Meet the transgender father and former police officer who became a woman aged 82 – and she is prepared to die during gender reassignment surgery
- A man who hid his identity from family has transitioned into a woman aged 82
- Col Young is now Colleen and the subject of a new documentary for Mardi Gras
- When she was living as a man, she said she felt she had nobody to talk to
A man who hid his identity from friends, family and the world has transitioned into a woman aged 82.
Father and retired police officer Col Young from Coffs Harbour in northern NSW referred to the secret he held for eight decades as ‘his problem’.
Col Young is now Colleen and is the subject of a new documentary called Becoming Colleen, which is showing this month as part of the Sydney Mardi Gras Film Festival.
When she was living as a man, she said she felt she had nobody to talk to, but after numerous awkward run-ins with her wife, Heather, she decided to open up to her and share her secret.
When she was living as a man, she said she felt she had nobody to talk to, but after numerous awkward run-ins with her wife, Heather, she decided to open up to her and share her secret.
Heather was bewildered at first, Ms Young said. But eventually she came around to the idea and embraced the person she had married.
Filmmaker Ian Thomson said he was drawn to making the film to tell the story of a transgender woman from the perspective of an everyday, hardworking family.
Mr Thompson said while transgender people are telling their stories more often, with people like Caitlin Jenner spearheading the movement, it is also important to tell the stories of working class people in regional Australia.
Col Young is now Colleen and is the subject of a new documentary called Becoming Colleen, which is showing this month as part of the Sydney Mardi Gras Film Festival
‘Even though Colleen only came out as transgender at 82 she told Heather in her early 40s. They would draw the curtains of their suburban bungalow and have this secret life dressing up and going promenading under the cover of darkness,’ said Mr Thomson.
‘Heather was a true insight into human nature, about how we fall in love with a person not a gender.’
Heather’s death a few years ago plunged Colleen back into the depths of secrecy, but after a few years she found the courage to broach the situation with her doctor.
Father and retired police officer Col Young from Coffs Harbour in northern NSW referred to the secret he held for eight decades as ‘his problem’
The doctor provided her with the services she needed, including oestrogen and hormone blockers that started to change her body.
Colleen’s son John said he wasn’t necessarily surprised by the announcement, and was happy for his dad.
But after 50 years, Mr Young confirmed Colleen would always be known as his dad.
Colleen hopes to complete the transition with the full surgery, which she would have to undertake in Thailand, risking a number of complications.
‘If I passed away under that surgery, I’d go quite happy because I’d be going the way I want to be. As a total woman,’ she said.