{"id":2567,"date":"2025-04-21T23:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T23:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/?p=2567"},"modified":"2025-04-23T08:55:36","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T08:55:36","slug":"i-was-threatened-with-electroshock-as-a-child-for-wearing-a-dress-now-im-proudly-trans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/21\/i-was-threatened-with-electroshock-as-a-child-for-wearing-a-dress-now-im-proudly-trans\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I was threatened with electroshock as a child for wearing a dress \u2013 now I\u2019m proudly trans\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\t\t\"EMBARGOED\t<\/div>
Samantha came out as trans in retirement (Picture: Belong Wigan\/PA Real Life)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A builder threatened with electroshock therapy<\/a> for wearing a dress as a child has come out as trans in her 60s.<\/p>\n

Samantha Wolsey, 69, threw on a dress for the first time<\/a> when she was six and felt something she had never had before \u2013 gender<\/a> euphoria.<\/p>\n

\u2018I felt absolutely superb when I first put a dress on,\u2019 she recalled. <\/p>\n

But her father did not feel the same way. Instead, he took his child to a psychiatrist, who suggested electric shock treatment.<\/p>\n

\u2018I managed to get out the room, and I turned around to my dad and said, \u201cIf you want that shock treatment, lie on it yourself\u201d,\u2019 the one of 11 children said. <\/p>\n

\u2018I said: \u201cIt\u2019s you who bloody needs it and not me\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"EMBARGOED\t<\/div>
Denise with Samantha pre-transition. The pair are good friends (Picture: Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Samantha continued to wear women\u2019s clothing for years, only to stop after she was beaten so badly in Leigh in the 1990s that she \u2018lost all her teeth\u2019.<\/p>\n

She was attacked from behind when walking by a taxi rank in Leigh, having been dressed as a woman under the guise of raising money for Children In Need.<\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t\tJoin Metro’s LGBTQ+ community on WhatsApp\t\t\t<\/h2>\n
\n

With thousands of members from all over the world, our vibrant LGBTQ+ WhatsApp channel<\/a> is a hub for all the latest news and important issues that face the LGBTQ+ community.<\/p>\n

Simply\u00a0click on this link<\/a><\/strong>, select \u2018Join Chat\u2019 and you\u2019re in! Don’t forget to turn on notifications!<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

After this, Samantha hid who she was, even though her wife of decades, Denise, 66, fully supported her. <\/p>\n

Yet Denise developed a tumour in her chest in 2014, only to suffer from paraneoplastic syndrome \u2013 when anti-tumour antibodies start to attack healthy cells \u2013 afterwards. <\/p>\n

Samantha moved into one of Belong Wigan\u2019s independent living flats to be close to her wife.<\/p>\n

Staff helped Samantha accept who she is \u2013 a trans woman<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"EMBARGOED\t<\/div>
As much as she wishes she transitioned earlier in life, Samantha is now encouraging everyone to be their true selves (Picture: Belong Wigan\/PA Real Life)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018Everybody, as far as I know, has accepted me,\u2019 she said. <\/p>\n

Samantha grew up with six brothers and four sisters, often playing dress-up.<\/p>\n

\u2018But my dad hated it, because he\u2019s always wanted men in his life,\u2019 Samantha said. \u2018That\u2019s realistically what buggered me up.\u2019<\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t\tWhat is electroshock therapy?\t\t\t<\/h2>\n
\n

Conversion therapy, also called reparative therapy, is a discredited practice that aims to change a person\u2019s sexual orientation or gender expression.<\/p>\n

Electroshock was a common form of conversion therapy throughout the 1960s in the UK<\/a>. <\/p>\n

People had painful electric jolts administered when they were aroused by same-sex images, in what is called aversion therapy. <\/p>\n

\u2018Each treatment lasted about 30 minutes, with some participants given portable electric shock boxes to use at home while they induced sexual fantasies,\u2019 researchers describe.<\/p>\n

Many other forms of conversion therapy continue in the UK.<\/p>\n

Nearly a third of LGBTQ+ Britons have experienced at least one<\/a> attempt at changing their sexuality or gender. One in 10 queer people have undergone an \u2018exorcism\u2019, while roughly the same number have suffered \u2018corrective rape\u2019 \u2013 sexually assaulting an LGBTQ+ person to \u2018cure\u2019 them<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Samantha met Denise in 1978 at a pub while she worked as a builder. <\/p>\n

Denise didn\u2019t quite believe Samantha at first when she told her she cross-dresses. The wig, however, was even more unbelievable. <\/p>\n

\u2018You look OK from your neck down, but that bloody wig, what you\u2019ve got on, it\u2019s absolutely disgusting,\u2019 Denise told Samantha when she wore women\u2019s clothing in front of her for the first time, Samantha said. <\/p>\n

Denise would eventually begin bringing her partner carrier bags of feminine clothing \u2013 from bras to knickers \u2013 to show she supported Samantha. <\/p>\n

In 2010, Samantha and Denise went on holiday to Spain. At the hotel, Samantha popped open her suitcase only to not see any of her clothing.<\/p>\n

\u2018I started unpacking it, and I said, \u201cHave you given me the wrong case here?\u201d\u2018 Samantha said.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"EMBARGOED\t<\/div>
The pensioner was threatened with electroshock treatment for wearing a dress(Picture: Handout\/PA Real Life)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018Denise said, \u201cNo, why?\u201d I said, \u201cIt\u2019s all women\u2019s clothes\u201d. She said: \u201cYeah, that\u2019s the whole idea\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018There were even bikinis in there!\u2019<\/p>\n

Denise, however, was given just six months to live in 2014 after she developed a tumour and paraneoplastic syndrome.<\/p>\n

She defied the odds and, 10 months later, moved into a care home in Wigan. Samantha joined her in 2020. <\/p>\n

\u2018If you want to do it, go for it\u2019<\/h2>\n

One evening in 2023, she dressed as a woman and claimed it was for a \u2018fancy-dress party\u2019.<\/p>\n

Staff saw right through her and instead encouraged her to embrace her identity \u2013 a Q&A session was even arranged so residents could ask about her transition. <\/p>\n

Samantha is also asking herself a lot of questions, too. <\/p>\n

While she\u2019s legally changed her name and is the proud owner of some 40 dresses and 30 wigs, she wonders how different her life would have been if she had come out earlier.<\/p>\n

If she could, Samantha says, she would have undergone gender-affirming surgery. <\/p>\n

\u2018If you want to do it, go for it,\u2019 Samantha added. \u2018I\u2019ll be there if you want to talk to somebody.\u2019<\/p>\n

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

For more stories like this, <\/strong>check our news page<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Samantha came out as trans in retirement (Picture: Belong Wigan\/PA Real Life) A builder threatened with electroshock therapy for wearing a dress as a child has come out as trans in her 60s. Samantha Wolsey, 69, threw on a dress for the first time when she was six and felt something she had never had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2569,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2567"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2574,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2567\/revisions\/2574"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}