A short trip to the alps

"What do you think the situation is on that table over there?" I say to my friends over dinner, "eight people, all guys, they're probably all raving homosexuals eh!"

Myself and boyfriend number 1, together with a couple of friends, have come away to a smart hotel in the alps for a long weekend. Although they're not married, our two friends have been a heterosexual 'item' for many years. And sitting in a 2-star Michelin restaurant on the first evening, I spot what may be a table full of gay guys.

"We never think to assess the sexuality of the other diners," says M, who's the female half of the couple. "We've led a sheltered life GB," she jokes, "although we do sometimes try to spot blokes with their mistresses, or straight couples who really shouldn't be together!"

"Well myself and boyfriend number 1 enjoy looking for other gay guys in restaurants, especially top restaurants like this," I reply. "It's a great sport, and that table is a perfect example. About three of those guys DEFINITELY look gay, but the others are a little harder to read."

"It'd be interesting if you saw Amanda in a restaurant with her partner," pipes up M's boyfriend, "I wonder what you'd make of her!"

"Who's Amanda then?" I ask, "and what's unusual about her?"

Our friends grin knowingly at each other. "Oh, she's just a colleague from work," continues M's boyfriend.

"I guess you could say she's got an interesting background!" adds M.

"Well if she was here I could try and guess her interesting background, but it's a bit hard to work anything out without seeing her!" I protest.

"Yes I suppose so. One thing about Amanda is that she's a lesbian."

"OK, well that's not that unusual. What does she look like then?"

"About 6 foot 3 inches tall, deep voice, and built like a big American football player," laughs M's boyfriend, "she used to be a man!"

For a few seconds I don't know what to say, I've never heard of a lesbian who used to be a man!

"It almost seems like a contradiction in terms," I say eventually, still confused. "I mean, if a guy likes women that's quite standard, but how on earth does a guy decide that he likes women from a lesbian point of view? I've never heard of that before!"

"Well, we were all quite surprised in the office too!" M's boyfriend replies. "But she's definitely much happier now. She's got a girlfriend, so everything has worked out for her. She'd wanted to have the operation ever since she was a teenage boy, but she only managed to get it done a few years ago."

I can't imagine what it must have been like, being a teenage boy, and genuinely realising that I want to become a lesbian. I've said before on this blog that I didn't find it easy coming out as a gay guy, but I must have had it so much easier than Amanda did.