[DanaC]

I have a couple of trans* friends in rl. One of whom I met through my work as a councillor, as they were campaigning for better treatment in the NHS.

I am aware of many of the issues. That said: different members of the trans* community have different opinions and attitudes to things like the use of the words 'he' and 'she' for instance. There are those who would not have found Shel's jest the least offensive and those that would.

Though I have some experience of engaging with trans* issues, I am not well up on them. I forget about little things that a trans* person will pick up on and I won't notice. There are also members of the trans* community who bring an older set of cultural references and would probably wind Ibs up no end by not getting half of what she says, despite them living it themselves.