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For the past 12 months, she had proudly taken to the road as part of an all-female driving school. But Emma Sherdley is not exactly all woman. Until a few years ago she was a married father-of-two called Andrew. She is, though, in the middle of treatment to change gender and has the legal paperwork to prove it. But that wasn't enough to satisfy one client who claimed he had been shortchanged when he booked a female instructor to teach his wife how to drive. He phoned the Laugh 'n' Pass driving school threatening to sue after Miss Sherdley, 42, turned up for the lesson. 'You have sent me a man. Send me a proper female. How dare you send a man with a deep voice,' he told Joanne Dixon, who runs the school in West Yorkshire. The man, a Muslim from the Meadowhall district of Sheffield who has not been named, claimed the company deliberately sent a man disguised as a woman. 'His attitude and behaviour was outrageous and has upset me and Emma and everyone else who works here,' Miss Dixon said. 'We are not racist. We are not sexist-If anyone was being so it was that man.' She said no other learners had complained about being taught by Miss Sherdley, an experienced instructor. As for Miss Sherdley, she is trying to develop a thicker skin. She said the man's comments had been 'hurtful, offensive and deeply upsetting' and had even made her think of quitting her job. His wife had apparently cut their two-hour lesson short after an hour, claiming she had to go home to breastfeed her baby. Miss Sherdley said: 'I always knew as a child that I was a woman stuck in a man's body. 'I tried hard to be a man, getting married and having children but it never worked and never would. 'For the past six years I have been what is correctly called "transitioned". I still have to undergo final surgery but legally I am a woman. That is what my birth certificate says and that is what the gender recognition certificate proves. For that prejudiced and biased man to threaten to sue me and the driving school is totally and utterly wrong.' There are currently 32 female pupils on the books at the school. Miss Dixon employs 20 female instructors who teach learners throughout Yorkshire. The school, which has been running for ten years, boasts a high pass rate. 'We say each of our female instructors promise to be friendly, professional and patient - that is exactly what Emma is,' Miss Dixon said. 'For her to be subjected to abuse and threats is simply intolerable.' |
