Growing up, I was always that gender queer kid. At first, I was allowed to act and express myself the way I wanted but later everyone encouraged me to be more on the feminine spectrum because they were worried about my safety. At home they could ensure I was loved but in school, for instance, they weren’t there to protect me. It created a lot of insecurity and isolation for me, I wasn’t able to relate to my peers and I started to feel awkward because I couldn’t be myself and had suicidal thoughts during puberty which eventually landed me in hospital.
It was at that time that my family rallied behind me but it wasn’t until 2006, when I was 18, that I came out as a trans man.