Suzy Eddie Izzard was 'fighting on the streets' after coming out as transgender
Comic star Suzy Eddie Izzard shared the abuse she received when she first came out as transgender in the 1980s, including verbal abuse and being fought in the streets.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain with Kate Garraway and Ben Shepherd on Friday (19 May), the comic star explained how she was ostracised by society and labelled as "toxic".
The comedian, who is genderfluid but prefers the she/her pronouns, added the name 'Suzy' to her name but continues to use the name 'Eddie' too.
Suzy first came out as transgender in 1985 at the age of 23, and faced abuse for her decision.
Suzy Eddie Izzard revealed she was fought in the streets after coming out as transgender in 1985 (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
She has also said she was ostracised by society for being transgender (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)Speaking to the ITV presenters, Suzy opened up: "If you were trans you were considered toxic and not part of society.
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"There weren't any conversations when I came out in '85 so it was such a hard mental thing to do because I had to sort of go do it.
"You had to basically go out and if people shouted at you on the street, if they fought you in the streets, you had to fight back and stand your ground."
When asked if Suzy had ever had a physical fight, she confirmed yes as she added: "Yes. Not a huge amount of times.
She revealed she can still sometimes get abuse for being transgender (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)"I did have a big fight which I've talked about. There's been a few fights and a lot more people shouting abuse.
"That has got less over the years, but then if I go to other places I can get it. I just stand my ground.
"Everything after that is not so hard! Doing stand-up in French and German."
Last month Suzy explained about changing her name but still also responding to Eddie, which she's been known as previously. The comic star insisted that nobody could offend her but she said she thought some people could be confused by it.
She explained: "So there's now all this about people don't know what to say - I prefer Suzy but I don't mind Eddie. I prefer she/her, but I don't mind he/him.
Eddie Izzard now uses the name Suzy, but also understands there may be confusion surrounding her name (Getty Images)"Nobody can make a mistake unless they call me Gregory or Sabrina and then that's not quite right. Everything else nobody can make a mistake and they can choose."
Suzy also explained that she believes it's a "hard time" to be a trans person: "This hard time with trans is just something we have to go through...
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"We are in the conversation now. And we will get through it. People get very angry on the internet and I just ignore it. I really try to be positive. I want to be an MP."
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