Leonard to Leona, Singapore transsexual bares all

Reuters.com – By Miral Fahmy

Singapore (Reuters Life!) – At the age of 10, Leonard Lo was determined to become a woman.

Now 22 years later, Singaporean transsexual Leona Lo details the shame and anger she felt on her journey in a cathartic book that is raising eyebrows in this regulated city-state with old-fashioned attitudes toward sex.

Lo, 32, runs her own public relations company. She has an Australian boyfriend, polished nails and an engaging, slightly nervous, laugh. She has been admitted to a psychiatric hospital and attempted suicide. Her middle-class, conformist Singaporean-Chinese parents took several years to accept her.