Caitlyn Jenner has a fabulous, fellow femme in Nancy Owen, a pre-operative transgender from Bay Ridge with killer gams.
“I’m definitely a girly girl,” says the divorced dad, 39, who began cross dressing at 11 and shops at Victoria’s Secret. “I love dresses, heels, accessories, painted fingernails, and a bargain.”
Nancy, who takes estrogen and hopes to surgically become a woman someday, crossed into uncharted territory in April, presenting herself as a full-time female on a four-day trip to California.
It was a new chapter along a personal odyssey inked in suffering, secrets, suicidal thoughts, and self-affirmation.
“I could not take another minute of playing the role of a man,” says the bubbly brunette, who asked her real name not be used.
Out west, Nancy attended a lecture by “Rhoda” star Valerie Harper about her battle with cancer, which claimed her own mother two years ago. She met and bonded with the celebrity, feeling confident enough in her purple Michael Kors dress and a matching head scarf — Rhoda’s signature look — to share her gender dysphoria.
“When I told Valerie that I was trans and apologized for the deepness of my voice, even though I had raised the pitch, she told me I didn’t have to apologize to anyone,” says Nancy. “She told me I had ice-skater legs!”
Others have not been as open hearted.
Nancy’s sister disowned her. Her father fluctuates between acceptance and denial. Her two young sons freaked out upon meeting their dad dressed as a woman for the first time, despite receiving advance notice and professional therapy.
“My 7-year-old cried and my 14-year-old gave me a weird look,” she says.
Both boys have since come around to their brave, tough-as-thigh-high-red-boots trans-parent.
“I took them out in public plenty of times this summer with no problems, and they now understand that I am teaching them to be honest,” says Nancy, who radiates optimism like sunshine after a long eclipse since coming out as a woman.
She started a new job, enjoys her close circle of transgender and cisgender (non-trans) friends, got a butterfly tattoo to celebrate her mother’s gentle beauty, and fortified her personal resolve.
“If strangers wonder about me, I can’t help that,” she says. “I just want to be happy.”
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