Chesterfield influencer talks of finding ‘true self’ as transgender woman and beginning Hormone Replacement Therapy

Eliza Hyde from Brimington has been on a huge journey of self-discovery over past 12 months, during which time she became engaged to her partner Fay and grew the courage to present as her true self to her work colleagues.

The 32-year-old, who works as a secondary school teacher, initially came out as gender fluid around two years ago and has been documenting her life via her Instagram account @realelizahyde ever since.

After recently talking to her GP, she is now hoping to begin treatment to alter her hormone levels to match her new gender identity as a woman and is looking to the future with a new found sense of clarity.

Eliza said: "The whole year has seen a change in me mentally. When I last spoke to the Derbyshire Times I still identified as gender fluid because I felt that’s where I was at at that point.

"But, with the whole of process of being transgender, I think people do go through stages. As they learn about themselves they evolve as people.

"I got to the point where I realised I’m the same person inside all the time, even though I might not always be reflecting how I feel on the outside. As soon as I dealt with that it was like a massive weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

"I think a lot of people don’t understand that being trans, it’s not just about how you look on the outside, it’s how you feel on the inside as well.

"Everything just seemed so much easier after that and everything has spiralled from there.”

Eliza, who proposed on Christmas Day, credits her fiancée as a driving force in encouraging her to begin her entire journey – and says the pair are both looking forward to wearing beautiful wedding dresses on their big day.

“She really started my journey in a sense,” Eliza explained.

"She’s been a massive rock, every step of the way she’s pushed me forwards. Not everybody has that and you do hear stories about people who don’t have supportive partners and I understand it’s not the easiest thing so I do know how I lucky I am.

"She’s pushed me to do things I was unsure about myself. When I first started exploring my gender identity, I was talking about how I’d never leave the house but she was the one that said ‘yes you will, you’ll do it’ – she’s been fantastic.”

On the support she has received at work, Eliza says her colleagues have been great but added that it has been “tricky” in places.

The teacher mostly still presents as male while in the classroom, although is growing her hair and has her ears pierced.

After attending a School Pride event last year – her first presenting as what Eliza calls her true self – she was later outed to the whole student body when her Instagram page was discovered.

However, she has taken it all in her stride and is now using her own experiences to help support pupils within the LGBTQ commuity.

"It was quite tough for a while because some children just don’t understand,” Eliza said. “But having that presence there and talking to them about it made it easier for them to grasp onto and now it’s just faded away.

"It’s like they know and I need to wait until I’m ready to start presenting at work properly.”

She added: “I’m part of the LGBTQ ambassadors at our school, so I do spend a lot of time with students from this community.

"They all know I’m there to talk to, if they’ve got any problems or issues I'm happy to shine a light on things and help them through as I think they need it.

"We didn’t have this when I was younger, I just feel like it’s my chance to give something back and give them something I never had.”

And the same goes to her more than 14,000 followers on Instagram, as Eliza says she is always willing to offer advice or guidance through direct message.

"People have been absolutely brilliant, they’ve been giving me advice but I’ve also had teachers asking me how I dealt with coming out at work and things like that.

"That’s how I started, I was looking up to other people within this community and they helped me, it goes round in a circle really.

"You help somebody else, then they help somebody else – it’s a really nice community.”

Eliza now faces a long wait for Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) and says that, although she has her down days, she is trying to remain positive by doing ‘gender affirming’ tasks to aid the transition.

She said: “When I first phoned up my GP I was quite terrified because I knew I wanted to be on hormones but at the same time if felt like a big step.

"It’s getting to a point now where it is quite difficult on a day-to-day basis knowing that I’m going to have to wait as it’s knowing what you want but you can’t quite achieve it.

"Things like dysphoria are becoming more prevalent, when you’re feeling like you’re in the wrong body.

"It can flaw you sometimes… but it’s just one of those things we have to deal with.”

On things that help her through, Eliza added: “There are loads of positives. It’s things like laser treatment, I’ve had my ears pierced, I’m growing my hair and on a day-to-day basis I’m wearing more andronynous clothes.

“I’ve also got so many great friends. We go out, we have fun and it’s just being around like-minded people. It creates a comfort blanket and it’s nice to know you’re with other people who are going through the same thing.”

Support your Derbyshire Times by becoming a digital subscriber. You will see 70 per cent fewer ads on stories, meaning faster load times and an overall enhanced user experience. Click here to subscribe.