Dedicated to the acceptance, medical treatment, & legal protection of individuals in the process of correcting the misalignment of their anatomical sex, & supporting their transition into society.
This column is just one part of an extraordinary series.
Part 1: In the beginning … We are the creatures of our families. For us their influence and reaction to our condition is life long, ours and theirs. Sometimes this is burdensome, sometimes very positive. …
Part 2: The Best Made Plans … I had now reached seventeen and concluded that my condition was unique. There could be no one else like me, so resolution was impossible. My certainty that I was a woman was total …
Part 3: Now For Change … I had achieved some of my ambitions in technology and academia, had married Joyce, and acquired two step children. But professionally, I was asking myself, “What next?” …
Part 4: The River Runs By … I said that I was a church organist and a hymn came to mind, “All things bright and beautiful.” They all said “Ahhhh.” I said no, I mean the second verse “The purple headed mountain, the river running by! …
Daventry, Northamptonshire, UK. I now had the life, of which I had been dreaming since childhood. I changed my name formally to Bernadette Jeanne by simple translation, conveniently retaining my initials and hence signature. Now well into my sixties, planning for the future started once again.
The broadcast media were settling down to the provision of digital services for both sound and vision. A final step was agreement about terrestrial, as distinct from satellite digital television. Although I still got most of my concepts adopted, the pressure for ever more channels resulted in decisions which I felt were not optimum.
I knew it was time to call quits. The permanent secretary (the very top civil servant) of a government department said at a dinner, “How did we not appreciate that Bernadette was really a woman? It is so obvious; she gets her way by looking for a valid compromise, not like a man who just wants to win at any cost.”
My house organ became quite well known and I had been maintaining and tuning the organs in our two parish churches for years, linking back to early childhood when I had worried about the value of π and root 2. Thinking about music and the semitones in an octave, I was now faced with another curious number: 12√2. [1]
My friend Derek was a retired steam locomotive driver and captain of the tower. He was fascinated by organs and became my assistant, who is always known in the trade as “the tuner’s boy” irrespective of age.
Soon I was approached by the next parish whose church organ had been condemned as beyond repair. Such a challenge could not be turned down. When it was playable, requests for help came from all over the deanery and we were now called Organ Rescue. When a redundant instrument had been completely restored and installed in a new home, time had come to wind down again to the two organs in our parish.
Approaching 65, Joyce and I decided that it was time to close our consultancy partnership as I could perceive new changes in technological developments and product production, to which I would rather not be party. I had served the industry for just forty years and they gave me a farewell party that brought more than a few tears to my eyes.
When they asked Joyce what I would like as a parting gift. She said something for my library. I arrived home to find the thirty volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica plus some other very personal items.
The time had now arrived to do those things which had taken a back seat for so long. I became permanent musical director of a successful local drama group, directing a pantomime every year and a major music production every other spring. Oliver and The Shakespeare Review were also rewarding, getting people to act, sing and play. For me, the highlight was Jesus Christ Super Star [2] and on its last night I decided that it was time to hand the directing chores over to my successor. In case the Devil did find means of occupying idle hands, something quite new was waiting in the wings.
I had often criticised local government, remembering my Whitehall experiences. Joyce pointed out the notification of a local council by-election and said to stop complaining and go for it. I did and was elected. Within two months I was vice chairman and in five months elected chairman, which office I still hold after ten years.
It cannot be said that local government politics are easy. The telephone rings day and night, if it happens and it shouldn’t, it’s my responsibility; likewise if it doesn’t and it should. When asked why I stick with this, my answer is that I have received so much support from the community that this is the best way of repaying that debt.
The most recent events have concerned the central government. Immediately following completion of my treatment, I had campaigned for formal recognition as a woman in all documentation. I was informed that the government had no plans to recognise reassignment. A small measure of compromise was achieved, in that my passport now stated that I was female as did my driving license. But my original birth certificate and our marriage status were a running sore.
When the famous or perhaps infamous Gender Recognition Act [3] was placed before parliament, my member was quick to quote my situation as a retired senior government scientific advisor. We fought long and loud concerning the demand in the Act for the candidates to be unmarried. Although that argument was lost, as a result the Civil Partnership Act [4] came into law. Although not marriage, this at least protected all the
financial and practical aspects of a same sex partnership.
Having assembled all the medical and legal documentation, I applied for an Interim Gender Recognition Certificate, which I received promptly. My solicitor then registered our petition for divorce, which was to be heard on the very day the Civil Partnership Act
became live. The very helpful local registrar agreed to formalise our Civil Partnership
on the same morning.
I Don't Know How To Love Him. This is a song from the rock opera Jesus Christ Super Star (1970). It portrays the the political and interpersonal struggles of Jesus and Judas Iscariot and Jesus during the last weeks of Jesus' life. The production uses twentieth-century attitudes and slang with allusions to modern life. In general, stage and film versions include intentional anachronisms.
In this song, Mary Magdalene reflects on Jesus while He sleeps. Mary notes that while she loves Jesus, he is unlike any man that she has loved before. As a result, Mary does not know how to cope with her feelings ("I Don't Know How to Love Him").
Lyrics: Tim Rice; Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber: Solist: Sarah Brightman.
Video: edited from the 1973 production.
Time 04:50
Came the 5th of December, we were at the Crown Court. The judge was just lovely, issuing a decree nisi at 10 o’clock and the decree absolute five minutes later [5]. He dated and stamped the full gender recognition certificate and we set off to the registry, with two dear friends as witnesses. It was done; divorced, decree absolute and a civil partnership all in three hours. There was a need to have no delay between divorce and partnership. If one of us had died, the full amount of estate duty could have been payable.
Suddenly, as the first to complete the change from marriage to civil partnership, we were of interest to the local press. Photo sessions and interviews were arranged and published the following day. The local press informed the big agencies and the media were all over us.
When we saw that we had the front page picture on a Kiev daily newspaper and that the world was using the internet to get copy, we were concerned about our privacy. But there was no intrusion, so we agreed there should be one magazine feature and a broadcast programme intended to inform the public of the success of treating our condition. There was also a programme for use by law schools since the legal position of such as us was of growing interest.
The final step was to apply for a new birth certificate. When it arrived, it looked just like the old one but including my proper name and under “Sex” there appeared “Girl”.
Although rising 79, I still have a long list of things to do. I conclude this installment by quoting some words which Sharon [6] and I have shared, written by Sir Walter Raleigh [7] before his execution and later set by a great madrigal composer:
What is our life? A play of passion.
Our mirth the music of division.
Our mothers’ wombs the tiring houses be,
Where we are dressed for this short comedy.
Heaven the judicious, sharp spectator is
That sits and marks still who doth act amiss;
Our graves that hide us from the searching sun
Are like drawn curtains when the play is done:
Thus march we, playing, to our latest rest,
Only we die in earnest, that's no jest. [8]
Like a musical work, it has been pointed out that a coda would be appropriate. What have I learned and how may those lessons be applied? The challenge is irresistible.
[1] The twelfth root of two. This is an an algebraic irrational number, In mathematics, an irrational number is any real number that cannot be expressed as a fraction (m/n — where m and n are integers and I is a non-zero. Perhaps the most well known irrational numbers are Pi (∏) and the square root of two (√2). It is deducible that they also cannot be represented as terminating altogether or ending in a repeating set of decimals.
A musical interval is the difference in pitch between two notes at distinct frequencies. The term "distance" is used to describe the physical effects, mainly subjective, of two frequencies as they interact. A musical interval can be expressed as a ratio of frequencies.
An octave is the interval between two musical pitches, maintaining a ration of 2:1 or double the frequency. An equal tempered chromatic scale is one in which all of the notes are spaced in equal intervals, dividing the octave into twelve equal parts.
The semitone is that ratio which when multiplied by itself twelve times will be equal to two. It therefore is the positive real solution for x in the equation x12 = 2, or the twelfth root of two.
[2]Jesus Christ Super Star. This is a rock opera from 1970 by Tim Rice (lyrics) and Andrew Lloyd Webber (music). Released as a double-album in 1970. It portrays the the political and interpersonal struggles of Jesus and Judas Iscariot and Jesus during the last weeks of Jesus' life. The production uses twentieth-century attitudes and slang with allusions to modern life. In general, stage and film versions include intentional anachronisms.
[3]The Gender Recognition Act 2004 came into effect on April 4, 2005. It is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It allows "transsexual" or "transgender" people to change their legal gender.
[4]The Civil Partnership Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It gives same-sex couples rights and responsibilities identical to civil marriage. There is a formal process for dissolving partnerships akin to divorce.
[5] A court can deliver a decree nisi (non-absolute ruling) that does not have any force until such time that a particular condition is met. Once the condition is met, the ruling becomes decree absolute and is binding. Typically, the court will attach a condition that no new evidence or further petitions with a bearing on the case are introduced to the court.
[6]Ms. Sharon Gaughan is the Co-Founder, VP, and Executive Director of TS-Si, Inc. She also serves as the Managing Editor and columnist for the TS-Si.org website.
[7]Sir Walter Raleigh (c. 1552 – 29 October 1618) was a well-known English courtier, explorer, poet, and writer. He was imprisoned from time to time, mainly for violating Royal prerogatives.
Raleigh engaged in a series of misadventures with the Spanish that contributed to the El Dorado legend. Men under his command ransacked the Spanish outpost of San Thomé on the Orinoco River in South America. Blame fell upon Raleigh and he was arrested upon his return to England, given a show trail (to appease the Spanish), and beheaded at the Tower of London.
[8] Sir Walter Raleigh, 1612.
Ms. Bernadette Rogers is a retired science advisor, technology professional, and a pioneer of colour television. She is an avid musician who continues as a church organist. Bernadette's signed articles contain her own opinions and do not necessarily convey an official position of TS-Si, its partners, or affiliates.
Bernadette welcomes your comments. You can use the public form below or send private correspondence via the TS-Si Contact Page. We will not divulge any personal details or place you on a mailing list without your permission.
Transition is not the donning of a mask. The mask was the closet one lived in before. Transitioning is removing the mask to stand nakedly exposed to all that is out there that crushes the lives, hopes, dreams and spirits of people born transsexual.
Richard Smith, Editor-in-Chief, introduces Cases Journal. Dr. Smith urges all physicians to submit their case reports to the new open access Cases Journal, which publishes case reports from any area of healthcare.
Cases Journal will publish any case report that is understandable, ethical, authentic, and includes all essential information. A more selective companion, the Journal of Medical Case Reports, publishes original and interesting case reports that contribute significantly to medical knowledge. Article submissions are subject to potential publication by either journal. All reports will be entered in a common and open access database.
Now well into my sixties, planning for the future started once again. 
Ms. Bernadette Rogers
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