Trans woman opens up about the death threats that led her to consider abandoning transition
A trans woman has opened up about the death threats she received as a teenager that led to a failed attempt to abandon her transition.
Ria Cooper spoke to Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes on ITV’s This Morning about her experiences.
“It’s just hard, it’s difficult – It was horrible going through all the negative things people were saying,” she said.
“I never once changed back to a man. I was 18, I was going through a really bad patch. I was depressed.
“It was horrible what people were saying to me – death threats, saying you should go and kill yourself.”
She continued: “I was in a really bad relationship and I just had enough. I thought, ‘If I go back to being a boy’…
“Because I was so young, they were judging me on that, saying I’m confused, you’re too young to make that change.
“I was never playing with my boy toys, I wanted to put makeup on, I used to put my mum’s makeup on. Just from there, being 14, 13, when I changed.
“It’s not even ‘a decision’, I just knew I wanted to be a female at that age.”
Ria said: “I used to say people’s opinions didn’t really affect me, but they did. They got me down, there were days I didn’t leave the house. I got really bad depression, it was horrible.
“When I was 18, I was really depressed and I was struggling to find work. No-one would give me a job. My documentary was out when I was 18 and that kind of ruined my life from there.
“No-one would give me a job because of the documentary and because of who I was, and I think I just had enough and I thought, well, my life would be much better if I went back to being a boy.
“It was the worst decision I ever made. I put on my boy’s clothes and I thought I can’t do this anymore.”
She added: “I put on the boys clothes and I was like, literally, I can’t do it, I can’t do it. I was at home and was tried putting my male clothes on and I couldn’t do it.
“The papers are saying I went back to being a boy – it was nothing like that. It was like, ‘Will it be a lot better if I did go back to being a boy?’. I didn’t go back to being a boy.”
Ria, who says that the NHS has not funded her breast augmentation and will not fund her further surgery, said that she hopes to start her own beauty business to help young people who are transitioning.
Watch Ria’s full This Morning interview below
