Watch: 90-Year-Old WWII Veteran Comes Out as Transgender Woman
An English World War II veteran has come out as a transgender to her community, after a lifetime of knowing that she was living a lie.
The New York Post reports that Patricia Davies from Leicestershire, England, kept her identity a secret for most of her life out of fear of discrimination or electric shock therapy, although she always identified as female.
"I've known I was transgender since I was 3 years old. I knew a girl called Patricia, and I decided I wanted to be known by that name but it didn't stick," Davies told Caters News Agency.
Davies served in the army between April 1945-1948, and said it was impossible to come out as transgender at that time, as it was equated with being homosexual, and would not have been accepted.
"The atmosphere [around being transgender] was not safe. People did not understand what transgender was," Davies said, noting that she was proud to have done military service.
Davies married when she was 21 years old, but did not tell her wife about her transgender identity until 1987. Her wife of 63 years was supportive, and bought Davies clothes and jewelry to wear in private. But Davies was deterred when local teens saw her and threw eggs at her window.
"I was 60 when it all came pouring out to my wife, she was very sympathetic and helped me all the way, but we agreed to keep it quiet," said Davies, who first learned about transgender identity from a '70s TV show.
Now, six years after her wife passed away, Davies has begun taking estrogen to move her transition forward, saying, "It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I was living a lie. I have been keeping quiet. I have slowly started to tell some of my neighbors. Everybody said, 'Don't worry, as long as you're happy.'"
She said that the increased media representations of transgender characters have emboldened her to find her truth, saying, "It's not 100 percent safe now but it's much better than it was. People that I have told seem to be very accommodating and haven't thrown abuse at me. I have a new lease on life."
Watch an interview with Davies via Inside Edition below: