A transgender councillor has blasted her “old-fashioned” parish newsletter for refusing to print an article about her sex change – because it could UPSET villagers.
Brave Kate Jones, 44, wanted to raise awareness of gender identity disorder after finally ‘coming out’ as a woman following decades of internal torment.
She submitted a personal and moving article to ‘The Honeycomb’, a magazine covering 10 villages in an upmarket corner of Wiltshire bordering the Cotswolds.
In the searingly-honest 1,000-word piece, she describes her journey from being Kevin, a father-of-two in a 15-year marriage, to becoming Kate last year.
But she was heartbroken to received a stern rejection email telling her the editorial committee did not believe the personal account was “suitable” for the newsletter.
One member of the committee even threatened to RESIGN if the article was published, Kate claims.
They also objected to a “seductive” and “coy” photo which Kate submitted with the article – even though it is a simple headshot.
The IT boss, who has lived in Yatton Keynell, Wilts., for 11 years and been a parish councillor for two years, said she is “very angry”.
“I was very surprised that they turned it down – I thought they would accept it because it’s a good way of informing the readership.
“I thought it would be nice for people to get an understanding of what it feels like to be transgender.
“They can see I’m now a woman when I was a guy before so they are probably thinking, ‘What is all that about?’
“When I pitched the article I wrote it and spent a few weeks tweaking it and making it palatable for everyone. Even my kids read it.
“There are probably people out there who are prejudiced but I’m sure the vast majority would have wanted to read the article.
“Apparently one person even threatened to resign if the article was published.
“It has made The Honeycomb team look like fools. They are closed-minded.”
Kate realised she was a girl aged four but hid her “torturous” secret for four decades, instead over-compensating and acting like a macho man, she said.
She separated from her wife of 15 years, Natalie, in December 2014 after reaching a point where she could no longer carry on as a “pretend male”.
Their two sons, James, 14, and Sam, 10 – who call Kate ‘dad’ – moved out and now live with their mother ten minutes away in Chippenham, Wilts.
After coming out as transgender last summer, she started hormone therapy in January and plans to undergo gender reassignment surgery.
“To spend a whole lifetime pushing this huge thing away and then having to accept it was a massive massive thing mentally,” said Kate.
“I have suffered from terrible anxiety. Just the idea of dressing as a woman and putting make up on was so frightening.
“But everyone in the village has always been 100 per cent kind and supportive of me going from Kevin to Kate. This is the first bit of negativity I’ve had.”
In the article, Kate wrote: “Being transgender is not a lifestyle choice and it is virtually impossible for non-trans people to know what it is like to feel this way.
“It is akin to being born into a prison inside your own mind with little or no chance of parole. This is how the majority of the last 40 years have felt like for me.”
She concluded: “Looking back I do not see those dark times anymore, I just see a person that wanted something that most of us take for granted… an identity. And I have that now.
“I am Kate, I am happy and I am proud to be transgender.”
The Honeycomb, which costs 50p, invites articles “on any subject that will be of interest and that authors would like to share”.
But editor Mike King defended his decision not to publish Kate’s piece after an editorial team meeting last week.
He said: “People on the editorial team felt it was not appropriate. I felt it was not appropriate. So we decided not to do it.
“I disagree that we are prejudiced. It seems like she is making a mountain out of a molehill. I find it quite extraordinary – I think she feels very vulnerable.”
He added: “It is quite simple. Unless we have 100 per cent agreement we don’t put it in – we have a meeting if something is out of the ordinary.
“The articles we get from local people involve cycling all over Asia or swimming the channel.
“We don’t publish personal stories, especially when it is about a divorce and could be upsetting to people in the village.
“The photographs she sent were also terrible. One showed a chap with his legs apart and the other was a coy lady looking very sort of… seductive.
“We are a very gentle magazine. If you want to read that sort of thing you read women’s magazines or newspapers.”
