IVREA. «My first day of school, in September? I couldn’t wait to get in. I was charged, determined. I felt like a bride at the wedding. A party, a liberation, a new life ». Andrea Perinetti chose blond as her hair color (“Mom was blond, blond gives more light”). The make-up is not ostentatious, just a little (“I like everyday make-up, nothing more”). A 60-year-old lady, but 61 is around the corner, who looks ten years younger, elegant, well-groomed, refined, happy, finally.
change of gender, not of sex
Andrea is a name that can be declined in the masculine and the feminine, it does not have and will not need any changes to the registry office, but the change, the transformation there has been, there is. Two years of hormonal therapies, a path of self-awareness that starts from afar (“It’s not a change of sex, it’s a change of gender”), the end of last school year, Latin and Greek teacher at the Botta classical high school of Ivrea since 1997, as Professor Perinetti, and the return to class, after a few months, as Professor Perinetti.
reactions at school
«In May I realized that it would be the right time and in June I felt ready – she confides -. No, you cannot arrive unprepared. I was followed in the Molinette of Turin by a team of psychologists, endocrinologists. It is a process of knowledge, awareness, tranquility, psychological serenity. This, indeed, is my epiphany, my public manifestation. I do not deny that I have thought several times of moving elsewhere, to a big city, an anonymous life. But then I felt strong, determined. It would have been an escape, the demonstration of the fear of the judgment of others, to feel almost ashamed what, after all, is only the search for one’s own good. What annoyance can you give if you’re okay with yourself? Relationships with others can only benefit from it, because others will see this serenity in you and you will be able to transmit it ».
Andrea spoke with the headmaster of the Botta, Lucia Mongiano, about what her return to school would be like. The reaction of the head teacher was full of availability. «They knew, my boys, that I would introduce myself as a woman and the welcome I had was extraordinary – he confesses -. I was not agitated, I was not fearful. That morning I spoke to them for a long time, they asked me many questions, it was a beautiful day of formation. Seeing a teacher indulge herself in such an intimate way, that she gets naked, made things easier. They showered me with affection. “You can see, Professor, that she has a bright look – they told me -. Eyes speak”. From the second day, the situation has already changed, the students are fast. And I also know that parents will take note of this new reality: it is a dimension of the person, after all, even though it has become public ».
without fear, the choice to stay
Andrea has chosen to stay in Ivrea also for his students. “I have responsibilities towards them, I brought them up there, I could not abandon them – he emphasizes -. The students understood this, they defended me from ignoble attacks. It is important to live in authenticity, to show who we are, not to be afraid. Teenagers are in search of themselves, they discover the world. It is essential to say who you really are, throw off your masks, convey an idea of honesty. Hiding hurts: to oneself and to others. I would no longer be able to live in the other way, it would have meant not being true, you have to be true ».
family, friends
A marriage behind him, two children (“I love them, I will love them forever”), a family, Perinetti, well known in Ivrea, by her father Federico, scholar, writer, historian, with a past as a collaborator also at La Sentinella del Canavese, Andrea has inherited a passion for classical literature (“Greek, Latin, extraordinary languages, our way of thinking can be traced back to them, accessing this heritage is exciting”). Two brothers, a sister (“I opened up to them, but I understand that when you live 60 years in one way, it’s hard to see this change”), a sporting past (football, cycling, mountaineering), a passion for music (eight years of Conservatory, the violin as an instrument), Andrea points out the support she had, which she has, as good friends («Sisterhood is important»). He quotes Pierangelo Bertoli and his manifesto song: “I will sing my songs in the street, and I will face life hard-nosed, a warrior without a country and without a sword, with one foot in the past and a straight and open look into the future”.