Marcello Mega
THE arrival of a marriage certificate, a mundane piece of paperwork, after the joy of tying the knot is not normally worthy of another celebration for most people.
But for Justine and Julie, it meant everything as it confirmed their enduring love for one another more than 20 years after they married.
At that wedding, Justine was still Justin, and their wedding photos show a groom looking slightly ill at ease in a suit.
When secondary legislation is passed next year, they plan to have a renewed marriage ceremony, and this time both will be wearing a dress.
But in the meantime, the arrival of the new certificate – one of only three issued to date in Scotland following a change in the law in the spring – with Justine’s new name and gender was a significant moment in underlining society’s acceptance of their relationship.
Their story is at the centre of tonight’s BBC1 Scotland documentary, Transgender Love, which follows six people who have changed gender and looks at the impact on their relationships, both with partners and close family.
The couple, whose full names have not been used in the documentary, do not shy away from the heartache they went through when Justine told Julie she had realised she should have been a woman, and that the call had become so clear she could not ignore it. Even though Justine expected to lose everything, her marriage, her family and her job in the macho environment of Peterhead Harbour, she felt she had to go through with the change.
The couple talk openly about the rows, the questions the revelation provoked, with Julie wondering if her husband had ever really loved her, and explain how with time and understanding their love and family life endured.
But there were many challenges. Tragically, two weeks after Justine’s operation, their middle child, their only son Cameron, was killed in an accident near their home aged just 15.
But their love for one another and their two daughters, Samantha and Morgan, got them through the trauma, and they have learned to look forward not back.
Cameron would have been central to the wedding ceremony they will have next year, and they both know they’ll shed tears at his absence, but also shed tears of joy.
Julie says: “Like the girls, he had accepted the changes in our family life and was getting on with his life. He was only here for a short time but he had a blast. He’s left a massive hole in our lives, but we’ve learned to look forward, and next year will be a big year for us.”
The programme – Transgender Love, being screened tonight on BBC1 Scotland at 9pm – also picks up the story of former soldier, husband and father, Neville, who became Anne, and now dreams of remarrying, but this time of being the one wearing the dress, Anne featured in Transsexual Stories, broadcast last year by BBC Scotland and winner of an Icon Award for best media portrayal of the LGBTi community.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here