Dr Samuel Hall on dismantling the false divide and achieving true equality. Just recovering from my second lot of genital surgery. The first operation, where they skinned my arm to make my penis and sliced both buttocks up to cover the deficit on said arm, left me deeply traumatised, both physically and mentally. It’s perhaps a good thing you can’t really know what this is going to be like until you do it (a bit like having a baby). I could only ever glimpse what was to come – ultimately the acquisition of a functioning penis, bodily integrity, improved mental health and wellbeing.