‘I’m a trans singer and people obsess over my body and genitals – I’m touring schools to educate the younger generation’

A transgender singer who finds that “everyone obsesses over (her) body and genitals” is touring UK schools to share her story, educate the younger generation and be the role model she never had.

Samsara, 22, a singer who uses her first name professionally and is based in west London, has “always felt like a girl” and officially came out as trans in 2018, while living in Hong Kong.

Her family were supportive, but Samsara claims other parents initially “complained” to her school, until she was eventually “accepted” after entertaining them in productions such as The Great Gatsby and The Addams Family.

In 2022 Samsara moved to London and was widely accepted as a trans woman.

But since the Supreme Court ruled recently that references to “sex”, “man” and “woman” in the Equality Act refer to biological sex, she said she has noticed a difference in the treatment of trans people.

Over the last few years she has become a singer and, as of May 2025, has been touring UK secondary schools, performing her songs and answering students’ questions about her experiences.

Samsara said no parents have complained, but she has received comments online questioning why children are not in English or maths lessons instead.

Samsara told PA Real Life: “I ask (the children at the schools), ‘How many of you have met a trans person?’ And it’s only ever a couple of hands up.

“And it’s not about convincing them to be a certain way, it’s just about representation in a way that’s not forcing ideology or indoctrinating or anything crazy like that.

“I’m not just here to perform, I’m here to make sure the next generation doesn’t feel invisible.

“I didn’t have someone like me growing up. Now I get to be that person for others.”

From a young age, while living in Hong Kong, Samsara was never “interested in conforming to social norms” and preferred wearing dresses and playing with Barbies over sports with “the boys”.

In school, she said she was seen as a “bad kid”, and her mother sent her to an all-boys boarding school in Australia in 2015, when she was 12.

The night before she left, Samsara took an online gender identity questionnaire and realised she “wanted to transition”.

Samsara said her mother was supportive, saying, “I hear you and I’m not against you”, but she still wanted her to attend the boarding school, believing that if she went and “survived” it, she would be able to “do anything”.

Samsara said her experience at the all-boys school was “rough”, but she persevered and, after two years, she moved back to Hong Kong.

In 2018 Samsara officially came out to both her parents and started wearing “girls’ uniform” to school.

She said her father initially found it difficult to process, but he, and the rest of her family, soon became very supportive.

She claims other parents at her school were less accepting, but this eventually changed after she performed in school productions and became an “entertainer”.

In 2022 Samsara moved to London to study culture, media and creative industries at King’s College, finding the city to be a generally accepting place for trans people.

However, since the UK Supreme Court ruling, she said she has noticed a stark difference in the treatment of trans people.

She claims some of her trans friends have been violently attacked, which she finds “very scary”.

Over the last few years she has become a singer, and her music, including songs like Venomous, touches on her trans experience.

Her track Put ‘Em Up specifically addresses the Supreme Court ruling, with themes of fighting for rights and refusing to be victimised.

“I hope… that there’s space for me in this game of selling pop music and hopefully not getting absolutely slammed for just trying to do what every other artist is doing… because I’m trans,” she said.

Since May 2025 Samsara has been touring secondary schools in Bristol, Somerset, Surrey, Liverpool, Hull and London, performing her songs and answering students’ questions about her experiences.

Before her shows she tells the audience that if they do not share her values or agree with her being trans, “that’s fine”.

She sees herself as an “outside speaker with a performance”, similar to when she was in school and would have sessions about “real world topics”.

She said she has not encountered any overly negative experiences, beyond some children zoning out or asking personal questions about her sexuality.

Samsara said it has made her realise the younger generation are “open minded and less judgemental” and most of them are “unfazed” about her being transgender.

She added: “Sometimes there’ll be a couple (of) boys that ask some probey questions and sometimes a team member of mine will sit in the audience and overhear some of the kids being like, ‘Should we ask if she has a d**k’.”

“My mum, who lives overseas normally, came to the last one out of curiosity and it’s quite strange to see her child touring to promote individuality when I traditionally had such a rough school experience and was quite bullied for being gay then trans.”

Samsara believes she would have “really benefited” from having a trans person come in to do a show like hers.

She is now planning her first EP release and is considering whether to do more talks in schools, as well as universities during fresher’s week.

She added: “The EP and title track is called Swordfight – the title track being a bit punny and about how everyone obsesses over my body and genitals.

“I just don’t understand that, it’s so unusual, anyone else it would be a wildly inappropriate question, for me it’s something I have to expect on the regular.”

Looking ahead, Samsara “accepts” that the UK is currently in a “bad place” regarding trans rights and believes the community faces a “whole agenda against” them.

Samsara said: “I think the whole thing about the trans movement is humanising, when you’ve never met a trans person it seems outrageous.

“We may not share the same political values, and you may not agree with how I identify, but we’re all just people.”