Two in ten people in Australia identify as trans or gender diverse, but the representation for older demographics is minimal.
President of the Illawarra Shoalhaven Gender Alliance (ISGA) Claire Murphy experienced female leanings from a young age, but didn’t identify as transgender until her late 40s.
“I’d had these feelings from when I was about 8 or 9, but I just didn’t have a word for it.” Ms Murphy said.
“Ended up losing myself, getting married. Even when I was married I sort of said to my partner, before we had a child, “I think I have these feelings, I like wearing womens clothing, I like being feminine.
“I just sort of ignored it, kept pushing it down. But when I was about, 40, 45 and the internet was really high up then I found out that I was [transgender].”
Ms Murphy created the ISGA with the intent to build community and provide support services with a focus on transgender seniors. It now runs a popular event, ‘Transgender and Friends Festival Illawarra’ once a year at the University of Wollongong.