individuals go through. being a woman can be a lot of work as susan reflected on during the making of her name was steven. take a look at this. i m in transition, struggling to do it seemlessly. the most terrifying part of the day is the morning when you have to fight the hair. i want the hair to be perfect, i want the nails to be perfect, the whole selection of clothing, the way you do the makeup, and the type of shoes that you wear, everything is so totally different. it s a bit more complicated than i initially envisioned, but as fulfilling as i thought it would be. i want to go back to the struggle with this. ever consider suicide? you reference it a couple times in the documentary, susan. none until i began the journey, then yeah, it was an active consideration. yes, it was.
take a look at a little more of susan and her son travis from her name was steven. you hit the board, that s good. he was a very manly kind of guy. i thought he was going to have trouble being feminine and dressing all pretty and everything. but he looked fine. whoa. good shot. i wrote dinky because that s what i call him now. you are the best dad. i love your smile. i like what you look like and i don t care what people say. your son, travis. it s got to be great to hear him say, i ll always call you dad no matter what you look like. absolutely. he calls me dad, and the relationship between the father and the son will never change and was never impacted by this stuff. you also developed another
friendship during this process. linda sitting with you. linda, you were susan s electrolysis technician. what was your first reaction or take when steven came in to you and really began the beginning of this process? well, i didn t really think too much of it because actually susan is just another client just like all my other clients. you do them one just like you do all the others. when did you go from technician to friend? do you remember that transition happening? well, it was kind of funny because i told susan, i said, you know, if i m going to be treating you, we re going to become best friends, and in time, that happened exactly how i thought and it s still that way today. and you also, as this process went on, you began to help with clothes shopping and makeup and things like that. could you see, step by step, this slow transformation
and i don t even look at it that way. she s a friend. she s the mother of my child. and she s always going to be in my life. and dr. ferrell, one more question for you. is there a difference, or what is the difference between being gay and being transgender? well, one is gender and one has to do with sexuality and they are very, very separate issues. all right. a fascinating journey you have been on, susan, and it is a fascinating interview to be sitting here with you. was it all worth it? that is the question we will talk about when we come back, larry king live right after this. you know, when i grow up, i m going to own my own restaurant. i want to be a volunteer firefighter. when i grow up, i want to write a novel.
than men and deferential. i m learning not to do those things but still they re present in the relationship. what advice would you give to somebody who was you before this transformation? they re in their wrld of being a steven that want to become a susan. what do you say? i think it s extremely important to surround yourself with professionals, the standard of care. this is very much a medical, as much as a psychological issue. people shouldn t try to do it unless they have those support networks. this is not easy. it can be done but it has to be done with a lot of assistance with people that are knowledge and professional in this area. for people who, probably the majority of people that are watching this and are going to watch your documentary, it s a very foreign world. and from the outside looking in it would seem maybe more uncomfortable for you now, but