A Real Trans Story

Alex Drummond is not gay. And he thinks it’s important for people to know that. As someone who considers himself to be a straight man, but who enjoys wearing women’s clothing and make up, Drummond has shared his story in a new book Queering the Tranny: New Perspectives on Male Transvestism & Transsexualism. A dry title perhaps for what promises to be a compelling personal story about one man’s experience in the trans world – a complex place both within and outside the LGBT community.

“I wrote this book in essence to clarify that I am a transgendered person who had dealt with all of the confusing emotions that came about trying to figure out who I was,” admits Drummond. “I am not a transvestite or a cross dresser. I am a transgendered person who blends male and female, and mostly feels more comfortable, confident and sexy in a skirt, boots and makeup. I dress to express and communicate that female aspect of who I am.”

The author begins his story with early memories of not always fitting in and being picked on at school. He later reflects as an adult on the inner torment, as he calls it, and battle to find and finally accept his own self expression.

As a scholar, Drummond also considers psychological issues associated with his identity. The book began as a master’s thesis that led to a PhD about transgender issues. He uses his own personal experiences to illustrate how fluid gender can be with the hope of finding personal freedom for those seeking it through their own gender identification.

Drummond now lives an openly transgender life. In an interview with Time Out London, the U.K. native explained, “Sexuality and gender are very different, but there are also many crossovers. I think the main similarity is that we’re oppressed minorities. I was raised in the 1960s and 70s, and I remember people of color first coming into our community. If I walk up the street in my local village in a skirt, in grrl-mode, that’s almost like being a person of color in a predominantly white area. You are highly visible and highly different, and people have views about what that means.”

He added, “What we ought to be doing is getting less hung up on genitals.”