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cover of episode Life as a Trans Woman and an AFL Football Legend - Uncut with Danielle Laidley

Life as a Trans Woman and an AFL Football Legend - Uncut with Danielle Laidley

2024/9/17
logo of podcast Life Uncut

Life Uncut

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Before being known as Danielle Laidley, she was a hugely successful AFL player and played 151 games for West Coast Eagles and North Melbourne football clubs, and winning premierships  and going onto be the youngest senior coach ever at 36, coaching North Melbourne for 149 games across seven seasons from 2003 to 2009.**** For decades, Danielle kept her gender to herself and threw herself into sporting success and became a workaholic. Eventually the pain of keeping this secret led to some dark coping mechanisms like substance abuse. **** In May, 2020, a police officer took a photo of Danielle in an interview room at a St Kilda police station while wearing a wig and make-up. This photo was shared in a group chat before it was leaked to the media & the public. **** Now, following her diagnosis with gender dysphoria, Danielle works extensively as an advocate for transgender people, raising awareness in a quest for acceptance of diversity. In this chat we speak about:

The different phases of Danielle's life & always knowing who she is Growing up in the hyper masculine environments of football and cricket How she coped with the public exposure of her transition before she had been able to speak with her family and friends about it How the football world has responded to Danielle's transition How parents can help support their kids who experience gender dysphoria Her beautiful relationship with a woman she's known since grade 1 Danielle's perspective on transpeople in sport

You can find Danielle's Instagram) and [book - Don't look away](for the best part of five decades, Danielle harboured a secret. The person she was on the inside wasn’t congruent with the man she was on the outside. Before being known as Danielle, she was a hugely successful AFL player and played 151 games for West Coast Eagles and North Melbourne football clubs, and winning premierships and going onto be the youngest senior coach ever at 36, coaching North Melbourne for 149 games across seven seasons from 2003 to 2009. For decades, Danielle kept her gender to herself and threw herself into sporting success and became a workaholic. Eventually the pain of keeping this secret led to some dark coping mechanisms like substance abuse. In May, 2020, a police officer took a photo of Danielle in an interview room at a St Kilda police station while wearing a wig and make-up. This photo was shared in a group chat before it was leaked to the media & the public. Now, following her diagnosis with Gender Dysphoria, Danielle works extensively as an advocate for transgender people, raising awareness in a quest for acceptance of diversity.))

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