Bearded Lady Beats The Bullies

HARNAAM: This is who I am, I'm different and

I've learnt to accept it fully.

COMM: Meet the incredible 23-year-old woman,

Harnaam Kaur who's been growing a beard since
the age of 16. And she says she's never felt

more feminine.

HARNAAM: It's the way that God made me and

I'm happy with it.

COMM: Harnaam from Slough has polycystic ovary

syndrome which can cause excessive hair growth.
She was just eleven when it sorted appearing

on her face.

HARNAAM: I would hide it by talking to people

with my hands over my face. I used to wax
it and that became really painful so I would

just shave it or use different sorts of creams.
Um I used to bleach it too.

COMM: Harnaam endured bullying at school and

stares from people on the street.

00:46
HARNAAM: The names that people would call

me were things like beardo instead of weirdo,
um she-man, she-male.

00:54
COMM: She's even received death threats after

posting videos about female facial hair on
YouTube.

HARNAAM: I have had people telling me that

they're gonna burn me and that they're gonna
throw brick at me.

01:06
COMM: At her lowest point she began self harming,

and even considered taking her own life.

HARNAAM: I would lock myself in my room, I

didn't want people to see me because I knew
that would lead to more stares.

COMM: At the age of sixteen, everything changed

for Harnaam, when she took the decision to
be baptised as a Sikh.

HARNAAM: We need to keep our bodies intact

the way it was given by God. It was literally
at the point where I had enough of people

bullying me, me feeling down, me having suicidal
thoughts, me self harming, I just had enough.

COMM: The decision proves controversial, even

Harnaam's own family were against it at first.

HARNAAM: The concerns that my mum and dad

had were I won't have a normal life "normal
life"I say, as a young girl should have. I

won't get married, there were concerns about
me getting job, how there was no employers

out there that will employ a bearded lady
and such.

02:04
COMM: But she's found support in her 18-year-old

brother Gurdeep, and friend Surrinder.

02:09
GURDEEP: She's happy living her life, does

what she wants to do, so it's really good
for her, as long as she's happy that's all

I really care about.

SURRINDER: For me to see her without the beard

no I think it would be a shock, it would;t
be the same person, I so I think having the

beard has probably given her a lot of strength
etc. to be who she wants to be, to say what

she wants to say, and y'know just be happy.

COMM: Harnaam still has to endure stares in

the street, and is often mistaken for a man.
But she's learnt to accept it.

HARNAAM: I do play around with it a little

bit because sometimes when I go to the public
toilets and someone goes to me um "Oh this

is the women's" and I actually put on a deep
voice and I say no this is for men's. SO I

kind of play around with it and it's funny
because we all end up laughing.

COMM: Today things are looking hop for Harnaam,

she works as a primary school teaching assistant,
and she's received dozens of messages from

women and men around the world, who say they
love her beard.

HARNAAM: One guy saw my picture and he goes

to me, will you marry me?

COMM: And she hopes her story will encourage

other women to be more body confident.

COMM: This is me, this is who I am, it's my

inner beauty, it's my outer beauty, it's my
oneness, it's my wholeness. I'm different

and I've leant to accept it fully.