Scene from the Sofa – Five minutes with… Tran-Tula

‘I first realised I was transgender back in September 2015, as a result of the treatment I was receiving for social anxiety and depression, which I now know was caused by my gender dysphoria.

‘Shortly after that I started to come out to my family, friends and work colleagues. I think it was the new found confidence this gave me that gave me the courage to first give performing a go, debuting at Lip Sync For Your Life at Bar Revenge. Shortly after that I also started performing at Drag Open Mic at the Marine Tavern and other venues around Brighton and further afield, developing my drag to incorporate my love of rock music, PVC alternative wear and risqué humour.

‘As I worked on my act I got the opportunity to do some amazing things, like sing live on stage at Sparkle, Manchester and DIY Pride in Brighton, and appear in a number of lip sync contest grand finals. Just before lockdown I won my first championship, becoming the reigning Lip Sync Wars Brighton grand champion!’

‘My day job still takes up a fair amount of my time, and spending some time doing obvious stuff like watching films and watching online drag.

‘I’ve picked up one unusual hobby after checking Google maps, and realising the safest places close to my house to exercise were some of the local cemeteries. I have found walking around them for my hour of exercise, taking in the sites and local architecture has been a good way to relax and clear my head.’

‘My day job involves working in one of the large food shops on Western Road, so I’m still going out to work every day. I’m glad to say they have made a lot of adjustments for our safety, providing cleaning and personal protection equipment, along with additional financial help to help us through lockdown. There has been an adjustment to our role as well, not just providing food, but a friendly face as well, as for a lot of isolated people we’re some of the only people they get any non digital contact with.’

‘Without an audience to play to it has been harder to get any feedback. I’ve come up with several new jokes for my stand up act, I’ve yet to gauge the reaction.

‘It has opened up some new creative outlets though. I’ve just done my first online performance for a Cabaret Lab online show, and have some ideas for possible new video performances.

‘It’s also the first time I’ve tried home photo shoots, and have found a new source of creativity coming up with new ideas for the shots, and enjoying some positive reactions when publishing them online.’

‘Like before lockdown I find myself splitting my time between the alternative cabaret and more traditional cabaret scenes. I’ve seen some great alternative output from The Powder Room, Cabaret Lab, Felix Le Freak and Crystal Lubrikunt. For the more traditional cabaret I’ve seen some good shows from Tabitha Wilde, Spice and Stephanie Von Clitz.

‘I’ve also developed a new appreciation for a few new acts like Poppycock and Billie Gold, who I’d only seen briefly perform live before, but have become bigger fans of them after seeing their amazing vocals on their online shows.’

‘I heard a lot about this subject recently from one of the heads of the Transliving International charity. Their transgender helpline has had a huge increase in calls, as many trans people are struggling as they’re forced to live in an unsupportive environment where they can’t express themselves as a true gender. The higher cost of phone calls, and loss of other sources of income due to lockdown has put a lot of pressure on them, making it a lot harder to continue their work.

‘Stories like this do make me count my blessings and realise not everyone is lucky enough to have a home and job where they can express themselves freely. It does show the need for more visibility and understanding of the transgender community.’

‘I haven’t made any specific plans due to the uncertainty of when it will be safe for the venues I perform at to open. I think my main plan is to keep performing, keep being visible, and keep putting on a great show.

‘The Brighton cabaret scene has become a lot more varied and diverse, but there are still a lot of underutilized alternative drag acts such as myself, Sammy Silver and Felix Le Freak. Hopefully we can continue to go out and put on great shows, and some of the landlords and Pride organisers will incorporate us more, along with the great traditional acts also performing.’

‘Keep a good routine, make sure you do look after yourself both physically and mentally. Make sure you have something to do everyday that doesn’t rely on electronic entertainment, be it going for a walk or jog, or doing something artistic.’

I’ve repurposed my old flickr account to showcase some of my home photo shoots, that you can see here:  

To quote one of the greatest pieces advice ever given to me by my old scout master; ‘sod the bloody lot.’ It can be easy to over concern yourself with other people, but don’t ever be afraid to be the beautiful freak you were born to be.