Born in the wrong body: “I was ready to die to live” – two people about their transition

Ms. Reiter, Mr. Jakobs, when you think about the first moments in which you felt different in your life: What comes to mind?Jakobs: I tattooed my stuffed animals as a child. Cut out the fur with scissors and color the bald spots with fountain pen ink. My parents thought I was a bit strange.

Was that your protest against everything girly?Jakobs: It was more the result of this constant feeling of being wrong. I had to wear a dress to my sister’s baptism. Without understanding exactly why at the time, I resisted enormously. I enjoyed being outside and skateboarding.

Reiter: And I actually played with dolls early on and was reluctant when I was asked to wear leather pants. No joke. Even though it sounds so trite.

Jakobs: That sounds like: You could have always known it.

Did you even know back then that there are people who don’t stay in the body they were born into for the rest of their lives?Jakobs: Even in tranquil and tolerant Munich, this idea existed mostly in insults.

Reiter: The “scum of humanity.” That’s what they said to me back then.

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