I have a theory. My girlfriend Lyn has both cerebral palsy and gender identity disorder, and I was sort of wondering how many people there are in the country like her. So I worked it out. If the incidence of CP is 1 in 400, and depending on which figure you use the incidence of GID is anywhere from 1 in 1000 to 1 in 30000, then there are statistically between 5 and 150 people with both cp and GID in the uk population of 60 million. So there are as many as 149 more people like Lyn out there.

Yet there’s a problem. People with cp often have difficulty expressing themselves. For example, you may have a speech impediment; you may live within the restrictive walls of an institution; or you may not want to make yourself stand out even more. I think these factors combine so that that 150 quickly drops to 0. using this logic, the chances of another TV with CP coming out and finding us is practically nill.

But here’s my theory. I have strong evidence that there are lots of people like Lyn out there, a significant amount more than thie above reason would predict. To have our level of cp is to accept that normal rules do not apply. I gave up trying to fit in long ago. This allows one to express things others repress. It could be that my transvestism is the expression of my attraction to women, and that having CP means that my sexuality has manifested itself differently than it might otherwise have done. People like me free the,mselves from the pressures to conform in order to find partners, meaning that sexuality is free to find other outlets, other manifestationss. That is not to say that my desire to dress up or Lyn’s desire to be a woman is any less earnest or heartfelt than if we didn’t have cp; I don’t think either of us is doing what we do for a laugh, or that we are in any way confused. It’s just that having CP means that feelings which would otherwise remain hidden can surface. I’m not arguing that people like lyn chose to transition because they have CP, but that her sisability made it easier and more likely. In turn, though, this could imply one if two things: either that the incidence of things like GID is higher among people with cp, or that the incidence of things like GID is higher altogether, and that cerebral palsy just gives one the green light to express it more. the latter would explain why, as society becomes more and more open and tolerant, more and more people, with and without cp, are coming out as transpeople.