My Story
Hello, I’m Devon and I’m going to talk about my journey of being LGBTQIA+, the things that have helped me get this far and where I am now.
I started at InFocus college in 2018 having previously attended both mainstream and specialist schools. When I first started, I identified as Female but I soon started realising that wasn’t how I felt. At 18 and in my second year of college this was when I first started questioning my gender identity.
I discovered the word Nonbinary and started speaking to our Pastoral lead Jane about how I was feeling. Jane supported me to tell my parents this through a meeting with her and them. Over time I gradually told my friends at college and they supported me. The signage on bathrooms was also changed to a gender neutral sign and we started to talk about LGBT+ topics in our PHSE lessons. Small steps like this really helped me feel understood.
I then discovered Intercom trust, a local charity that supports people in the LGBTQIA+ community and their families. I was then assigned an LGBT+ worker who has sessions with me every couple of weeks. This service has been helpful as I am still exploring gender and how I feel.
Now I identify more with Trans and Boyflux labels as sometimes I feel more like a guy and sometimes more gender neutral. I am a lot happier than I have been before and this is thanks to support I’ve received from college and Intercom.
Tips for someone exploring their gender identity
Here are some tips based on my experience to help people understand and support someone exploring their gender identity:
- Talk to them about how they’re feeling
- Tell them it’s no rush to understand straight away
- Ask if they’re ok with questions
- Do your research
- Let them know you’re there for them