Skip to main content

Q&A's

 1. What do you identify as and what is your sexuality?  
AL: I identify as a heterosexual trans male (he/him).
AA: I identify as a pansexual nonbinary (she/they).
2. Have you come out to your family? If so, how did you feel and what was your experience like?
AL: I've actually come out to my family twice. I first came out as a lesbian when I was in 5th grade. I wrote it on a piece of paper and left it on my moms' pillow because I was too scared to actually tell her. My parents strongly believed it was just a phase and it definitely took some time for them to accept it because of religious and cultural reasons but they came around. I came out again my sophomore year during our car ride home. I asked my mom how she felt about the trans community to ease into the conversation since I was nervous and then told her. It took a while for everyone to adjust as both my name and pronouns changed. Overall my experiences have been positive and I'm more than grateful to have been blessed with such accepting people in my life. 
AA: My experience wasn't so much "coming out", it was more of my mother finding out. I was in 7th grade when she found out about me liking girls. I was texting my girlfriend at the time late at night and during this time, my mom would check up on me to make sure I was sleeping especially on school nights. She walked into my room and got upset at me for being on my phone so late so she asked for my phone and my password to see what I was doing. The next morning her eyes were puffy, her face was red, and the sadness in her eyes was extremely noticeable. She questioned if I had anything I wanted to tell her but I continued dismissing this question because I was well aware it wouldn't bring either of us satisfaction. For about a month she stopped talking to me or looking at me the way she used to and for a while, I felt extremely neglected and unloved. She began drinking more than usual. Luckily, I had an accepting aunt who introduced her to new perspectives. After about a year, she finally accepted it and I can genuinely say there's a significant difference in the ways in which she responds or reacts towards my sexuality as well as my significant others. 
3. Have you ever felt anxious to publicly display your relationship due to negative reactions from others?
AL: No, never.
AA: I have actually. It was so engraved in my head that my priority should be to make sure everyone is comfortable. However, this affected me so drastically because I began suppressing my feelings and desires for the sake of comforting those around me rather than prioritizing my own happiness. 
4. Have you ever been discriminated against because of your gender or sexuality? 
AL: Thankfully I have not.
AA: I have not. 
5. What was the most difficult part of embodying who you truly are? 
AL: I think accepting it is the hardest part. It took a few years to identify the feeling that I've felt for so long. I've always known my body didn't feel like me but I wasn't aware of what that meant until I started looking into things. At first, I would wonder what people would say or think, but then I realized that I didn't need anyone's validation to become my truest self. 
AA: Personally, I think the hardest part was accepting it myself and not conforming to what people expected or wanted me to be. I didn't want to be looked at differently or treated any differently but I was so terrified of the reactions I would get. I soon realized that if I kept worrying about others' opinions, I'd never be happy with myself and that is something I couldn't allow any longer.
6.  Do you have any advice for those that are struggling with coming out or embracing their authentic self? 
AL: Definitely take it at your own pace. It's a process, spend time with yourself and figure out who you are. Your journey is your own and it's valid. Although it's scary, it's better than living as someone you have no connection to. 
AA: I strongly believe that you should practice being prideful in who you are even if the people around you give you many reasons as to why you shouldn't be. Be selfish, put your desires and happiness first. Remember that it's okay to not know. The only constant is change. So if your journey changes along the way, know that it is okay. You are under no obligation to have everything figured out. Carry out the things you want in your life because it's YOURS and no one else's. 

*Since the Individuals I interviewed wanted to remain anonymous, I put their intials rather than their full name. 
                                                                  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Article draft

  Falling In love with you     It is no surprise that people have begun to idealize unrealistic beauty standards. Slowly wanting to conform into what majority deem as perfect. With social media becoming increasingly popular, most of what we see is altered in some way. We are in fact spreading the very ideas that make us miserable in our own bodies. Dissatisfaction in self does not solely depend on our physical being. This unfulfillment can be directed towards our mind, our body, or our soul. You may feel as though your thoughts or ideas are of unimportance; useless. You see your body as unattractive, “not good enough”, repugnant. You see your soul or the energy you radiate as dreadful. What people fail to recognize, is that these very things are interconnected. See your internal reality is projected through your external reality. For instance, if you constantly tell yourself you are unworthy of love or happiness, you will surely attract people who reflect your feelings ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Evaluating Preliminary Task

 Evaluation: The preliminary task gave me the opportunity to improve my creative skills and expand my knowledge of photoshop/ photo editing.  It took longer than expected because I had to ensure that the color schemes fit my theme, the fonts depicted the feeling and message I wanted to convey, and that the pictures were placed in a way that would attract a wider audience.  Layout: The layout of my cover magazine followed all the necessary conventions. I used this picture of my puppy because it portrays him as sweet and playful. He looked comfortable and happy and I thought it would attract more dog lovers. Placing him in the center was the best option for my magazine because it allowed me to place the cover lines around him without directly covering any part of that image. The masthead is dark green and right above the cover model. I chose green because the picture was taken outside and blends right in with the grass. Additionally, cover lines are placed on the left of t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Magazine Research

Magazines have been around as early as the late sixteenth hundreds and early seventeenth hundreds. According to "Magazine Publishing", the earliest magazine was published in 1663-68 by Johann Rist, a theologian in Hamburg, Germany. Soon after his publication, more periodicals were being released in France, England, and Europe. However, the first published magazine in America took place in 1741. Many magazines that were released to the public were restricted because of censorship. In the nineteenth century, periodical topics varied from improvement, family entertainment, enlightenment, and amusement. Additionally, the first magazines in the United States that included illustrations consisted of Leslie's Weekly and Harper's Weekly in 1855-1922. Women were a big part of the consumer culture when it came to magazines. Helen Gordon Lazareff released a women's magazine that had an impact on the way many women thought, spoke and perceived themselves. With time, new magaz...
Post a Comment
Read more