Frank Maloney, the one time high profile boxing promoter and one time manager of Heavyweight World Champion Lennox Lewis, has announced he is currently in the process of undergoing a sex change, and lives his life as a woman and goes by the name Kellie.
Maloney made the announcement with an interview in The Sunday Mirror and told the paper, “I was born in the wrong body and I have always known I was a woman.
“I can’t keep living in the shadows, that is why I am doing what I am today. Living with the burden any longer would have killed me.”
“What was wrong at birth is now being medically corrected. I have a female brain. I knew I was different from the minute I could compare myself to other children. I wasn’t in the right body. I was jealous of girls.”
Maloney has been undergoing hormone therapy, counselling and voice coaching for the past two years. For a transsexual to gain permission for NHS provided corrective surgery they must first spend two years living as a female.
The cover of today's Sunday Mirror, in which Kellie Maloney made her announcement
Maloney, who retired last year, admitted the atmosphere of his professional environment made it impossible to reveal this news while working.
“The feeling of wanting to be like and dress like a woman has always been there.
“I consciously made the decision that I wouldn’t dress like a woman but it was a constant urge.
“But I have never been able to tell anyone in boxing.
“Can you imagine me walking into a boxing hall dressed as a woman and putting an event on?
“I can imagine what they would scream at me. But if I had been in the theatre or arts world nobody would blink an eye about this transition,” Maloney said.
Maloney also spoke to The Mirror about the emotional cost of hiding his identity for so long.
“My life was spiralling out of control. I was finding it harder to contain my desire. I was now doing the boxing ¬business through instinct and memory. I used to shut myself away in the office. Thankfully, I had some good staff around me.
“But I was very unhappy. My temper was getting worse. I was determined it wouldn’t beat me, but I knew it would always be there.
“I remember having a row with a counsellor I was secretly talking to. All that I wanted him to say was that I wasn’t transsexual. He said ‘I can’t tell you that.’ I said ‘well how do you know I’m transsexual?’ and he said ‘because you keep ringing’. I checked myself into a private clinic where they dealt with drug, alcohol and depression issues. They were very good to me.
“They didn’t use a lot of medical advice. I only told them I was suffering. I didn’t tell them why. I couldn’t. The way I looked at it was that I would either beat it or kill myself.”
Maloney's announcement was greeted with widespread support:
All the best to Kellie, formerly Frank Maloney, in her new life. Great achievements happen in boxing, as elsewhere, irrespective of gender.
— Irvine Welsh (@IrvineWelsh) August 10, 2014
Good luck to Frank Maloney aka Kellie. Heart rending read in The People today. I hope she finds solace in her new world.
— Richard Keys (@richardajkeys) August 10, 2014
In 2004 Frank Maloney was London Mayoral Candidate for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and said he would not campaign in the Camden borough of the city as there were “too many gays” there.
“I don’t want to campaign around gays...I don’t think they do a lot for society,” Maloney said.
In a subsequent interview, he went on to say: "I don't think they do a lot for society. I don't have a problem with gays, what I have a problem with is them openly flaunting their sexuality.
"I will go to Camden. I'm not a career politician - I'm not going to say one thing one day. I said it as an off the record remark.
"I'm more for traditional family values and family life. I'm anti same-sex marriages and I'm anti same-sex families.
"I don't think it's right for children to be brought up that way. I don't think two men can bring up a child.
"If you are homosexual, you are homosexual - just get on with your life and stop bitching about things."
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