The first of those popularisers was Anne Lawrence, a transwoman who came across Blanchard’s work in 1994, aged forty-four and about to embark on transition. A medical doctor, she read everything she could find about transsexuality, but little resonated with her feelings and experiences. In the description of autogynephilia, however, she experienced the shock of recognition. ‘If you had asked, “are you a woman inside?” I would have replied, “I don’t think so,” ’ she says. ‘What I always knew is that I wanted to have a woman’s body. I hated the penis; I hated the erections; that’s what I had to
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