Julia Grant

Julia Grant (born 21 September 1954 – 2 January 2019)

In George and Julia (1979), the first of five hour-long film documentaries directed by David Pearson for the BBC, her story attracted an audience of nearly nine million viewers. The series was transmitted on BBC2, as A Change of Sex, and described by Pearson as "intimate, frank and observational". Additional episodes were broadcast until 1999, charting new stages in her life.

Early life Born in Fleetwood, Lancashire, she was the eldest child of Philip Roberts, a trawlerman, and his wife, Jessica. Jessica was an alcoholic, who attempted suicide several times, whilst Phillip was a violent drunkard who reportedly tried to rape Julia when she was a child. As one of eight children, Julia often cared for her younger brothers and sisters. She also spent periods in a children's home in Preston, and as a teenager, prostituted herself to men. This was said to be "a misguided cry" for the affection that she did not get from her parents, and she used the money for sweets.

Subsequent life Grant wrote two memoirs about her experiences, George & Julia (1980) and Just Julia (1994). In the late 1990s, the final BBC film caught up with Grant living in Manchester and running the busy Hollywood Show Bar. She wanted to marry her new partner, Alan Sunderland, and her former surgeon Royle said that he could resolve her surgical problem. However, Grant, together with Sunderland, decided that she would not proceed with more surgery, and could instead "be happy as they were". The couple had a church blessing, and Grant thought of herself as married. She owned a number of cafes and bars in Manchester's Canal Street Gay Village, fought against redevelopment plans for the area, and was active in establishing local LGBTQ events.

Illness After being diagnosed with bowel cancer, Grant returned to the UK in 2015, and committed herself to helping other trans people. She encouraged improved trans care services, and took part in discussions at the NHS's Nye Bevan Academy, a facility which trains health service leaders. In 2016 she was diagnosed with kidney failure.

Death Grant died on 2 January 2019, at St Catherine's Hospice. Following her 2016 diagnosis of kidney failure, she was awaiting a kidney transplant when she suffered a heart attack. Following this Grant decided to stop treatment, and died aged 64. At the time of her death, she was survived by sisters Shirley, Jeanne, Lesley, Julie and Beverley, along with two brothers, Gary and Danny. Grant was also survived by an aunt named Mary and her two own children, born in the early 1970s during her own marriage.