"I Don’t Want to Be Transsexual Mira, I Just Want to Be Mira”
Mira is a 22-year-old transsexual woman who attends İstanbul University department of Greek Language and Literature.
She became stronger and stronger day by day in spite of all negative speech she has experienced from her family and neighborhood since her childhood and adolescence when she started to discover her body and in spite of despair resulted from these.
After she learned that gender-change surgery was covered by Social Security Institution (SSI), Mira tried to search for solution because no state hospital favored that surgery. She started a campaign on indiegogo she called “my rebirth” and needs your support.
Mira says “A biologically woman doesn’t introduce herself saying ‘I’m a biologically woman’ and I don’t want to introduce myself as transsexual Mira, just as Mira. She added Mira means ‘destiny’ in Greek and she would change her destiny.
Let Mira speak…
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"When I was a child I knew I was different"
When did you first realize that you were a transsexual?
After the speaking, perception stages etc. like all people who have biological sexes… when I was 3, I was being like a little girl. Until I was in primary school I thought I had the same sex with my sister. When I started to communicate with people, I realized I was different. I never accepted that I was a boy.
How did you reveal yourself to your family and friends?
Boys didn’t want to play with me. I wasn’t interested in football or boyish conversations. I was boring for them. I used to play with my sister’s dolls. My mom saw me but she didn’t say anything. However, they reacted “Are you a girl to play with dolls?” when I was bigger. I didn’t know anything about transsexuality. Firstly I revealed myself to my mom. She commented it could be easier for her if I had said I was transsexual. I didn’t change at all. The only change is my age. I’m a grown up woman now.
Have you had difficulties in school life?
It was so hard in High School. I behaved as if I was heterosexual lest they called me faggot or queer. I got along with girls so I didn’t face so much discrimination. I attend Faculty of Literature now. It is a relatively relaxed department. At the beginning of the university, I had difficulties about gender divided lavatories and my female name but my lecturers call me Mira and I use Ladies’ room now.
"State hospitals don't favour gender-change surgery"
When did you start transforming?
I had a boyfriend at the last grade of High School. He was a LGBTI person and informed me about transsexuality. He guided me so I started to choose unisex clothes. When I came to İstanbul, I chose feminine clothes and it was a radical change.
I received permission for medical procedure. I was relieved when I learned SSI covers the surgery. After interviewing with my psychologist for a year, I started to take hormonal therapy for six months. State hospitals didn’t favour gender-change surgery due to risks so I searched for new doctors. A LGBTI person suggested a doctor for me. The rest is to find the money for surgery.
How did you decide to start a campaign?
I was working part time because I’m a university student and I couldn’t receive a bank credit. It would take years to save that amount of money and I couldn’t bear to live like that. I started the campaign with the help of a friend of mine.
Did you have to make sacrifice after the campaign started?
It was a great sacrifice for me to start this campaign. For example, if I make a job application to an airway corporation, they can easily learn that I’m a transsexual. It could cause trouble for me. I can experience difficulties in every field of life and I know it’s a great sacrifice. I want to be at the forefront as a woman not as a transsexual woman without hiding my identity but hiding my surgery. I want them to call me Mira, not transsexual Mira...
(DŞ/ÇT/BD)
Click here to read this article in Turkish