Artwork Information

On page 92 Rusty is quoted stating; ‘My name is Rusty. I come from a town in Western Australia down near the Margret Rover. That’s were my father’s people came from. The first time I would have discovered my gender was when I was about five years old. I went to town with my Grandmothers witch’s britches on and tennis balls stuck down her bra. I vaguely remember my poor old Nan screaming “Get back here with my bloomers on.” When I was growing up, it was the isolation that was the hardest thing. The fact that you can live within your own family unit of in your own town and you’re still isolated. To think about having breasts was like a pic in the sky fantasy. Moving to Sydney meant there were avenues for me. It was in Sydney that I made the transition. Too see other black transgender girls in Sydney I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. I started on the hormones in my early thirties but I haven’t had lower surgery for financial reasons. Once you’ve found your own being, you own soul, on you’ve got yourself back and you’re happy and contented with who you are, than your body itself will fall into place. Then you’ll look at life differently. I know who I am, I’m comfortable with who I am.’