'I don't remember not wanting to wear dresses'
- Published
Brian and Debbie both wore dresses on their wedding day
As a teenage boy growing up in Northern Ireland, Brian McCloskey always knew he wanted to wear women's clothes.
But it was not until he swapped Londonderry for California that he felt able to live openly as a cross-dresser.
It was when he started to live life as he wanted to.
In a new Radio Ulster and Radio Foyle documentary, Brian and his wife Debbie discuss life and what it is like when a husband owns more dresses than his wife.
"People say when did you want to start wearing dresses? And I honestly don't remember not wanting to wear dresses," says Brian.
"I always thought that girls' clothes were more interesting, and looked like more fun."
In his teenage years he was conflicted. He remembers wanting to swap the black blazer and trousers of his school uniform, for the pinafores worn at the neighbouring all-girls school.
"It definitely was a struggle," he recalls.
"I tried not to let it overwhelm me. I was aware this desire wasn't normal, but also aware it wasn't wrong.
"Of all the things a person can do, wearing a dress is not remotely wrong."
Even as a teenager, Brian felt girl's clothes were "more interesting"
Brian now lives in Santa Monica where he is a musician, blogger and curator of a popular online archive of Smash Hits magazine.
He met Debbie, who is from Kentucky, online.
They bonded over a shared love of blogging and the cult classic movie, The Big Lebowski.
After dressing in women's clothes privately for a while, he recalls the first time he wore a dress in public.
Leaving his Santa Monica home, he and Debbie walked the two blocks to the local library where he was taking part in a human book project.
"I was really excited and terrified at the same time," says Brian.
"I was a bit worried in case people would stare at me, then I was offended because no one stared at me. I was thinking: 'I look fantastic, why is nobody staring at me?'
"It may have been the longest two blocks of my life, but that might have been a bad shoe decision, because I had heels."
Brian McCloskey was "terrified and excited" the first time he wore a dress in public
Brian has more dresses and tights than Debbie does, although she doesn't mind.
"It's not the wrapping, it's the present inside," she says.
But she knows not everyone will understand.
"This is just what he likes to wear," she says.
"Even the people who live in this building, some cannot understand how there can be a heterosexual male dressed in a dress married to a heterosexual woman."
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In the Stories in Sound documentary, Brian and Debbie discuss their life together, including an appearance on the Ricki Lake Show.
And they explain why the only guest at their wedding was an actor from the movie that helped bring them together, The Big Lebowski.
Presenter Marie-Louise Muir says the couple's story is remarkable.
"For me it is a love story, of a man who is in love with his own identity, has a huge sprit of tolerance and understanding and has an incredible partner in Debbie," she says.
"To be with them and meet them is a tonic."
You can hear 'The Legenderry Boy In A Dress' on Radio Ulster and Radio Foyle on 8 February at 12:03 GMT and also on BBC Sounds.