Author Archives: healthlgbti

Dating & Living With an Older Gay Man

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I sometimes get asked about what it’s like dating or living with an older gay man. I also get asked for tips and advice on how to deal with family and friends or how I dealt with my family and friends when they found out I was dating and in fact now living with a man 22 years older than myself.

I have actually written about many of these questions and problems in my other articles here as the articles are all based on my personal experiences of mainly dating older men, as well as my life living with one for seven years now.

However, a recent email inspired me to write some more on this subject and to try and address a few specific points that I may not have covered quite so clearly before.

One of the problems or hurdles that you will face if you are involved in a relationship with a gay man where there is a significant age gap is how others will perceive that relationship.

Another hurdle that you may face is how you think other people will perceive your relationship with an older or younger gay man.

In my own life, the later point is actually the one that gave me the most problems.

I actually gave myself more grief and worry about what other people might think than what actually happened and what these people actually do think about our relationship.

These days, I don’t worry about people thinking negatively about our relationship because in the first place it’s not theirs and in the second place most people are too busy with their own problems and relationships to really be too concerned.

I took me many years to get to this comfort point in my life; it wasn’t easy and I will admit that even to this day I sometimes have the occasional bit of anxiety.

How could I have made things easier on myself? That’s something that I sometimes think about and the answer that keeps repeating itself is that I should have come out to my parents a lot earlier than when I did.

But I was young and scared of what they might think or do and what my friends might think and do. As it turned out, I came out to my parents when I was older and at a pretty low point in my life, still scared of what everyone might say and do.

To make thing just a little more interesting and difficult, the day I came out was also the day that they officially found out that I was living with an older man who was the same age as they were.

Yes, they got a double whammy that day!

I broke the news awkwardly to my mum first. I don’t remember exactly what either of us said, it’s all a blur but it basically went something like this…

“Mum, you know how I’m renting a room from Ian and how I invite him to all our family get-togethers? Well he’s not really my landlord. He’s my lover and has been since I moved in with him”.

A short pause of silence greets this revelation and then my mum responds with, “It’s OK; I kind of figured that might be the case”.

After I left my parents place, my head still spinning at what I’d just done, I received a phone call from my Dad; “It’s OK son”, he said.

I was elated! Years of guilt started lifting from my shoulders.

I had begun the next phase of my life as a gay man of thirty something.

I honestly don’t know what I would have done had this opportunity presented itself when I was younger, and in my early twenties; or nineteen for that matter.

I do know that it was important to finally come out to my family and formally introduce the man who was my lover and partner.

I was quite literally getting sick from hiding in the closet and hiding a relationship that was extremely important to me, as Ian wasn’t just some guy that I was occasionally going out with. My entire life was and is to this day revolving around him – we’re partners.

Do we get strange looks or questions? Sure sometimes. But for the most part people are too busy to really concern themselves. For others that we meet it’s often a case of, “Oh well, that’s interesting, looks like it’s been good for both of you.” And still others are down right envious.

In any event, it matters not what they think; what matters is us and our happiness.

Understanding Sexual Orientation Amongst Young Males

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When it comes to understanding sexual orientation among youth, most research focuses on health, social work and psychology. They look at the youth’s vulnerability to various types of health issues: sexually transmitted diseases, school climate and bullying, sexual assault, abuse and suicide. However, the sociological process that drives individuals to call themselves gay or bisexual has had less focus, until now.

Researcher Mary Anne Robinson of the University of Colorado at Boulder decided to analyze “sexual selfhood” and the process of sexual socialization through a qualitative method and from the point of view of adolescent males.

Her study focused on 18 life-history interviews. Robinson volunteered at Spectrum for 16 months. Spectrum is an urban center that welcomes any youth between the ages of 13 and 22 who identify with the LGBT community. It predominately serves young adults of lower socioeconomic status. Robinson decided to direct the focus of her study on male youth who were born male. The population at the center was mostly male, and she didn’t want to assume all experiences among the other genders.

Robinson’s research led her to identify four processes of sexual identity formation. They are: violating compulsory heterosexuality, seeking out an explanation for their differences, exploring sexuality and negotiating identity.

Compulsory behavior occurs in a social system where all persons are assumed to be heterosexual and heterosexuality is reinforced by gender norms, like masculine and feminine. According to Robinson’s study, the young males would recount stories of how others marked them as being different because they did not conform to typical male behavior. Once the individual was marked for their difference by either themselves or others, they sought out an explanation for why. Initially many of the participants revealed that they didn’t have a language to name how they felt.

Upon recognizing themselves as gay or bisexual, the young men took steps toward embracing their sexuality through relationships. Many of the young males had opportunities to have sex, but did not. In fact, many of the participants identified themselves as virgins. Robinson believes this is significant because it shows that being gay or bisexual doesn’t depend on having sex.

Last, although many face pressure to choose a sexual identity, many youths today are ambiguous about what that identity is. Robinson found that while the boundaries of identity are expanding, sexual identities are becoming more prominent and meaningful, even though not all sexual and gender identities are viewed with legitimacy.

Dr. M. Mirza, LGBT Health Wellness – 2014

Are LGBT Students More Likely to Abuse Substances?

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Members of the LGBT community typically report a higher level of psychological discomfort and complications in their lives. America may be accepting of sexual minorities in some areas, but not completely across the board. Many, including heterosexuals, turn to drugs to cope with the difficult situations they are presented. Two studies (Substance use of lesbian, gay, bisexual and heterosexual college students and Neighborhood-level LGBT hate crimes and current illicit drug use among sexual minority youth) have recently been published, confirming that LGBT college and high school students typically report higher levels of drug use.

Substance use of lesbian, gay, bisexual and heterosexual college students compared how self-identifying lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) college students and heterosexual use alcohol, tobacco and other drug and alcohol. What they found was that LGB students were more likely to drink in excess. Bisexual college students on the other hand had greater odds of using other illicit substances, with bisexual women reporting the highest.

Drinking and tobacco use already run rampant in Universities. College is an exciting time with new opportunities for socialization and people want to be part of the fun. However, the pressures of campus life and school work combined with the anxieties of leaving home can be depressing for many; especially LGBT communities who report higher levels of discrimination. In Neighborhood-level LGBT hate crimes and current illicit drug use among sexual minority youth, they found cities with high reports of hate crimes towards sexual minority youth also have higher rates of consumption of illicit substances. This proven connection between physical and substance abuse should be raising alarms.

That is not the only contributing factor. Members of sexual minorities also report feeling a greater sense of loneliness and disconnection than their straight counterparts. It’s one thing to feel discomfort moving away from home, but to have nobody to turn to can magnify these emotions. Being lonely is depressing and people that are depressed are more likely to drink. These issues aren’t limited to college life either. LGBT youths in high school, while not as great, report similarly regarding substance abuse.

The problem, as studies seem to show, look more like a social issue than biological. Sexual preference is not something people can be told to make, so adjustments really need to be made towards the treatment of gay communities if these numbers are to be lowered. LGBT groups in colleges are definitely a beneficiary to their members, providing people to confide in for their members but is that really enough? The ideology that we should be treated differently because we have different preferences in the bedroom needs to be erased from society. Nobody should worry about being physically abused just as nobody should need to feel alone.

Dr. M. Mirza, LGBT Health Wellness – 2014

How Many Americans Are Bisexual or Homosexual?

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A recent survey (the annual National Health Interview Survey) by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention asked about sexual orientation for the first time. While the majority of candidates reported being heterosexual, of the 34,557, 1.6 percent claimed to be homosexual and 0.7 claimed to be bisexual. While many other surveys have claimed much higher numbers, it is important to keep in mind that this is a very difficult number to pinpoint.

You may be asking why. To start, the survey is more or less showcasing results for how those who have taken it identify themselves. Whether or not it factually identifies all participants based on societal definitions of sexuality is too complicated a question to test without further research. Keep in mind that many people do not care to share their sexuality, possibly due to shame, misidentification with how they feel inside, or simply not wanting to release that information. It’s a complicated subject; proclaiming you are gay or bisexual carries many social stigmas.

Questions were provided to surveyors via computer, which they personally asked participants who then answered by showing flash cards. This person to person questioning may help comfort, but still, it does nothing to encourage people to discuss their true indentity. Furthermore, the survey asked nothing regarding transexuals, whose sexuality may be very difficult at times to define.

These statistics may help narrow and target treatment for sexual minorities, which is good, but they still lack accuracy. Without societal reform, it may be impossible to get information that is, figuratively, hidden in the closet.

September 2014

Estrogen Alone Doesn’t Curb Testosterone

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Male-to-female transgender patients receiving estrogen alone won’t curb their testosterone production, a new study has found. New York State’s medical college conducted the study on one healthcare center where they found that about half of the patients receiving estradiol as part of hormone therapy experienced adequate testosterone suppression, even if accompanied by progestin says Matthew Leinung, MD, who was one of the researchers involved. These are two female hormones that act like estrogen and progesterone. Adding anti-antigens finasteride or spironolactone didn’t change anything.

Leinung made a presentation on their findings presented at the joint congress of the Endocrine Society and the International Congress on Endocrinology in Chicago. Leinung conceded, “I don’t know why I found what I found,” during his presentation. He went on to say, “I don’t have a good explanation because that’s not what the conventional wisdom is.”

There are lots of options when treating transgender patients, however, medical experts don’t know exactly which treatment is the ideal one. One thing all transgender medical experts agree on is that the hormone level has to be brought up to a normal level in the gender desired and that suppressing some hormone production in the patient is also crucial.

All the patients at his transgender clinic were evaluated by Leinung. Data from 82 patients out of more than 160 person sample was chosen for the study taking place between 2008 and 2013. 2008 was selected as this was when ethyl-estradiol was switched to oral estradiol. Leinung extracted out those who had reassignment surgery, were on Premarin, or hadn’t been taking estradiol long enough. He began giving them the hormones 4 mg doses of estradiol. 46% of the patients had significant testosterone suppression. Those that didn’t, the doses were upped to 6 mg. For those whom 6 mgs worked, the rate was still only 52%. Those who were still resistant and given finasteride to suppress their testosterone production actually saw the opposite come true, the body ramped up testosterone production.

Leuning, in his presentation, also mentioned research out of Maine Medical Center in Portland. That team, led by Lindsey Spratt, MD, and his colleagues, did find sufficient suppression in estrogen hormone therapy alone, which suggested against any added therapies until the physician got to see if the hormone therapy alone was sufficient.

Dr. M. Mirza, LGBT Health Wellness – August, 2014

Trans Women May Be At Greater Risk For Depression

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The LGBT community has always been thought to be at greater risk for clinical depression than the general population because of the alienation that LGBT people often feel after “coming out” to family and friends, and it seems that the stigma and pain is a greater onus for women and transgender women because of the male-dominated social hierarchy that these individuals are forced to struggle against in the process. Surprisingly studies have shown that LGBT women that are open about their sexuality usually experience less depression. However, there is still an unsettling amount of research that has shown that Transgender women have a lifetime risk for developing depression of about 62% versus the 16% risk for the general population.

A review done this year on the factors that are thought to be behind the lifetime prevalence of depression in transgender women looked at interpersonal and intrapersonal support systems in several studies. The author of this review concluded that although social support from family and self-esteem both influence the risk of developing depression, the woman’s employment status and whether or not she has experienced violence related to her transgender identity are the two most critical factors influencing the rate of depression. Transgender women are thought to suffer violence at the hands of co-workers more often than most LGBT individuals. There is concern that unemployment rates among Transgender women is higher because of harassment and violent assaults at the hands of coworkers, and workplace discrimination against people with transgender identity ends with the victim being blamed. There is a vicious cycle of violence, unemployment, lower economic status, and thus an increased chance of depression in transgender women.

An article in Huffington Post published this year discussed the new workplace training program “Understanding the T in LGBT: Gender Identity and Gender Expression” and how it hopes to help reduce the prevalence of workplace violence and harassment directed against transgender individuals. The online program is part of a Diversity and Inclusion web course series that is designed to increase acceptance of diversity and help prevent identity and cultural “gaps” from leading to workplace harassment. The current rate of workplace harassment experienced by Transgender individuals is reported as 90%.

Dr. M. Mirza, LGBT Health Wellness, 2014

Transgender Acceptance in the Classroom

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The Vancouver school board just recently proposed a law that would allow transgender students to be accommodated in the classroom more easily. Some of the regulations that the school board hopes to implement include the installment of transgender washrooms and the freedom for the student to choose between sex-education curriculums geared towards their biological sex, or their gender identity. For the most part these changes sound like they will be beneficial, but you could criticize the school-board’s desire for separate washrooms. The regulations do at least prohibit faculty from encouraging the transgender individuals to question their identity, which should help assuage some of the alienation that the separate facilities could lead to. Bathroom access has created controversy in LouisevilleKY, recently leading the adjustments in the wording of non-discrimination policies to explicitly include transgender individuals. Frankly it seems like bathroom stalls already do enough to separate people in the bathroom, and maybe policy changes such as the Louiseville one would be more effective in helping transgender students integrate at school.

The policy adjustments so far are small, but they are a step in the right direction for transgender people who are often regarded as confused or desperate for attention. The essential next step in integrating transgender individuals is school-wide awareness. Efforts need to be made to quell harassing remarks, and the issue of violence against transgender students should not be relegated to the shadows. Services that assist transgender students in cultivating a sense of self-acceptance and a feeling of belonging also need to be incorporated into school systems in order for these integration difficulties to be combatted.

Dr. M. Mirza, LGBT Health Wellness – 2014

Is Sex Conversion Therapy Ever Ethical?

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Sex conversion therapy, or reparative therapy as it is also known, has been a source of ire and controversy in the LGBT community for years.

Everyone has days where there are things that they wish they could change about themselves. Certainly it comes as no surprise that there are people that would like to profit from offering the opportunity to LGBT folks to stop having homosexual thoughts. In a world where therapy has become a cornerstone of our lives from our pre-school years on it was inevitable that there would be therapists that provide counseling to eliminate homosexual thoughts. But sex conversion therapy is no small matter… it is not just a field comprised of a few greedy therapists armed with self-help books and gimmicky promises. In the 90’s when sex conversion therapy first gained notoriety it was mainly through Christian counselors. The Christian organizations behind these counselors would often rely on help from the secular group National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) to support their actions. The justification for their work was easy at the time because the World Health Organization still considered homosexuality a mental disorder. A large part of their efforts were geared towards converting self-identified gay or bisexual teenagers to heterosexuality through the use of electro-shock therapy and other unpleasant stimuli paired with homoerotic images.

Laws that ban conversion therapy have been added to state legislature now in California, New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts.

Accounts from LGBT individuals that received sex conversion therapy as minors frequently blame the therapy for worsening their anxiety and self-hatred. Clearly some of the methods that sex conversion therapy uses are out of the dark ages of psychology, but is it fair to sex that all counseling like this should be outlawed even if it is practiced only by licensed therapists? The therapy is defined as being meant to help with unwanted homosexual thoughts, so maybe it is unfair to immediately dismiss the therapy as unethical. But the mere question of whether or not conversion therapy is ethical implies that some LGB individuals aren’t really homosexual. The World Health Organization no longer considers homosexuality a mental disorder, so it hardly makes sense that there are people that would still like to treat it as one. If the LGB individual were having too many homosexual thoughts–well that is another problem entirely and not one that most LGB people have any need to address in therapy.

The other problem here is that the majority of sex conversion therapy is directed at minors.

When a teenager isn’t sure what kind of person he or she is in an intimate sense, that’s normal. Trying to suppress changes in sexuality and self-perspective in teenagers should never go beyond the normal do’s and don’ts of that age category. If you aren’t convinced that sex conversion therapy is too extreme then maybe it helps to imagine what you would think of a parent that sought electro-shock therapy to for their 16 year old daughter for ideating about inviting her school’s field hockey team over for a wild night. Sometimes teenagers have thoughts that are a little beyond them, and sometimes parents have difficulty accepting the people their teenagers are becoming, but shock therapy is rather severe. It just doesn’t sound like something that fits with our ideals as a culture.

Dr. M. Mirza, LGBT Health Wellness – 2014

Transgender woman murdered

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Tyler’s friends believe she was a victim of a hate crime.

“This has to be a hate crime, this has to be a hate crime, nothing else because that was an upstanding person with a good heart,” Underwood’s roommate, Coy Simmons told KYTX.

“She was lovely, just a lovely person.”

Tyler’s friends say she was well-liked and had no enemies. “She’s a fan favourite,” Kenya Darks told local news station, KLTV.

Police suggested that Tyler was shot before trying to flee from her attacker in her car. Police are still searching for a suspect. and have appealed to the public to come forward if they have any information.

A Transvestite Encounter in Post-Roman Gaul

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One day in the summer of the year 590, the experienced and wry divine Gregory — Metropolitan bishop of Tours in the barbarian kingdom of Frankish Neustria — sat to hear a sensational case. With his fellow bishops, Gregory was to judge upon a scandal during the year of the revolt of the nuns in Poitiers against their abbess. This was in reality part of the vicious feminine war festering within the Frankish royal house.

Royal women were not normally subject to the lynch law prevailing outside the walls of their protected establishments, and could not by custom be routinely killed by their male relatives. Women beware was the rule in the palaces and high-status religious houses. This is the era of Queen Fredegund, spymistress, controller of assassins and, murderess.

The extraordinary position of top-ranking Frankish women, and the savage energy of the times, bathes the calm testimony of the political churchman in the atmosphere of the Nibelunglied.

Rome has fallen and deranged warlords feast amid the ruins, drunk and dangerous. Nominally Christian, they are addicted to war, vendetta, and extortion on a massive scale.

Partially controlling these sacred monsters is a pack of the old Roman aristocracy dressed up as men of God, and protected by the magic powers of which they have convinced the magnates. All public services, apart from those controlled by the church, have perished with the Empire; the population at large is prey to every kind of violence and misfortune.

An obsessive faith in a better life hereafter, and raging superstitions are understandable reactions to this post-apocalyptic world, crisscrossed by plundering hordes.

Gregory is as credulous as his flock, sharp observer though he is. Miracles are as common as plagues, signs and wonder a daily occurrence. Without these visible evidences of divine mercy, life is unendurable. Worshipping God and pleasing him was paramount: a primary objective of the churchmen and theoretically of the ignorant barbarian sovereigns they served and manipulated.

The kings thought that promotion of Christianity brought them success in battle and at the council table; the bishops thought it the only guarantee of a very fragile existence. This makes what occurred in the cathedral of Poitiers that summer day so extraordinary. One rubs one’s eyes to read Gregory’s account.

After dealing with a siege situation at the Poitiers Nunnery, and putting down the revolt with a little bloodshed here and there, the bishops assemble. romanlaw2Gregory says:’Tunc resedentes sacerdotes……..”

Then were present the priests sitting down again on the tribunal of the church…..

“Adfuit Chrodieldis..”

Was present Clotild,

“Multa in abbatissa iactans convitia cum criminibus…”

Hurling many accusations of crime against the abbess…”

“Adserens,eam virum habere in monasterium…..”

Asserting she had a man in the nunnery….

“Qui indutus vestimenta muliebria pro femina haberetur…”

Who was dressed in female clothing so one would take him to be a woman….

“Cum esset vir manifestissime declaratus”

Though he was most manifestly clearly a man.

“Atque ipsi abbatissa famularetur assiduae..”

And that the abbess regularly had sex with him

This is clearly not in the normal run of canon law cases. A princess of the blood, ostensibly a religious, is appearing in person to accuse her superior, also a princess, of extreme sexual irregularity. With bells on. But then…….sensation! Clotild continues:

“Indicans eum digito,”En ipsum”

“There he is!” — pointing him out with her finger

Now whatever mental picture one has of people and events in the heroic age, I am sure that it does not include the moments following this dramatic pronouncement. If it were not for the fact that this is the testimony of an eyewitness, one would discount it as an invention.

From the dais Gregory beholds something rather out of the ordinary for 6th century Gaul:

“Qui cum in veste,ut diximus,muliebri,coram omnibus adstetisset..”

Whereupon a man in women’s clothing, as we have said, stood forward in the sight of everyone

“Dixit,se nihil opus posse virile agere, ideoque sibi hoc indumentum mutasse”.

Who said, that he was in no way able to operate as a man, and so transformed himself by dressing.

One wonders what the reaction was. The general impression given by Gregory’s account may be summed up in the only possible cliché – stunned silence. Succeeded by anticlimax:

“Abbatissam vero nonnisi tantum nomine nossit..”.

He stated that he knew nothing of the Abbess but her name…”

“Seque eam nunquam vidisse ..”

And he had never seen her..

“Neque cum eadem colloquium habuisse, professus est”.

Nor with the same had had any conversation,

If this was an intended coup de theatre by Clotild, she has obviously failed miserably, or her co-conspirator has been made an offer that he/she cannot refuse.

Our transgender person concludes:

“Praesertim cum hic amplius quam quadraginta ab urbe Pectava milibus degeret”

As well as this he lived more than forty miles from Poitiers

There is clearly something gravely wrong with all this. One thing is indisputable: there is at least one full-time MtoF transgender person living unmolested in the Barbarian West. One gets a whiff of country cottages and a decent kitchen garden, with a mustachioed husband in the background. Somewhere off the beaten track for armies; somewhere quiet.

And yet this person is known. Clotild knows her, she pointed him out, and Clotild is the daughter of the late great (if psychotic) king Charibert. Has Clotild had him/her transported, as if by evil fairies, those forty impossible miles to the cathedral of Poitiers?. And if so, why has her leading actress fluffed her lines? If Clotild’s royal antagonists are responsible for this apparition, how does any of Gregory’s carefully self-censored narrative work?

The saintly bishop of Tours had no desire to linger on the sordid details of this distressing case, and still less did he wish to enlarge upon what might lie behind the bizarre transvestite moment in the cathedral of Poitiers. Blandly he informs us that as a result of the transgender testimony, it was obviously out of the question to convict the pious abbess of criminal conversation. We should, therefore, all move on, and there’s nothing to see around here, folks.

Clotild, however, was not finished yet:

“Quae enim sanctitas in hac abbatissa versatur….”

For what holiness is poured out on this abbess..”

Quae viros eunuchus facit,et secum habitare imperiale ordini praecipit..”

Who has men made eunuchs, and has them around her after the manner of the imperial court.

More dirty washing from St Radegund’s Nunnery and for a while things look a bit dodgy for the noble abbess Leubovera.

“Imterrogata abbatissa,se de hac ratione nihil scire respondit…”

The abbess being questioned, she replied that she knew absolutely nothing about it..”

“Interea,cum haec nomen pueri eunuchi protulisset…”

Meanwhile, the name of the eunuch serving-boy was produced…

And then, a deus ,or rather medicus, ex machina appears:

“Adfuit Reovalis archiater…”

The leading doctor Reovalis presented himself..

Where did HE come from? The learned surgeon explains:

“Dicens,puer iste,parvolus cum esset et infirmaretur in femore..”

Saying, this boy being very young was having pains in the loins..”

Disperatus coepit habere, mater quoque eius sanctam Ragegundam adivit..”

Having been given up as hopeless, his mother also went to Saint Radegund herself.

“Ut ei aliquod studium iubiret inpendi..”

To see if she could have this case looked into somehow.

Saint Radegund knows just the man for the job:

At illa,me vocato,iussit,si possim,aliquid iuvarem..”

And she, having summoned me, commanded me, if I could, to do something to help.

Doctor Reovalis is not afraid to take drastic measures:

“Tunc ego,sicut quondam apud urbem Constantinopolitam medicos agere conspexeram..”

Then I, having once upon a time observed what the doctors did at Constantinople…

“Incisis testicolis..”

Cut off his bollocks

One imagines some uncomfortable shifting about on the tribunal. But all is well:

“Puerum sanum genetrici maestae restitui..”

I restored the boy to his mother improved in health…

“Nam nihil de hac causa abbatissa scire cognovi..”

And I know for a fact that the present abbess knew nothing about this thing.

So that’s alright then. Clotild has alleged the presence of a transvestite, and one is there present in the cathedral. She also claims that there are eunuchs about, and one is also found in the cathedral. But it is all perfectly alright, because there is a simple and innocent explanation for all this stuff. The tranny says he is impotent, and the castrated boy’s mum is happy, so what is the problem? Well, everything really.

This is Merovingian Gaul, not New York in the 1970’s. What is a full-time crossdresser doing in the Dark Ages? Are we supposed to believe that there is a castration expert just hanging about in 6th century Poitiers?

A genius to boot, as the learned doctor claims to have performed this tricky bit of work with no training, but simply as a result of having sat in on an operation way back in the day.

No doubt doctor Reovalis was a brilliant wound surgeon. Lord knows there was ample scope for his talents in the Frankish kingdoms. But it is quite evident that he has performed castrations before, and that he was trained to do so at the East Roman court.

These people stand before us for a few brief moments, caught in the light that a great historian unwittingly throws upon his times. The full court judgment quoted by Gregory makes absolutely no mention of transvestism or of castrated boys, or of any but the most anodyne accusations against the saintly abbess Leubovera. As a writer however, he could not resist the drama of the occasion, and we hear the very words of the protagonists.

The nasty business at St Radegund’s nunnery, which had involved gang warfare, numerous homicides, and an unfortunate outbreak of pregnancy among the unguarded nuns, was smoothed over. The Frankish sovereigns had for once united to draw a veil over this most unedifying spectacle, and the pious judges knew very well what the outcome was to be before the enquiry began.

Nobody important was punished for anything. Clotild and her unwilling accomplice princess Basina were giving a few days penance and told not to cause trouble again.

And the man who dressed as a woman, what happened to him/her? Did she perhaps have a quiet word with the gifted doctor?. Two of the unlikeliest figures of the age fade away, revealed by accident, and lost in time.

Written by: Michelle Quartermain

tglife.com – 2014