of minorities is when they get to play the roles reflecting their lives," he said.

"Every day we see gay actors playing straight characters but they don't come out because their managers tell them that if they do, they won't get lead roles especially romantic or action ones," said Gross.

Of "Transparent," he commented: "It remains to be seen how successful," adding: "The big question will be how do heterosexual people respond if they find out that their father is transitioning."

Brown was philosophical. "I look forward to the day we are just characters of a larger story and being transgender becomes the least interesting thing about us," he said.

The comments echo a recent cover story in New York Magazine, which depicted Martine Rothblatt, head of pharmaceutical group United Therapeutics.

"Futurist, pharma tycoon, satellite entrepreneur, philosopher. Martine Rothblatt, the highest-paid female executive in America, was born male. But that is far from the thing that defines her," the magazine wrote.

[Betty]

The dilemmas of treating Spain’s teenage transsexuals

Maisie says she was bathing her four-year-old son when he told her for the first time that he was a girl and wanted to behave like one. A psychologist told Maisie and her husband not to worry and allow the child to play and dress as he wanted. When he was older, they would see. He was happy at home, where he wore his mother’s clothes and always asked for dolls at Christmas time. But in the street, he continued to dress and behave like a boy. Eleven years on, Lola, now a woman, says she was scared a lot of the time: “I was afraid because I didn’t really understand what was happening to me, and I was afraid that people would reject me; but at the same time, pretending to be somebody different was painful, it was like disguising myself when I went out.”

But eventually, through a friend, she met other people with similar experiences. “I understood that I was transsexual,” she says. At the age of 11, she decided to start calling herself Lola. Her parents accepted the decision, having supported her over the previous seven years. Her father, a social worker, was arguably better prepared than most to help the family deal with such a difficult situation.

Lola says that while the decision to accept her condition was a “liberation,” she had a tough time at school. “I felt that nobody could love me for who I was,” she says.

As adolescence approached, Lola became concerned about any physical sign of masculinity: I couldn’t imagine myself with facial hair, and whenever any hair sprouted, I would wax it off.”

At this point, her parents requested professional help. A pediatrician recommended using hormone blockers, which inhibit the orders the brain sends to the body to produce sex hormones. The idea is to hold off development until the minor is old enough to decide whether to commit to definitive hormone treatment, which in some regions is at the age of 16, and in others is 18. Such treatment has been available in Spain for five years, and is reversible. If at any time Lola, who is now 15, were to stop taking the blockers, her body would begin developing masculine sexual features, says her endocrinologist, Javier MartĂ­nez.

To be able to continue the treatment, Lola needs a psychiatric report establishing her status as a transsexual. For many families, this is the most difficult moment: at such a young age, how can they be sure that their son or daughter is really transsexual? Psychiatrists explain the parameters they use: aversion on the child’s part to their genitals; discomfort at being referred to by the gender they have rejected; and above all, the persistence of behavior patterns that conform to the sex the child expresses.

In Lola’s case, a psychiatrist confirmed that she was transsexual. After an examination by an endocrinologist, she began taking hormone blockers at age 13 under the national health service. During this time, she has continued to grow, but without developing sexually. Her quality of life, however, has improved hugely: “I am very happy, and in large part, that is due to the inhibitors,” she says.

At such a young age, how can parents be sure that their son or daughter is really transsexual?

Lola lives in the Canary Islands, where, with parental consent, hospitals are authorized to use hormone blockers. But the situation varies from region to region. Spanish law says that hormone blockers can only be used in cases where puberty begins too early, but not in transsexual cases such as Lola’s. The Health Ministry says each regional government must decide on its own policy in this regard. In the Canaries, Andalusia, Asturias, Navarre, Castilla y León and Valencia, adolescents can be given hormone blockers. But in Extremadura they must be aged 14 or over, and in Murcia, Cantabria and the Balearics, they must be aged at least 16. The procedure in each case is the same: a pediatrician begins the process, and then refers the minor to a psychologist or psychiatrist, who confirms their status as transsexual, and finally, an endocrinologist certifies that there is no reason not to use hormone blockers.

But the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon have no laws regulating the issue. In Galicia, hormone blockers are only available to over-18s.

Madrid is preparing legislation to help young people in this situation, and whether to provide access to hormone blockers is one of the issues under debate. The Popular Party-controlled regional government of Madrid has previously rejected proposals to provide hormone-blocking treatment and new identity cards in the chosen sex of the minor: for many young people in this situation, something as simple as applying for a bus pass is a major obstacle.

There is no register of transsexual minors in Spain. A parent-run association called Chrysallis helps around 150 families, and says it receives more and more requests for information each week. Ana Belén Gómez, a psychologist with the PIAHT, an information program for homosexuals and transsexuals, says there are probably many more children who are hiding their condition.

Patrick is aged 12, and lives in Benasque, a small town in the Pyrenean province of Huesca, which is part of the autonomous region of Aragon. His mother, Natalia, says that when she asked her local health authority for information about transsexuality, she was told that there were no specialists available.

Everybody who knows Patrick says that despite having female genitalia, he is a boy. So far, he has enjoyed a trouble-free childhood in that capacity. But with the onset of puberty, Patrick’s parents are concerned because their regional government has no rules regarding treatment for transsexual adolescents.

Patrick’s parents have had to secure hormone blockers from a private clinic in Barcelona, and he began treatment in July. “I am paying for treatment that other children receive free of charge,” says Natalia, his mother, adding that the cost of the medicines and travel so far has been €2,500. She is among the many mothers arguing in favor of national legislation to help children like hers: “These children need to be left alone to grow up quietly, like all children,” she says.
Growth and fertility

The relationship between hormone blockers and growth is the subject of considerable debate among healthcare professionals. Endocrinologists such as Itxaso Rica, the head of a pediatric unit in Barakaldo in the Basque Country, who have experience of using them with children who have begun puberty early say they have no impact on the final height and weight of their patients. But things are different in the case of transsexual adolescents: the age of patients and the duration of treatment are different, and blocking hormone development can delay growth.

Rica says that even though it is not possible to be sure whether hormone blockers do influence growth, it is not a serious problem. “It is necessary to check each case on an individual basis to be able to apply the right medicines,” she says.

Javier Martínez, Lola’s endocrinologist, says delaying puberty prolongs the growth phase into early adulthood. Another side effect can be sterility. Martínez explains that this is still not fully established. “By blocking the production of sex hormones, we bring on temporary infertility, but it disappears when treatment is stopped.”

This is a controversial topic, because many adolescents go straight from taking hormone blockers to a definitive hormone treatment that can induce permanent sterility some time between the ages of 16 and 18, depending on the region in which they live.

[Betty]

A Winnipeg family is the target of an alleged bully waging a campaign against their daughter because she is transgender. Only in this case, the alleged bully isn't another kid, it's an adult woman.

The Burgos family has long asked the school division to do something about it, but has now submitted a police complaint and resorted to a formal human rights complaint, citing the school division.

The parents of Isabella Burgos, a transgender Grade 3 student at Joseph Teres School, have filed complaints with the human rights commission and the police over alleged verbal abuses by another parent.

"This is where we're shocked: Why did it get to this, to go to the police?" said the girl's mother, Izzy Burgos.

Izzy and her husband, Dale Burgos, filed the complaints after a month of incidents in which the woman, the mother of another student, allegedly confronted her, her daughter, her son and other parents.

"She's been talking to everyone in the community and she says she feels bad, but I don't believe that because she's still doing it," Burgos said.

At first, the issue was which bathroom her daughter, Isabella, 8, was to use.

Now it's turned into a campaign over the issue of transgender individuals.

"My daughter is transgender. She's out and she's proud. It's hard. The community loves her. Her school loves her and the other students love her.

"One parent can do this, can make her want to hide? I don't think this woman is even aware of the damage she's doing," Burgos said.

Isabella, meanwhile, said she's lost her friendship with the woman's daughter, who is in her Grade 3 class at Joseph Teres School in Transcona.

None of the other students has bullied her, but now because of publicity, the child said going to school is getting harder.

"A lot of people have seen me on TV, and they're asking me questions, like 'Why are you a girl now?' " Isabella said. "I feel confused."

The Burgos family says it will be up to the police and the Manitoba Human Rights Commission to take over.

The couple said they can't understand why the school didn't shut the alleged bullying down when it first started a month ago, rather than trying to accommodate both her concerns and the rights of the Burgos family.

Other parents have told the family she's also lobbed them with transgender criticism outside the school.

"The parents have walked away, but she's very dominant, abrasive and intimidating," Burgos said.

The trouble started Sept. 11, when the woman confronted the child at the school and demanded she stop using the girls washroom, Burgos said.

When Burgos picked up Isabella from school the same afternoon, she said the woman confronted her daughter again, then her and her 18-year-old son outside the principal's office.

"She started screaming in Bella's face and I just froze. She was saying "I don't give a f " and there's a kindergarten class watching all this. I waited for the secretary in the office to intervene. She put her head down. Here she is, she stuck her finger out and she's yelling at a transgender child, then at my gay son and she's yelling about bathrooms," Burgos said.

After that, the Burgoses were told Isabella could no longer use the girls washroom.

Telling the principal her whole family felt traumatized hasn't settled the issue.

This week, the same woman confronted the 18-year-old son, who went to pick up Isabella and her brother, Gavin, 10 from school, Burgos said.

"The human rights commission called me today, and they said they're taking it up with the school, with mediation," Burgos said.

Meanwhile, Burgos said her family has heard back from the police, who've told them an adult who confronts a child could be charged with harassment or a hate crime.

Kelly Barkman, superintendent and CEO of the River East Transcona School Division, confirmed the woman at the centre of the family's complaints has been contacted about the comments she made to Isabella and her family.

For the school, the issue comes down to its students' safety.

Barkman did not mention the human rights complaint or the possibility of a police investigation.

He described the the issue as an internal matter.

"We are dealing with both parents to ensure our students are safe. Every student needs to feel safe in our buildings," Barkman said.

To that end, the school division is now working to set up an education seminar at the school with the Rainbow Resource Centre, a non-profit human rights group for transgender, gay and lesbian individuals, he said.

The division's policy is for transgender students -- Isabella is not the only transgender student in the division -- to use a gender-neutral washroom, Barkman added.

"I think it's important to say our stance is we are supplying reasonable accommodations as outlined in the Manitoba Human Rights code. That's where we're at," the superintendent said.

[Betty]

Monthly “Propaganda” event in Tokyo is a paradise for the trans and crossdressing communities

As another one of those tricky wasei-eigo words, “new half” refers to transsexual individuals and those people who identify more with the opposite gender. A new Japanese term has also established itself within the past several years to denote the same thingâ€“ç”·ăźćš˜, which is pronounced as otoko no ko (the usual way to say “boys”) but written with the kanji for otoko no musume (“young women-men”; musume refers to “young ladies” as in the name of the sensational idol group Morning Musume).

Thanks in large part to the prevalence of otoko no ko in popular manga, social media sites, and video games, casual crossdressing events are enjoying a relative boom of popularity in Japan, and nowhere is this phenomenon more visible than at the monthly Propaganda event held in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Best of all, there are no strings attached–everyone is welcome, from professional drag queens to adults just looking to experiment with a different way of having fun! More details after the jump.

Propaganda has been held on the last Saturday of each month since 2007. From its humble beginnings with an average attendance of 50 people, the event has grown to accommodate almost 400 people per meeting, of which nearly 70% come crossdressed. Office ladies, Gothic Lolitas, schoolgirls
you name it, and someone is sure to be dressing as it! The only thing is, the gender lines are so blurred that you’ll probably have trouble telling the men from the real ladies.

In addition, the attendees have many different motives for dressing up; for some, dressing in clothing of the opposite gender feels the most natural for them, while others see it as a chance to fulfill their cosplay dreams in an accepting haven.

Satsuki-san, Propaganda’s current organizer, has herself undergone a sex change operation within the past year. Since then she has even won fourth place in an international transsexual tournament (we unfortunately don’t have the details of that event, but are impressed nonetheless!). When asked to describe the premise behind Propaganda, she explained, “The concept is ‘liberation’. I want to create a place of cultural exchange where people of various views can be free to wear different styles of clothing and makeup.”

A new book exploring the subculture has also arrived on the scene. Nao Kawamoto, the 34-year-old author of the newly published Otoko no ko (musume)-tachi: Kare (kanojo) no life histories ["Otoko no ko: His (her) Life Histories"], had the following to say regarding the phenomenon in Japan:

    “Once, the places to crossdress were very limited and people with this hobby were shunned. But now thanks to Twitter and video sites on the internet, there are better opportunities to watch and share clips of men crossdressing as women. The community is now even more exciting than ever before!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI_DRlrCGqI

[Betty]

Wentworth's Otto: Long nails a drag

Wentworth Prison newcomer Socratis Otto has revealed how he couldn't wait to get rid of the long nails he sported on the show.

The Australian actor sported wigs and heels, and donned special garments to join the drama's second season as male-to-female transsexual inmate Maxine Conway.

"As soon as we wrapped the season, I started biting my nails off. They grew so wonderfully that the make-up team were envious that I can grow better nails than them," he explained.

"They were a rare treat for me, but at the same time, they were a pain in the a**e especially when I'm cooking. So I couldn't wait to cut them off!"

Socratis said he would get a surprise whenever he saw his transformation in the mirror.

"It's crazy from the neck down. I have special trans-gender underwear, which accentuates the physique so I've got butt implants and hips, not to mention my chicken fillets," he explained. "Everyone at work is very jealous because I've had different looks throughout the season. But the make-up does take longer than the others."

The actor had no doubts about signing up for the role.

"It was a dream come true. I grew up watching Prisoner and Cell Block H as a child. My sisters and I would pretend to be inmates because my parents wouldn't allow us to watch it. So when they came to me about this transgender character in this re-imagining, I didn't hesitate," he said.

"I pride myself on pushing my own boundaries. You do get stale in the roles you get, so when this came around, I thought, 'Absolutely, I'm going to educate myself'. I was very narrow-minded about the idea about what trans-gender meant until I did my research."

:: Wentworth Prison continues on Wednesdays on Channel 5.

[Betty]

Sophie, 19, and her 13-year-old sister Libby were deeply moved by the boxing legend’s brave performance on reality TV

Transsexual Kellie Maloney’s ­teenage daughters have finally accepted her as a woman after witnessing her tearful soul searching on Celebrity Big Brother.

Sophie, 19, and her 13-year-old sister Libby were deeply moved by the boxing legend’s brave performance on reality TV.

And now Kellie – better known as ­flamboyant fight promoter Frank Maloney until coming out in an exclusive interview with the Sunday Mirror – is overjoyed to find she’s been welcomed back into the arms of her family.

“After nearly two years of living alone and as a recluse away from my family I can’t believe what has happened,” she said this week. “Being on Celebrity Big Brother was a tremendously positive thing.

“It has helped the girls learn who I am as a person and as Kellie and that has been good for all of us.”

As Frank, the 61-year-old endured a life of turmoil battling to keep his gender issues hidden from the family he was ­terrified of losing. He divorced the girls’ mother Tracey after confessing to her in 2009 that he was secretly living as a woman.

As Kellie, she had expected to live the rest of her life alone.

She said: “When I left Big Brother I told the girls I was buying a flat on the Kent coast and they said, ‘Why don’t you come back to live closer to home? We can have two homes then.’

"My ex-wife Tracey also said they would love to have me back in their lives again and as part of the family.

“It is unbelievable. I feel I am able to be their father again.”

Kellie, who was also close to his older daughter Emma from a previous marriage, is now building a future with her family again.

During a glamorous photoshoot with the two teenagers at a country hotel, she said: “I thought I would be an outcast and I was preparing myself to lose the girls. Before I came out publicly the situation had not been great.

“They had not really met Kellie. Every time I had seen them until then I had still been Frank as much as I possibly could, although at the same time I was going through hormone treatment.

“I was so frightened of losing them. If they had turned their backs on me and never wanted another thing to do with me I had to be prepared to lose them.

“I could tell by their eyes when I told them how upset they were. I was prepared for the rejection.”

Wiping away a tear of joy, she said: “I told them I would never close the door on them if they rejected me and that I would always be there for them as a dad. Sophie didn’t understand what was going on at first but after she began to accept it things it got easier.

“Obviously Libby is younger and so it was more difficult. She only saw me as Kellie after I had come out. I called her straight after the first TV interview I did and asked what she thought.”

But the answer he got was the last one he expected.

“She said, ‘You came across OK but who did your make-up? Who did your hair? You need to let me do it in future.’”

In fact, unknown to anybody, Libby had been aware of her father’s harrowing secret life long before she finally came out to her children, but refused to admit it to herself.

She said: “I found pictures on Dad’s mobile phone of him dressed as a woman and I never dared tell anyone.

“I tried to block it all out for three months before he told us.” Laughing, she adds: “To be honest when he came out I thought he was a complete freak. He still is really.

“The bitching side of him that came out on Big Brother is like being a girl. Him being on there made me feel easier about the situation. I knew he was still my dad after watching him on the show as Kellie.”

But before Kellie took up the controversial offer to appear on the reality show, she says she was given stern warnings not to embarrass her daughters.

She said: “At first Libby said ‘it’s Celebrity Big Brother. Why would they want you on it? You’re not a celebrity.

“They drove all the way to the hotel with me, where we were staying before the show started. They told me they were worried I would show them up.

"They said, ‘You cry a lot.’ They said ‘Every time you feel like ­blubbing just remember these faces.’ Then they both pulled very stern faces at me.

“All three of us took a selfie on the way in the car and they warned me again, ‘Make sure you don’t let us down.’”

Despite being told before her younger sister, estate agent Sophie, admits she found her father’s unexpected transition to a woman difficult to cope with.

She recalled: “When I was told he had something to tell me about why he had been withdrawn and ill I thought at first that he was going to tell me he was gay.

“I didn’t understand what was going on at the start. I felt like I was losing him.

“Before he went on Big Brother I only met Kellie a couple of times. Seeing him on the show helped. It helped me understand things so much more. Since she’s come out of the house she’s been so much nicer. It has all brought us closer together.”

Kellie couldn’t agree more. She says she actually received less than half of the £400,000 she was
reportedly paid for her appearance on the three-week-long show, but insists the real rewards have proved ­priceless.

She said: “I know people knock Big Brother but I’ve been a winner in all this.

“Gary Busey will go down as the show’s winner but to me Kellie Maloney was the winner. I went on the show and gained back my family. ”

She adds: “I have no idea where the £400,000 story came from. It was complete rubbish. I got less than half that amount for going on the show and I gave £20,000 of that to my counselling group TGPals who
have helped me for two years.”

Kellie will also pay for full gender reassignment surgery early next year. But she is still grateful that her Big Brother earnings have bought her financial peace of mind – and the opportunity to enjoy some retail therapy with her girls.

She said: “The money means we are now financially secure for a few years and that I can afford to take the girls shopping. That is an experience in itself as they spend a fortune – picking things out for me.”