I wasn’t taught about LGBT issues in an attempt to ‘protect’ me – it didn’t make me any less trans
LGBT+ identities are still as important and relevant than they were while I was growing up. Positive representation would have helped me feel like I truly belonged at school, and that it was a safe space.
Long before I came to terms with my identities, I had been called various slurs and bullied for being ‘weird’ or different. For a long time I felt like everyone else was following a rulebook – about how to be a good girl, have a celebrity crush, fall in love with a boy – that I never received.
Any attempts to try and explore the reasons why I didn’t fit in were met with pressure to try and conform to my peers. I believe my parents and my teachers felt comfort in the idea that, without being ‘exposed’ to LGBT+ representation, I would grow up straight and cisgender.
But not having the words to describe my identity didn’t prevent me from being gay and transgender, it made it harder for me to ask for help.
