My gender change meant estrangement from my family
Stefan de Villiers
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
Published Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011 5:38PM EST
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/facts-and-arguments/my-gender-change-meant-estrangement-from-my-family/article1916404/Family legend has it that the first word I ever spoke was "Tai." Pronounced "tie," the word means "sticky" in my mother tongue of Afrikaans. It soon became my family nickname. It was an oddly apt choice considering the stickiness that would unfold a quarter of a century later concerning my identity.
While my two sisters inherited their grandmothers' names, when I came along my parents decided to name me after themselves. My first name was a feminized version of my father's first name, and my middle name was my mother's first name.
In my 20s, I wanted to choose my own name. That would mean leaving behind the names my parents had chosen for me.
