I was a Christian youth leader. Now I’m proud to be transgender.
I used to have a job teaching kids not to be themselves.
I was a Catholic youth leader, running activities and leading prayer circles every Friday night, organising events and outings, and acting as an extremely unqualified counsellor for a collection of 13–18 year olds. I held a seat on my parish council, and I played in the Church youth band.
I grew up in a religious environment, but by the time I hit my late teens, I was already wearing stockings whenever I had the chance to be alone, crushing on the punk boys down at the skatepark, and hanging out online under a series of feminine usernames.
But that was a secret life, a life that I kept hidden from the people around me.
To the eyes of the world, I belonged with my Catholic friends, and with my Catholic girlfriend, and at the Church Hall.
Identity and sex education were the worst part of the youth group’s culture. In between the laser tag, the dodgeball games and the pizza nights, there were always talks and events to go to where the message was clear — being gay was wrong, being transgender was a mental disorder, having sex was immoral, and you did not have autonomy over your own body.
