Becoming a youth faith ambassador
Roswell Grey Roswell Grey is well accepted at home, school and at church and hopes to help others flourish DAVID TAFFET | Senior Staff Writertaffet@dallasvoice.com Roswell Grey is out at home, in school and in church.
The 16-year-old is trans and Mormon and was recently named a Beloved Arise youth of faith ambassador. Beloved Arise is a national organization that celebrates and empowers LGBTQ youth, particularly those who have been rejected by their faith communities.
Grey always knew he was different but didn’t start learning about queerness until 2017 and didn’t begin coming out until 2020 when there was no school and no activities. “I first came out to people online and slowly started coming out to my school friends who were trans or queer in some way,” he said. “My school has a big queer and trans population.” Grey attends Sherman High School in Sherman, about 65 miles north of Dallas.
He said his friends are accepting, and most of the older students are accepting. The freshmen can sometimes be jerks, he said, and while most teachers call him by his preferred name, some insist on using his legal name. “You can’t get your name changed in the [school’s] system unless it’s legally changed,” he said.
