It’s Never Too Late

No matter the age, no matter the space, it is never too late to be the person you are inside. Joe meets a couple of people with very different journeys about what it's like to come out trans later in life.

When we hear from trans and gender diverse individuals they are normally young people who are figuring out their gender identity as they navigate their teenage years and early adulthood.

But social change in New Zealand has allowed older people to explore their gender identity too.

Luca Bree has been part of the rainbow community for most of his life but it only been in recently has he begun to explore his gender identity. Rather than a teenager coming out to their parents, Luca found himself, mid-60s, coming out to his adult children.

"I told my son and he said 'it's a very first world problem' and then the next day he brought my Christmas present round with: 'To Mum/Luca' on it," he said.

Naturally Luca had complicated questions from both himself and his loved ones about who he is now and who he has been for the previous 60 odd years.

"Sixty-eight years of being Caroline is not going to go away," said Luca, "I wasn't unhappy before, but I'm so much happier now."

It is often the case that people knew there was something not quite right or a feeling that something felt off when they saw themselves in the mirror.

Reverend Kyle Provan was nearly 40 years old before he was able to identify as transgender.

"It's amazing how long you can keep a mask on for," he said, "That mask of being female even though inside you are slowly dying."

"When people started to make me female and change the way I dressed... I walked with it because I wanted to fit in."

Kyle struggled through decades of trying to unify his faith with who he knew he was.

Kyle and Luca's stories are very different experiences of very similar feelings. But they are also very familiar to young people who have explored their gender.

"It really put into perspective how it could have gone differently for me, in terms of my transition," said Let's Be Transparent host Joseph Stockhausen…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details