A transgender make up artist was blown away by the kindness of her bosses – who began fundraising for breast augmentation surgery after seeing her bullied by internet trolls.
Jamie Scott, 21, began transitioning three years ago but was given hormones 18 months ago to create breast tissue.
She has faced relentless bullying, including from internet trolls who threatened to ‘perform surgery with a Stanley knife’, and passersby have gathered outside the salon where she works to stare at her and say things like ‘there’s that boy who wants to be a girl’.
But her supportive bosses have seen the impact it has on her, and launched a fundraising page to help raise £6,000 for breast augmentation surgery – which Jamie says will transform her life.
Every Wednesday the salon opens in the evening, to give transgender customers a chance to be pampered at Beyond the Mirror Hair and Beauty in Musselburgh, East Lothian.
Jamie said: “I know what it’s like first hand to go somewhere and have everyone looking.
“I’m quite confident in myself but I found it uncomfortable going to some salons in the area.
“I knew one of my bosses before and she asked me to come and work for her.”
The salon opened in December, when Jamie started working there.
She was touched when she learnt that her bosses, Joleen Clark, 41, and Amy Mason, 31, started a GoFundMe page to raise £6,000 for breast augmentation surgery.
The surgery is available on the NHS but Jamie says she was told the waiting list could be ten years – and said she can’t face waiting that long.
Jamie said: “I never would have done that on my own, I was shocked that someone was wanting to help me.
“Often people are more out to help themselves than other people.
“I wasn’t born with natural breasts, my hormones have made me grow breast tissue but the augmentation is more of a lengthy procedure, hence why it’s more expensive.
“I have asked about it before but was told the waiting list was ten years.
“It is something that I struggle with, I don’t know if I can hang on ten years.
“I think it is one of the first things people see, whether you have breasts or not.
“It would change my life – I wasn’t blessed with it at birth.”
In less than a month, nearly £1,000 has been raised – making Jamie optimistic the target will be met.
She added: “My boss posted the fundraiser in a community Facebook page and an old man wrote ‘if it wants the surgery done, I will do it with a Stanley blade’.
“Another time when we were locking up, one of my colleagues was doing my hair for me and there were old men outside the salon saying ‘there’s that boy who wants to be a girl’.
“There’s so many supportive people but there’s negativity as well.”
Jamie has struggled with thoughts of suicide brought on by struggles with her body, and was saddened to hear of the death of a trans woman from England who travelled to the Borders to take her own life.
She added: “I hope I can be a glimmer of hope for people that it can get better.”
Her boss, Jolene, said: “Being a transgender woman is more than growing your hair and putting your make-up on, it’s waking up every day being trapped in the wrong body that you hate and feel is failing you.
“It’s never feeling confident or happy in your own skin. It’s never feeling beautiful and always feeling like you’re just the person who is stared at.
“This is personal because Jamie is with us all the time so we see the effect of the abuse, bullying and her depression, and how she feels in her own body.
“We live that with her.
“We don’t want her to be another statistic.”
To donate, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/jamie039s-breast-augmentation-surgery?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link-tip&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet