In the new documentary Becoming Lee on TV4 we get to follow Lee Christiernsson’s transition from Björn to Lee. We also get to see how Lee’s mother reacted to the news that she is transsexual: “It was a short circuit for me, I didn’t understand anything,” she says.
TV4’s documentary Becoming Lee is about how Lee Christiernsson, formerly known as “Snickar-Björn” i Finally home, comes out as transgender. In the first part of the documentary, we get an insight into how it happened when Lee told his family about his transsexuality.
For mother Ulla, it took time for the news to sink in:
“Just over a year ago, the family received a long letter from Björn,” she says. “Then he describes his feeling today, how he feels, and how he has felt. It was a short circuit for me, I kind of understood nothing.”
Ulla goes on to say that the surprise soon turned into concern:
“Then this huge thought came to me, ‘but my God, how bad has he been?'”
“No matter how sad”
Lee’s sister, Johanna Carlsten, also felt a concern in connection with the news – not least when Lee told in the aforementioned letter how she had felt during all the years she kept the secret.
“When the letter arrived, I was as sad as I could be, I just sat and cried and sobbed and so on,” she says. “I have thought about going with this secret for so long and how sad and how hard it has been for Björn, so then you also felt that ‘is there still a big risk that he feels so bad that he takes his own life?’ ‘”
Part 1 of “Becoming Lee” can now be seen on TV4 play. Part 2 is coming Monday, February 13.
