A transgender man claims he was refused a haircut in a Margate barber's "because he was female".

Jo-James Booth, 26, was born a female called Joanne, but now identifies as male.

He claims he was shown the door the very first time he went for a haircut after transitioning.

Mr Booth said: “It was a big day for me. I had shoulder-length hair and I’d finally made the decision to have the chop.

“I walked into a traditional barber’s and asked for a number two, but they told me they couldn’t cut my hair because I was female and this was a male barber’s shop.

“I was shocked and humiliated – it wasn’t what I expected and I said something about it being discriminatory but then I left because I was so embarrassed.”

The incident occurred four years ago when Mr Booth was just beginning to transition.

He was living in the area at the time due to studying forensic science with the Open University and taking exams at Canterbury Christ Church University.

It is only now that he has found the courage to speak out about what happened after reading another story of Lorren Grabarek, who was refused a trim in New Zealand.

“Thankfully all my family were very supportive – even if the barbers weren’t...” Jo-James Booth

Mr Booth added: “It was a real setback. It knocked my confidence and I even began to doubt whether I should transition at all.

“It took me months to buck up the courage to try another hairdresser.

“I wasn’t sure of myself back then, so I didn’t make a complaint.

“Since then I’ve heard of others who’ve been refused so I wanted to share my story now to show that this is not acceptable.”

He said the humiliation followed years of doubt where he wrangled with his emotions.

“When I was a child I never wanted to wear dresses. But that was my school uniform, so I used to sneak my PE kit in and get changed into that instead after my mum dropped me off.

“I thought playing with dolls was boring and I was always playing out making mud pies,” Mr Booth said.

While growing up as Joanne, Mr Booth thought he might be gay and he was attracted to women.

However, the revelation that he was transgender came after he watched Channel 4 documentary My Transsexual Summer in 2011.

Mr Booth, who was born in Sowerby Bridge, Yorkshire, said: “I didn’t really know what it meant to be transgender but this TV show opened up a whole new world for me.

“I didn’t know who to speak to about it but I found a youth support group in Sowerby Bridge and met up with them.

“They said they were thrilled as I was their first ‘T’ person and put me in touch with a gender clinic.”

From there, Jo began taking small steps towards becoming a man by gradually changing his appearance.

He added: “I wanted to do it slowly as I didn’t want to give my gran a heart attack.

“I’ve always been a tomboy so the main change was getting my locks cut off.

“Thankfully all my family were very supportive – even if the barber's weren’t.

Since the incident, Mr Booth moved back home in 2014 and has found a friendly Turkish barber's in his home town which he attends without any issues.

He is due to start hormone replacement therapy in July and plans on having gender reassignment surgery in the future.

Mr Booth is now keen to show transgender people that they are supported and has created a website with Fixers, the charity which encourages young people to use their past experiences to help others, where people from the LGBT community can get in touch with each other.

He said: "I hope people – particularly those who are isolated or live in small rural communities - will use the forum on my website to share experiences of transitioning to help each other – you don’t have to go through it alone."

To find out more about Fixers click here.

To visit Jo’s website click here.