by: Lesley Renee Charles

Part One - Preschool Years

I was born on Sunday, September 26, 1965 in Somerville, New Jersey. The first three years of my life were uneventful. Around the age of three, I realized that I would grow up to be female. I had no idea of the different plumbing of the sexes at the time so I just knew I would grow up to be a woman.

I wanted to play with dolls and fell in love with the Dawn doll series. I refused to play with my matchbox cars and trucks. My older half brother would force me to play with them. Also, around that time I would walk on my toes emulating walking in high heel shoes. This also freaked my family out. My preferred playmates were girls. I always got along better with them than with boys.

I was also in my first and only year of nursery school at the time. My mother later told me that I was picked on by the boys and taken under the wing of the nursery school owner’s older daughter. I was an extremely good-natured and sweet child. I usually did what I was told.

When playing house I would always be a daughter. I felt more comfortable in the feminine role. I would almost always act effeminate. Around this time, I was called a fag and fairy by some of the teen-age boys in my neighborhood.

I would play dress up in my mother’s and my friends’ mothers’ clothes. I especially liked to wear the high heel shoes. I had many girl friends and very few boy friends. I just did not feel comfortable around boys, even though I was told that I should hang out with them.

(continued)

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