In France the first trans mayor, 'I symbol of normality' - Lifestyle

Want to be a "symbol of normality" Marie Cau, 55, newly elected mayor of Tilloy-lez-Marchiennes in the north. But if becoming a first citizen was easy, it will be much more complicated to curb the curiosity of the media around the world for Marie, who until a few years ago was a man and who is now the first trans-mayor of France.
    Tilloy is a village of 530 inhabitants nestled in the heart of a natural park about forty kilometers from Lille, in northern France. Marie Cau, who was born in the region, in Roubaix, and does not want to divulge her old male name, thinks about her political project to "awaken" the country, which seemed to her a little asleep. He wants to do it as per the winning program of his list, "Decider ensemble" (to decide together): to develop the local economy, to reconcile agriculture and the environment and to take care of people who live alone. For the rest, Marie Cau, a computer consultant and specialized in the "management service", defines her election as "a non-event" and is surprised at every interview request.
    Tilloy had been led for 20 years by the same mayor. The list of the new mayor, debutant in politics, never played in any party, easily obtained an absolute majority and there was no need for the ballot to go to run the Municipality. The idea of ​​introducing herself came to her by chatting with the people of the village, where she has lived for twenty years. Now she speaks of herself only because the hundreds of messages received convinced her that she has become "a symbol". She agrees to be one, but wants to represent a "possible normality": "I have never been a militant, but if I have the possibility to get a message across, I have a duty to do it," he explains to Le Monde. His story sums it up like this: "since childhood, we realize that we are different but we don't understand why. Boys don't reject us, their games don't interest us, females don't want us. Little by little there comes an awareness ". His decision began to mature at 40, when he had already had a wife for some time, who could not bear to live that situation, and 3 children, who are now 25, 24 and 22 years old. Painful divorce, with the ex-wife who did not want to show him her children, then slowly the new life, the new identity. Facilitated by the transfer to the countryside: "here people have their feet on the ground", more than in the city - he explains - there is no malevolence. Fear comes from the unknown. Since they know you, the fear is gone. "