Documentary follows trans teen during Miss England competition
A trans teenager is the focus of a new BBC documentary, which follows her though the heats of a beauty pageant, the prestige of which she wants to use to become a role model for young trans people.
Jackie Green, 18, who made history this year by becoming the first trans woman to enter the Miss England competition, is the subject of a new documentary currently airing on BBC3, reports the IBTimes.
Part of the, Body Beautiful, season, the documenary follows Ms Green, described as “the world’s youngest transsexual”, during her mission to be crowned Miss England.
Green, an aspiring model from Leeds, was the first trans woman to enter the competition, after she was approached by talent scouts at the Next Top Model show in London. She said:
“I’ve always been a girl, but I had this little birth defect – like having a mole you don’t like.
“I have a girl’s brain but I had a boys bottom half. If you tried to dress my brother when he was three or four in girl’s clothes, he would’ve been mortified.
“Part of you always knows. When I was four I said to my mum ‘God’s made a mistake. I should’ve been a girl.”
She also commented on her perception of trans people growing up:
“When I was young, all I’d see were drastic trans people who’d left their kids and wives. It’s quite daunting to see that that’s how your life might turn out. I like this idea of being a role model – but feel a bit big-headed whenever I say it.”
She had gender reassignment surgery at 16, after attending school as a girl from the age of 10, but knew she wanted to change gender from the age of four.
Susie Green, Jackie’s mother, said:
“Obviously any parent faced with a child saying that thinks ‘I really want this to go away, I really don’t want to have to deal with this’.
“The first time I ever took her shopping, I took this little boy shopping. We were in the girls’ aisle and he was picking up dresses and putting them against himself and swirling around. I thought everybody in the shop was looking at me and thinking ‘what is that woman doing?’.”
Speaking in an interview with PinkNews .co.uk earlier this year, Ms Green said:
“To win Miss England would be beyond amazing. To be honest just being in the quarter finals feels great, and to be competing with other beautiful girls just confirms to me more that I deserve to be in the competition.
“I hope to shed light on trans people so that society can understand we are very normal people and all we wish is to live our lives. We are not hurting anyone, we were simply born a little different, with a defect if you like, and have a right to be comfortable in our own skin and treated as who we are, human beings.”
Because of bullying, Green attempted suicide five times when she was younger, but was grateful for the support of her mother. She said: “I can never thank my mum enough, she saved my life.”
