Changing to ‘feel more like me’
| Published date | 03 March 2022 |
| Author | Judith Lacy |
| Publication title | Guardian, The |
That same human being has just finished nearly a decade as Te Manawa’s chief executive. Twenty-two years ago Mandy become Andy.
Andy’s trans journey is one he has only recently started sharing. He is conscious he is in a privileged position and his story could help other people but also understandably nervous and unsure how much to share.
He gives big ups to the Te Manawa board for hiring a trans person. “It was a huge risk to do that in those days.”
Lowe was a project manager at Te Papa when he become Andy and in some ways approached the transition and surgeries as a project.
“I’m going to get this done so then this will happen. I will feel a lot better, I will feel more like me and that I can just get on and live my life and then I will just carry on doing all the things I was doing.”
There wasn’t angst but a feeling of sorting something out.
“I felt that my whole world fell into place a lot better after, things felt like they slotted in. It felt like the world wasn’t so mixed up after that. I just knew who I was.”
The Lowe family had a leathercraft business and then a saddlery in Petone. His father was, in a business sense, a man before his time. He was into emu farming, selling water filters and vitamin pills and invented a leather thonging machine, which produced long leather strips.
Growing up, Lowe didn’t know where he fitted but also didn’t know how to articulate this feeling or make sense of it until much later.
“When I was little the stereotypes were quite strong.
“You were either male or female, if you were male you were supposed to be interested in this stuff and if you were female you were supposed to be interested in this stuff.”
Lowe came to realise he was more male than female and didn’t want people to relate to him as a woman.
“I went away for a few months, sorted a few things out, and the funny thing is I was working on this exhibition called Body Odyssey at the time. I always see the irony and the humour.”
When he returned to work he didn’t want to talk about his transition. “I’d changed from one to the other,” the then workaholic says.
“I just got straight back into work and everyone had to shuffle around. They did an amazing job, they were really sensitive and supportive.”
He recalls a friend saying “right, you are staying in the kapa haka group, you just have to go up the front now”.
Lowe had anorexia from age 13 to about 21. His parents were breaking up and...
To continue reading
Request your trial