0:00:19 > 0:00:22Hiya, I'm Leo, and I want to do this documentary to show
0:00:22 > 0:00:25that my life isn't that different to yours.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27I live with my sister Daisy.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30He sometimes can be a good brother but other times he can be annoying.
0:00:30 > 0:00:31And with my mum.
0:00:31 > 0:00:36He's great fun to do anything with. He's also quite temperamental.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38What?
0:00:38 > 0:00:41He's just like any other teenager, really.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43But there's something about me
0:00:43 > 0:00:46that means I haven't always been accepted as Leo.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49In most ways I'm like an average 13-year-old boy
0:00:49 > 0:00:51apart from I was born in a girl's body.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56Although people saw me as girl, I always knew I was really a boy.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02This isn't actually me, it feels like it's just a different person.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04Lots of people don't understand
0:01:04 > 0:01:07and think I'm too young to know who I really am.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12I just want people to finally see me the way I see myself - as Leo.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17To be accepted is like the best feeling in the world.
0:01:17 > 0:01:19This is how I live my life as a boy.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40Do you think that looks too much, Mum?
0:01:40 > 0:01:43Do you remember any of your girly clothes?
0:01:43 > 0:01:46No. Wearing a dress and having long hair didn't feel right.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49I used to try and convince you it looked so nice!
0:01:49 > 0:01:50THEY LAUGH
0:01:50 > 0:01:53When I was born, I was born in a female body
0:01:53 > 0:01:55and christened a girl called Lily.
0:02:01 > 0:02:03Even though I was still a girl, I never felt like a girl.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06I always thought there was something different about me.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10- When I was Lily I had to have long hair, didn't I, for a while?- Yeah.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13I used to love doing Lily's hair, putting it in little bunches.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17But I HATED looking like a girl, so one night
0:02:17 > 0:02:21when I was only five years old, I cut my own hair short.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26Oh, I'll never forget that night you came through to the kitchen,
0:02:26 > 0:02:27half of it cut off.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32It wasn't long before I gave in and cut it all off, though.
0:02:32 > 0:02:33Look sweet?
0:02:33 > 0:02:34That's good.
0:02:34 > 0:02:35Tip it in, then?
0:02:35 > 0:02:36Yep.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42When I was, like, young, I always thought I was a boy
0:02:42 > 0:02:46but didn't really know how to explain it.
0:02:46 > 0:02:47I believed I just had a tomboy.
0:02:48 > 0:02:54Lily loved all the boys' toys, probably more so actually than boys.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57It was really, really confusing because I always thought,
0:02:57 > 0:03:00you know, I'm a boy, but everyone was like, look, you're a girl.
0:03:00 > 0:03:01You're not a boy.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06By the time I was nine, I didn't understand why other people
0:03:06 > 0:03:09couldn't see I was really a boy, and it used to make me very angry.
0:03:09 > 0:03:15He'd been getting upset a lot about things that were going on at school
0:03:15 > 0:03:20and the fights he was getting into, and one day he just shouted at me.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24I went, "Look, you're not taking me seriously. Look, I am a boy."
0:03:24 > 0:03:26That's when Mum and I started
0:03:26 > 0:03:28looking on the internet to find out more.
0:03:28 > 0:03:33Gender to me is what you feel inside, not what you were born with,
0:03:33 > 0:03:35like, what you are on the outside.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37It's what you are on the inside.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41Our bodies are full of chemicals called hormones.
0:03:41 > 0:03:42There are some hormones for boys
0:03:42 > 0:03:44and other hormones for girls.
0:03:46 > 0:03:47Most people's hormones,
0:03:47 > 0:03:51brains and bodies all match, so they know they are definitely a girl
0:03:51 > 0:03:56or a boy, but some people feel they've been born in the wrong body.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00It's not very common but I now know there are thousands of people
0:04:00 > 0:04:04in the UK who are just like me and we are called transgender.
0:04:05 > 0:04:06So if you feel like you're a boy
0:04:06 > 0:04:09but you're trapped in a girl's body, then you're a boy,
0:04:09 > 0:04:11and if you feel like a girl
0:04:11 > 0:04:14but you're trapped in a boy's body, you are a girl.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20So although I have a girl's body, I know inside I am a boy.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24When I was younger, I just seemed to confuse everyone,
0:04:24 > 0:04:27but my mum tried really hard to understand.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30It was really a big thing to get my head round.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34I mean, I could accept my child, whoever he or she was.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38'I reckon if she hadn't accepted me, it would have been a lot harder.'
0:04:38 > 0:04:42To be accepted is the best feeling in the world.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45Well, obviously I loved the name Lily and I still do
0:04:45 > 0:04:48but...it doesn't suit Leo, does it?
0:04:48 > 0:04:49SHE LAUGHS
0:04:49 > 0:04:52I like the name Leo because, I don't know, it feels like me.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01'I decided I wanted to be called Leo when I was still in primary school
0:05:01 > 0:05:03'and my mum found out we could
0:05:03 > 0:05:06'legally change my name by deed poll.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11'Instead of being Miss Lily he would now be Master Leo'
0:05:11 > 0:05:16and I organised all that so that it all arrived on his 11th birthday.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19When I got my name changed and the letter, I come home and opened it
0:05:19 > 0:05:23and I started crying because I was really happy...
0:05:23 > 0:05:25and it was really unexpected so...
0:05:27 > 0:05:28That was a lovely day.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30I could just eat that.
0:05:30 > 0:05:31No.
0:05:31 > 0:05:35It was very hard because I had to say goodbye to Lily in the end
0:05:35 > 0:05:37and let her go
0:05:37 > 0:05:39and then welcome in Leo.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45My mum has always supported me.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47I've always felt like I can talk to my mum.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49- About anything?- Yeah.
0:05:49 > 0:05:50Can I lick the bowl?
0:06:02 > 0:06:05This is Jack. He's one of my best mates.
0:06:10 > 0:06:12Go on, run! Run!
0:06:12 > 0:06:13I am running!
0:06:15 > 0:06:17What do you think about me being transgender?
0:06:17 > 0:06:21I'll support you, like, whatever you want to do, like.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24In my eyes, he's a boy, like, just one of my best mates.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29'But not everyone sees me the way Jack does.'
0:06:29 > 0:06:33I was walking down the road with one of my best friends
0:06:33 > 0:06:37and this boy behind me was going, "Lily, Lily, Lily,"
0:06:37 > 0:06:40and I know I'm over it, I'm past it, it's Leo.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44I am Leo, I am a boy, it's just that when people say it,
0:06:44 > 0:06:47it still kind of brings back the memories from the past
0:06:47 > 0:06:51and all of the bad stuff that happened to me when I was younger,
0:06:51 > 0:06:54just all brought back to your mind and it's not very nice.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59And although my mum has changed my name by deed poll,
0:06:59 > 0:07:02my passport still says I'm a girl.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07Here I have my old passport, which still has "Lily" on it
0:07:07 > 0:07:11and "female", and a really horrible picture.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14This kind of makes me feel like this isn't actually me.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18That isn't who I identify as.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20It feels like it's just another person.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27I drew on this passport with whiteboard marker. I drew spiky hair
0:07:27 > 0:07:30on the picture so it looked like I had boy's hair,
0:07:30 > 0:07:34I wrote "Leo" on instead of "Lily" in the name bit
0:07:34 > 0:07:38and then I wrote "male" in the little gender bit.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41I done that because I just wanted to correct the passport
0:07:41 > 0:07:43so it was right to how I feel.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49But all it takes is one wipe to make it wrong again.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53When someone calls me she, I get really upset,
0:07:53 > 0:07:55because it reminds me of my past
0:07:55 > 0:07:58and the person who I was never, like Lily and a little girl.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05If my passport could permanently say that I am Leo and male,
0:08:05 > 0:08:08then I will finally feel accepted for who I am.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13So my mum and dad are helping me apply for a brand-new passport.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18Got the letter from Dad,
0:08:18 > 0:08:20the letter he needed to write
0:08:20 > 0:08:23to give permission for you to get your passport.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28"This letter is to confirm that I am Leo's father
0:08:28 > 0:08:32"and I give my permission for him to apply for his passport."
0:08:32 > 0:08:34This is another step to getting it,
0:08:34 > 0:08:36so hopefully I'll get my new passport soon.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39'I really hope the Passport Office agrees.'
0:08:46 > 0:08:49Now I'm at High School, most people treat me like a boy.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52My name is Leo in the register
0:08:52 > 0:08:56and on sports day, I take part in the boys' events.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04But at primary school, people found it
0:09:04 > 0:09:07really difficult to understand that I was born in the wrong body.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14They wouldn't allow me to be the person who I am.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17It made me feel really, really low and I felt so lonely
0:09:17 > 0:09:21because no-one else was going through the same as what I was.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26The school I'm at now is great, but I don't think my primary school
0:09:26 > 0:09:29knew how to cope with a transgender student like me.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33I think that they believed that I was making him
0:09:33 > 0:09:37be the way he was, which was so far from the truth.
0:09:38 > 0:09:42Every single day, he would come home from school sobbing,
0:09:42 > 0:09:44begging me not to send him back there.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46Things got so bad with the school
0:09:46 > 0:09:48and we didn't seem to be getting anywhere.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52One of my older daughters found a group called Press for Change
0:09:52 > 0:09:56and within a day of them speaking to the school, everything changed.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58When it all happened I was really, really happy.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01The teachers had to call me "he" and "Leo"
0:10:01 > 0:10:05so I could finally be accepted and I could finally be who I was.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08It changed Leo's life forever.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10The support group helped my primary school
0:10:10 > 0:10:12understand the way I feel inside.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17It was set up by someone called Stephen Whittle.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21To me, he is a transgender superhero!
0:10:23 > 0:10:25And I'm really, really excited to meet him.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31I hope he likes me, I hope he thinks I'm cool.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37I'm meeting Stephen at the House of Commons, because that's where
0:10:37 > 0:10:41he managed to change the law for transgender people.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43- What's that?- It's Big Ben.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45It's not very big.
0:10:45 > 0:10:46It's massive!
0:10:49 > 0:10:53Just like me, Stephen was born a girl, but he knew
0:10:53 > 0:10:56he was in the wrong body, so when he grew up he became a man.
0:10:58 > 0:10:59He's worked really hard
0:10:59 > 0:11:02so transgender people like me and him are accepted.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06Come in, come in.
0:11:06 > 0:11:08- Hi, are you Leo? - Hello. All right?
0:11:08 > 0:11:10- Hi, Leo.- Hello.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12Come in, have a seat, I'm Stephen.
0:11:12 > 0:11:13It's really nice to meet you.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15- It's nice to meet you too. - So how's school now?
0:11:15 > 0:11:18A lot better now, cos it was thanks to you that it changed, wasn't it?
0:11:18 > 0:11:21- Y'know, how you feel inside... - Yeah.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24..is finally being seen on the outside.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26How about you? You've been through all this now,
0:11:26 > 0:11:28is there anything you would have changed?
0:11:28 > 0:11:30This has made me the person I am.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33It was awful at first, doing it in the '70s.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36There was just so much prejudice and discrimination.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38You were the lowest of the low.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40You were considered mentally ill.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43We had absolutely no rights at all,
0:11:43 > 0:11:46which was when I decided I was going to train as a lawyer.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48We set up Press for Change.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50The whole idea was that we would lobby Parliament,
0:11:50 > 0:11:52we'd say, "Please change the law,"
0:11:52 > 0:11:56which meant that you had a right to go to school as Leo
0:11:56 > 0:11:57and hopefully, y'know,
0:11:57 > 0:12:00- none of the hassle we had will be there for you.- Yeah.
0:12:00 > 0:12:01- Good luck to you.- Thank you.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04I wish I was starting my life where you are now.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07He was the coolest person I've ever met.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10I wouldn't have known he's trans. He did not look trans at all.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13And I'm so glad that I was born in this time.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20While I'm in London, I'm catching up with my friend Kai.
0:12:20 > 0:12:21Yay! I can see him!
0:12:25 > 0:12:29Kai is ten years old and like me, he was born in a girl's body
0:12:29 > 0:12:31but he feels like a boy.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35I'm not friends with Kai because he's transgender,
0:12:35 > 0:12:38I'm friends with Kai because he's loads of fun.
0:12:38 > 0:12:42I always wanted to be a boy but I couldn't, like, explain it.
0:12:42 > 0:12:44I didn't know what to say or anything...
0:12:44 > 0:12:46It's not every day that, y'know, someone turns round
0:12:46 > 0:12:49and says, "Ooh, Mum, I want to be the opposite gender,"
0:12:49 > 0:12:52they'd be like "What you on about?"
0:12:55 > 0:12:59I was scared because we went to the doctor's after I told my mum
0:12:59 > 0:13:01and he was like, "What's that?" and everything
0:13:01 > 0:13:04and I was like, "Am I the only person or anything?"
0:13:04 > 0:13:06I used to think I was the only person in the world.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10And then my mum showed me all these videos and I was like, phew!
0:13:13 > 0:13:15I think there's obviously going to be hard times
0:13:15 > 0:13:17because not everything's easy
0:13:17 > 0:13:19but I think as long as you surround yourself
0:13:19 > 0:13:20with good supportive people,
0:13:20 > 0:13:24you should be able to get through it just fine.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27The only difference between our life and...
0:13:27 > 0:13:29A boy's life...
0:13:29 > 0:13:32..a born-male boy's life is we're trapped in this awful body
0:13:32 > 0:13:35and we have to do loads of medical stuff.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42I feel 100% like a boy, but if you try and tell that to someone else
0:13:42 > 0:13:44and explain you were born in a girl's body it might be a bit...
0:13:44 > 0:13:46Yeah, they're probably won't...
0:13:46 > 0:13:49They'd be like, "Ahh, you're just young, it's just a phase."
0:13:49 > 0:13:51But once you know, you know, don't you?
0:13:51 > 0:13:52Yeah.
0:13:53 > 0:13:54We're quite lucky
0:13:54 > 0:13:57cos we have supportive parents and, like, family.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00If I had to live as a girl, I wouldn't want to be around any more.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02I'd be, like, screaming in my room every day.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05I wouldn't want to leave my room, because it's just not who you are.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08- Yeah.- I am who I am, I'm not wearing a dress.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10Not a chance.
0:14:10 > 0:14:15I'd be like, to a boy, "You wear a dress, see how you like it!"
0:14:26 > 0:14:29This isn't me. This is what's holding me back.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33I don't even want to show you this, let alone anyone else.
0:14:33 > 0:14:34I just want it gone.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37I want a new one with a new picture, new title,
0:14:37 > 0:14:40new name, and everything just sorted out about it.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44There's your birth certificate.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46Thanks for doing this, Mum, it's really cool.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50- Cos now I can get my passport, can't I?- Yeah.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53'My mum's been really busy getting together all the different
0:14:53 > 0:14:56'letters and paperwork so I can get my new passport,
0:14:56 > 0:15:00'which will hopefully tell the world that I am a boy.'
0:15:00 > 0:15:01And a letter from Dad.
0:15:03 > 0:15:08'I really hope the Passport Office agree I can be described as male.'
0:15:08 > 0:15:11If I had to have "female" on my passport, I'd, like,
0:15:11 > 0:15:14hide it away because it would be really rubbish
0:15:14 > 0:15:17and I'd be really disappointed that I can't go, like,
0:15:17 > 0:15:20on any of the travels I want to go on,
0:15:20 > 0:15:23but I'm not going anywhere with a female passport.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27'All I can do is keep my fingers crossed
0:15:27 > 0:15:29'that I get that magic M for male.'
0:15:29 > 0:15:31Where do I sign?
0:15:31 > 0:15:33- This is the bit you need to sign.- Yeah, boi!
0:15:35 > 0:15:37That's my new signature. Nice.
0:15:39 > 0:15:41With the forms signed and sealed,
0:15:41 > 0:15:43I just need to get a new passport photo.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49Leo loves having his photo taken. He'll be in there for ages now.
0:15:51 > 0:15:52Hold your head straight.
0:15:52 > 0:15:54"Please keep your head straight."
0:15:55 > 0:15:56What you doing?
0:16:02 > 0:16:04Make sure you hold your head straight.
0:16:04 > 0:16:06You doughnut! Now do some proper ones.
0:16:06 > 0:16:07OK!
0:16:11 > 0:16:13Done the serious one.
0:16:14 > 0:16:15Done it.
0:16:17 > 0:16:18That's better.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21Yep, I think they're the ones.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26All my family completely support me and accept me as Leo.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30But some transgender people are rejected by their families.
0:16:35 > 0:16:37I'm flying to Scotland to meet Natalie,
0:16:37 > 0:16:40who was born in a boy's body but lives as a girl.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42I'm really excited to meet her
0:16:42 > 0:16:44and I think it will be nice to learn about her life.
0:16:44 > 0:16:48I can't work out whether it's an aeroplane or a bird.
0:16:48 > 0:16:49They all look the same.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54Today will be the first time I've ever been on an aeroplane.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57I'm feeling quite scared about the aeroplane ride
0:16:57 > 0:16:59but I'm really excited as well.
0:16:59 > 0:17:00Look at that!
0:17:01 > 0:17:02It's gone now.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05You don't have any liquids inside there at all,
0:17:05 > 0:17:06over the size of 100ml?
0:17:06 > 0:17:09- I've got two jumpers. - Two jumpers, that's fine.
0:17:12 > 0:17:13HE SHUDDERS
0:17:15 > 0:17:18I'm now going on an aeroplane and I'm really scared and nervous.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20He'll be fine - I think he'll love it once he gets up there.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22I'm really scared, Mum.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26What if someone really, really heavy gets on it and it sinks?
0:17:26 > 0:17:29HE MOANS
0:17:30 > 0:17:33- I don't like it. - You'll be fine! You'll be fine.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39Before I went on the aeroplane I was really, really scared.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42But after I went on it, I feel like I can do anything.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46I feel, like, fearless since I've been on it.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48- Thanks. - All right. Have a good day!
0:17:48 > 0:17:49Yeah, you too. Bye!
0:17:54 > 0:17:57'The scary flight was worth it - Natalie is really nice.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01'She's transgender like me, only the other way around -
0:18:01 > 0:18:05'Natalie was born in a boy's body but lives as a 20-year-old woman.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09'But some of her family haven't accepted her,
0:18:09 > 0:18:12'and I want to find out what that's like.'
0:18:15 > 0:18:17When did you know you was transgender?
0:18:17 > 0:18:19Erm, probably around 15.
0:18:19 > 0:18:23I knew a little bit earlier, I mean, since I was five
0:18:23 > 0:18:27I always felt a bit different, a bit iffy, with...everything,
0:18:27 > 0:18:31but I didn't actually know what transgender was until I was 15.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33How was your mum when you first came out?
0:18:33 > 0:18:36Well, my parents found out while I was getting bullied at school.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39They didn't believe I was transgender, they thought maybe
0:18:39 > 0:18:42I was just hanging out with the wrong people,
0:18:42 > 0:18:43maybe it was just a phase.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46Without the support of my family it made me quite...
0:18:46 > 0:18:47Well, it made me worse.
0:18:47 > 0:18:49They sent me to see counsellors and doctors
0:18:49 > 0:18:51and they all took my side on it.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53This got my parents quite angry about it.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56That must have been like torture, I would hate it...so much.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59Yeah... I mean, it's part of the reason why I moved out.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03My grandparents accepted me and my uncle and my aunties
0:19:03 > 0:19:06but when I was at home, I just had to lock myself in my room
0:19:06 > 0:19:10because I wasn't allowed to be myself anywhere else around the house.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13I'm still having problems but it's getting slightly better.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22Meeting Natalie and seeing she had quite a tough time
0:19:22 > 0:19:25made me feel really, really lucky to have the support I have.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34'It's not just my family who accept me,
0:19:34 > 0:19:37'my oldest friends are always there for me.'
0:19:39 > 0:19:42I think we could all say we've fallen out with someone
0:19:42 > 0:19:44to stick up for Leo.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47At first, like, it was horrible to, like, see you cry all the time,
0:19:47 > 0:19:49cos it wasn't fair on you,
0:19:49 > 0:19:51but now you just kind of like pass it by because
0:19:51 > 0:19:54you don't really care what people think, and that's really good.
0:19:54 > 0:19:55Proud trans-man.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57- I'm proud of you.- Thanks.
0:19:57 > 0:19:59Everyone's going to be different.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01I just hate it how people expect others to be like them
0:20:01 > 0:20:04and then they start judging them. I don't think that's good.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07If everyone was the same, this world would be boring.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10Yeah, wouldn't it? Couldn't handle too many of you!
0:20:10 > 0:20:11Well...
0:20:11 > 0:20:14THEY LAUGH
0:20:14 > 0:20:17Everyone's different somehow, and I think the best thing to do
0:20:17 > 0:20:22is to tell someone how you feel and, like, how you feel different
0:20:22 > 0:20:26so that they can understand, try to understand anyway, and accept you.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33After I told my mum I was really a boy,
0:20:33 > 0:20:36I then talked to a lot of doctors who helped me.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43One thing that used to scare me was knowing my body would soon
0:20:43 > 0:20:47change into a woman's, even though I wanted to grow up to be a man.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52Our bodies begin to alter when we grow up,
0:20:52 > 0:20:56because hormones in our bodies start working really hard.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59Male hormones turn boys into men
0:20:59 > 0:21:02and female hormones turn girls into women.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06But if you're transgender like me, it's horrible,
0:21:06 > 0:21:11because our bodies start changing the opposite way to how we feel.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13I would be really, really sad
0:21:13 > 0:21:16because I would be trapped in the body I don't want to be in.
0:21:18 > 0:21:20My doctors understand what I'm going through,
0:21:20 > 0:21:23so we all decided I should be given a monthly injection
0:21:23 > 0:21:26to stop my body changing into a woman's.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31The injection is called a hormone blocker.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34And if you stop taking it, your hormones start working again,
0:21:34 > 0:21:37just like before.
0:21:37 > 0:21:38Dr Polly knows all about it.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45The blocker is an injection that someone has every month
0:21:45 > 0:21:51which pauses the body and stops it from carrying on to grow up
0:21:51 > 0:21:52into a man or a woman
0:21:52 > 0:21:57and the idea of the blocker is that if we can take away that worry
0:21:57 > 0:22:00about your body doing something that you don't want it to,
0:22:00 > 0:22:05then it gives you and us more time and space to be really thinking
0:22:05 > 0:22:10about what's going to be best for you now but also in the future.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14And the good thing about it is that if you stop the injections,
0:22:14 > 0:22:15it's like pressing a start button
0:22:15 > 0:22:18and the body just carries on developing
0:22:18 > 0:22:21as it would as if you hadn't have taken the injection.
0:22:23 > 0:22:24The treatment gives me
0:22:24 > 0:22:28time to decide exactly what I want to do in the future.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31I'm going to have my injection now but you can't film it
0:22:31 > 0:22:33because I've got to pull my pants down.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37I was one of the youngest people in the UK to start hormone blockers.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41He had to go through a long process of being watched
0:22:41 > 0:22:44and talked to and understood,
0:22:44 > 0:22:48so that they were 100% sure he was right for the treatment.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50Although I'm pleased to be prescribed the injections,
0:22:50 > 0:22:52they do really hurt!
0:22:56 > 0:22:57Oh, it's agony.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03But not everyone agrees the treatment is a good thing.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09Newspapers write articles about me because I take hormone blockers.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12Some people think it's not right to give them to children.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17It's such big news, I've been invited to appear on the TV!
0:23:18 > 0:23:21Some people don't agree with giving hormone blockers to younger people
0:23:21 > 0:23:24cos they feel like they have... they're not old enough
0:23:24 > 0:23:27to make the decision, but I think, on the other hand,
0:23:27 > 0:23:29hormone blockers are reversible
0:23:29 > 0:23:32and it won't change someone's life forever.
0:23:33 > 0:23:37I don't like it when they make it sound like they're going to
0:23:37 > 0:23:39give blockers to every nine-year-old that goes in there,
0:23:39 > 0:23:41because that's not the way it is.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44Yeah, it took me about a year, over that, ages.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48Cos they have to check your body and stuff, don't they?
0:23:48 > 0:23:50Yeah, everything.
0:23:50 > 0:23:51Some people's reactions can vary,
0:23:51 > 0:23:54they can be really, really bad or really, really good,
0:23:54 > 0:23:56so you just have to learn to accept that
0:23:56 > 0:23:59people have their own opinions that may not be nice.
0:24:03 > 0:24:05'This is me on the telly!'
0:24:05 > 0:24:08Finally getting my hormone blockers is like the best present ever.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11If Leo could have had those at nine,
0:24:11 > 0:24:13I would have happily let him have them.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16But, as a family, there has never been a waver,
0:24:16 > 0:24:21a moment where you thought, "Are we doing the right thing here?"
0:24:21 > 0:24:23You've been always very positive?
0:24:23 > 0:24:26Always, but then Leo has never wavered either.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29Some trans people may not have made their minds up 100%,
0:24:29 > 0:24:32cos some people have doubts, but I've always been a boy
0:24:32 > 0:24:36and I've always had my mind set that I'm a boy and not a girl.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39'I think doing this could change negativity'
0:24:39 > 0:24:43cos I'm kind of showing people that I'm just normal,
0:24:43 > 0:24:45I'm the same as all the other kids,
0:24:45 > 0:24:49apart form, like, trapped in the wrong body.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52'I hope speaking out on TV will help other people.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56'And I think I might be in love with Holly Willoughby.'
0:24:56 > 0:24:58Love her loads.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08'Today is another really important day.'
0:25:11 > 0:25:13We're in Peterborough and we've come to the passport office,
0:25:13 > 0:25:16me and my mum, we've got all the forms and the photos
0:25:16 > 0:25:18and I'm hoping it goes really well.
0:25:21 > 0:25:23If I don't get "male" on my passport, I'll be really upset
0:25:23 > 0:25:27because it means that other people don't see me the way I see myself.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30- Is the Queen in there?- No.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32It says "Her Majesty".
0:25:32 > 0:25:34Getting "male" on my passport is really important.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37If it says "female" on it, people might just assume I'm a girl
0:25:37 > 0:25:39but if it says "male" on it
0:25:39 > 0:25:43everyone will have to call me a boy because that's what I am.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48You can't come in here, I'm sorry, but wish me luck!
0:25:54 > 0:25:57We're all humans, we all, y'know,
0:25:57 > 0:26:00deserve to have acceptance in this world,
0:26:00 > 0:26:03so I am proud of my... me being trans,
0:26:03 > 0:26:06I'm proud of my gender and I want every other trans person
0:26:06 > 0:26:10to look at themselves and think, "I'm proud of who I am."
0:26:10 > 0:26:13Yes, I've had, like, rubbish back in my life
0:26:13 > 0:26:17but it's all made me the person I am today, that's how I feel.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20So I want to make it so every trans person can be like that.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43We've done it!
0:26:43 > 0:26:47Here's my passport and there's my picture, which is a lot better
0:26:47 > 0:26:48than the other one.
0:26:50 > 0:26:55And here it says "male" on it.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59And it also says M down here, where the other one said F.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02I think for the people who, like, don't accept me
0:27:02 > 0:27:05and, like, pick on me and stuff, I've finally got, like, proof
0:27:05 > 0:27:09and evidence, cos my word isn't as strong as the actual proof.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12Like, for kids who ride past and shout, like, "girl" and stuff
0:27:12 > 0:27:15I kinda... like, I've got the actual proof
0:27:15 > 0:27:18and it's the law as well so it's a legal document.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21And for the parents who think I'm too young, well,
0:27:21 > 0:27:24the law don't think I'm too young so I must not be.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28Taking big steps for trans people and I'm really proud!
0:27:29 > 0:27:31See you soon!
0:27:53 > 0:27:55So, night, guys.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57It won't let me stop it.