Trans radio host Stephanie Hirst: I went public with transition to help inspire others
Transgender radio host Stephanie Hirst has opened up about her decision to publicly announce her transition.
Stephanie Hirst, 39, hosted a popular breakfast show on Capital FM Yorkshire, but abruptly left the station in June.
She came out as transgender last month, saying: “I knew from around the same time that I knew I wanted to be on the radio that something wasn’t right.
“I didn’t feel complete, I didn’t feel like it locked. I felt like a square peg in a round hole but I didn’t know why and I couldn’t work it out.”
Over 100,000 people have since signed petitions calling for her return to radio – and Ms Hirst says she will return eventually.
Speaking to the Telegraph this week, she said: “I’ve got to go back to entertaining them at some point.
“The one thing I didn’t want is for this to consume every waking moment, because it had done it for years.
“Now that buzzing in my head isn’t there anymore. It’s because I’m obviously ‘full-time’ now, so I want to try to carry on with things as normal.”
Explaining her decision to come out publicly, she said: “One of my old bosses said you can save someone’s life with this. It’s why I went public.
“I want to show the general public that it’s not something which you see the occasional thing written and you think, freak, weirdo, you’re messing with nature.
“It’s nothing about that – it’s biological. I hope it educates people.”
She also revealed she would fund her own surgery due to the huge backlog for NHS gender reassignment, saying: “I’m going to fund the final operation myself because the NHS is stretched enough and I’d rather that someone else transgender who needs that, it could go to them.
“I’m lucky I can afford it myself.”
