Nikki Sinclaire, a British member of
the European Parliament, on Sunday came out transgender.
In an interview with the UK's The
Sun, Sinclaire discussed the decision to undergo gender
reassignment surgery over 20 years ago.
“It sounds weird, but I knew
something was wrong even then [at the age of 3] – I've always felt
I was in the wrong body,” she said. “I remember dressing up as a
girl on my first day of school. It then started to happen every day.
The other kids knew I was different.”
“After the operation, I developed
deep vein thrombosis and was immobile for nearly a year,” she
revealed. “I suffered from depression, was on 21 different tablets
and felt like I wasn't in control of my own life.”
“Gender re-assignment surgery nearly
killed me – but it was something I had to do.”
Sinclaire resigned as party secretary
of the conservative UKIP Party after a falling out with leader Nigel
Farage. She has since founded the We Demand a Referendum campaign,
which seeks a public vote on Britain's membership in the European
Union.
“If I hadn't become a woman, I would
have led a lonely, neurotic life, forever out of place, endlessly
consulting doctors and therapists at public expense. As it is I have
a happy, fulfilled achiever and I have repaid, in tax, the cost of my
NHS operation many times over,” Sinclaire added.