Zee’s Story

When I was 12, I met a friend who was transgender. I had recently come out as Asexual at school, and had made friends with a lot of queer students. When covid hit later that school year and I was home all the time, I started delving more into the world of the LGBTQ+ community, and learning more about different identities. I began questioning my gender. After about a year or two, and going through many identities, I finally settled as transgender. I came out to my friends and people at school. Most were supportive, but of course not everyone was. After a year or so, I went into high school. I had been struggling with mental health for years, and in 8th grade, a "friend" introduced me to alcohol. I began drinking, and it got much worse in high school. In October of my freshman year, I was caught with alcohol on school grounds, and expelled from the IB Programme. I was sent to alternative school for 30 days, and at the beginning of the 2nd semester I began attending my base school. It was much different, and much more homophobic. I did make a few friends and found some extracurriculars I really enjoyed. However, later on within the semester I went on a field trip, which ended up in my parents finding out my gender identity. They were extremely angry and it caused many issues. Thankfully I had my partner and friends to help me through the trouble, and I made it through freshman year. During my sophomore year, I was able to start a GSA at my school, to help other students struggling with homophobia within the school environment.