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'I was sacked for wanting a sex change!'

When transsexual Maurice Lewis finally found the courage to start dressing like a woman, he hoped people would support him. But while his family and friends were understanding, his employers cruelly sacked him from his job as a travel agent.

Maurice, who changed his name to Michelle Louise, sued the company and was awarded £15,000 for discrimination and unfair dismissal – which she spent on sex change surgery and a new wardrobe. She’s now hoping to launch a career as model, despite recently being rejected by Ann Summers lingerie.

Unemployed Michelle, 39, of Blackpool, says: “I’m a sexy, sassy and classy woman. If the public think Jordan is ballsy, they haven’t seen anything yet. I have great skin and a dream body – I could be the next big model but I’ve struggled to get work because the industry is transphobic.”

Michelle, who has a 36C bust thanks to female hormone pills, started dressing as a girl when she was just five years old.

She says: “I used to sneak into my mum’s bedroom and dance around in her dresses. I was so jealous of my younger sister because I wanted everything she had. I remember crying in the bathroom one Christmas when she got a doll and I got football boots.”

By the time Maurice turned 15, he was dressing in drag in pubs and clubs around Liverpool with a gay friend.

Michelle says: “I’d secretly go out as a girl on Friday nights and feel liberated and happy. But the next day I’d be at an Everton football match with my dad pretending to enjoy it.”

Despite labelling his penis as a “useless growth,” Maurice tried to conform and lost his virginity to a girl before he was 16. But two years later he realised he was bisexual.

“I realised it didn’t matter who I had sex with – I just fantasised about being a girl,” says 5ft 9 Michelle, who’s a size 10.

“Looking back, I think the girls I dated had an idea I wanted to be a woman as they said they’d never met a man who was so feminine – but I never admitted it.”

It wasn’t until Maurice was 23 that he told his GP about his secret desire.

“I said I wanted to be a woman, but he told me to stop being stupid. I was gutted and continued to live a lie. I went to work in a suit as a travel agent, but got my stash of women’s clothes out in the evenings.

“I had sex with women as Maurice and with men as Michelle, but it was emotionally draining and, in 2000, I was signed off work with stress. I was referred to a psychiatrist who confirmed I was transexual.”

Maurice, whose dad died when he was 17, was told to return two years later when the clinic would recommend him for sex change surgery if he still felt the same way.

She says: “I decided to tell my family. I burst into tears as I told Mum I should have been born a girl, but she just said: ‘Whatever will be, will be,’ and hugged me. My sister just shrugged and said I’d been a very bitchy boy so it made sense!”

In 2002 Maurice changed his name by deed poll to Michelle and started taking female hormones. But while her family stood by her, her employers at the travel agency where she’d worked for two years were unsupportive.

She says: “When I told my boss I wanted to become a woman, his face dropped. Word spread quickly and I could hear my colleagues saying: ‘There’s the tranny’ and giggling. I was determined to ignore them and started wearing skirts and make-up.

“Then, during a work do, when I wore a short dress and blonde wig, one of my colleagues shouted: ‘What a joke’ and it broke my heart. They sacked me a few weeks later, claiming I’d been rude to customers and bullying staff. It was rubbish.”

When the case went to court in August 2002, Michelle was awarded £15,000 compensation for discrimination and unfair dismissal.

“I put half of the money aside for the operations and the rest I blew on a girlie wardrobe from Topshop,” she says.

In June 2004 Maurice, who by then was dating a 65-year-old bisexual, spent £8,000 having his penis turned into a vagina – which included a clitoris – and his Adam’s apple removed.

Michelle says: “I had to wait nearly two years to have the operation as the surgeons wanted me to be absolutely sure it was what I wanted. When I woke up after the op, I opened my legs, looked in the mirror and thought ‘Wow!’ – my vagina looked so nice.

“It was a huge relief to get rid of my penis, and when I had sex with my partner he insisted he couldn’t tell the difference between mine or any other vagina. As doctors had given me my own G-spot I was even able to have amazing orgasms.”

She adds: “I was so happy with my body after the operation, I decided to become a model.”

In December 2006, Michelle received £1,000 for a lingerie shoot after answering an advert for glamour models by a company claiming to work with Vogue magazine.

“It was mind-blowing to think I could feature in Vogue, but I kept an eye out for the pictures and never saw them,” says Michelle, who hadn’t told the photographer she used to be a man.

Undeterred, Michelle, who married her male partner in May 2006, applied for a position modelling for Ann Summers.

She says: “I’m just as good as the girls on their books – if not better. But I was told I wasn’t suitable. It was frustrating.”

Michelle, who separated from her husband last year, believes she’ll eventually fulfil her ambition to become a successful model.

“I’ve joined a gym – once I’ve lost 1½st I’ll be perfect,” says Michelle. “I’ve just spent £700 on pictures and I don’t see why I can’t model until I’m well into my 60s. I know I’m gorgeous.”

Despite being optimistic about her future, Michelle, who’s now single but has enjoyed sex with a man and a woman since splitting from her husband, is currently living on benefits in the hope of finding work.

She says: “I cleanse, tone and moisturise and shave my body hair every day as I still get some growth. All I need now is someone to show off my body to!”

By Jocelyn Cook

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