LONDON, ENGLAND – An 18-year old who was born male but has lived as a girl since the age of ten, was asked to enter the Miss England beauty pageant by modeling scouts who had no idea of her background. The aspiring model, Jackie Green, hopes to use the opportunity to speak out about bullying and transgender issues.

According to the London Times-Mirror, Green said: “I went to the ‘Britain’s Next Top Model’ show in London and was really surprised when scouts came up to me. Miss England is a prestigious competition. I’d love to win. I’ve as good a chance as anyone.”
Green, from Leeds, England, became the UK’s youngest transsexual after an operation in Thailand on her 16th birthday. Green says that she wanted to switch gender from the age of four. By ten she had long hair and wore a girl’s uniform to school. Her mother took her to a U.S. clinic for hormone treatment to halt her male puberty. Bullying led Green to attempt suicide five times. She says she can never thank her mother enough for saving her life.