Dr Padman, a fellow of Newnham College, went through male to female transition
while studying at Cambridge University. A student of the all-male St John's
College, in 1977 she began treatment at Charing Cross Hospital in London and
eventually had surgery in 1982, but says the real 'sex-change' happened
beforehand while she was living as a woman and studying for her PhD.
This week, Dr Padman welcomed the election of Jenny Bailey and her partner
Jennifer Liddle as Mayor and Mayoress of Cambridge.
She said: "It's wonderful to see that it's possible and it doesn't bother
people. This seems to be a step forward to normalisation in the public mind and
that's nice."
Dr Padman said it was difficult for non-transgender people to understand the
mental pressure, both in terms of personal confusion and society's reaction to
the condition.
She said the success of Jenny and Jennifer showed the public's attitudes
towards transgender people were becoming more relaxed and Dr Padman feels
progressive legislation by the Government has helped the process.
She said: "Most of us at some point meets a bigot who makes life difficult on
principle. These people know this about you before they see you and they can't
see you for this piece of knowledge. Other people meet you and don't give you a
second look.
"We are a more tolerant society. People say 'that's your business, I wouldn't
do that myself, but it's your business'.
"One of the things that helps people to do that is the recent change in the
law, the Gender Recognition Act. It says that if you can convince the gender
recognition panel that you are serious about this, living life in the opposite
gender, they will sign a form saying you are, and for all legal purposes are,
that gender.
"It doesn't say anything about whether it's right or not. The state recognises
that it's appropriate for you to live in the opposite gender. The state will
not stand in your way.
"OK, you get Lord Tebbit standing up and saying this is complete rubbish, it
flies in the face of common sense, but it's not about truth, it's trying to say
what's true or appropriate about the integrity of individuals."
Dr Padman was born in Australia but has noticed British attitudes changing in
the 30 years since she went through transition.
She said: "It used to be illegal for a man to dress as women and because the
law said this was not possible, people thought it wasn't possible. People said
if the law stops someone doing this then it must be weird. If you take that
away and step from oppressive legislation to progressive legislation it does
have an effect."
'It was one of the happiest days of my life'
Jenny Bailey started her life as a man but the 45-year-old said she always knew
she was different.
Raised at Doncaster prison camp, where her father worked, she spent much of her
early years trying to come to terms with "odd" feelings she was having.
She told the News, in an exclusive interview: "When I was at school I did feel
odd, but I didn't understand the feelings; I had no point of reference. I just
felt wrong."
Trying to understand herself better she went to the local library. She added:
"I looked transgender up in an encyclopaedia and it wasn't very nice, I
remember being very, very scared."
As a 24-year-old man Jenny met then married a woman and fathered two children.
But despite trying to fit in with the image of a typical family, her
uncertainty about her gender kept resurfacing. After a psychiatric assessment
and a lot of soul searching she left her wife and started a private course of
hormone treatment.
She said: "There were a lot of bodily changes but they felt natural. My body
was getting more like me all the way through. I felt I was becoming the person
I actually was."
It was during that time mutual friends introduced Jenny to her future partner
Jennifer Liddle, who was also undergoing hormone therapy to be a woman.
In 1994, almost three years after starting hormone treatment Jenny took the
final step to womanhood and had genital reconstruction.
Since changing gender 12-years ago she says she is happier than ever and said
when she received the chains as Mayor of Cambridge yesterday (Thursday, 24 May)
it was "one of the happiest days of her life."
