Growing up, I never identified as someone feminine. I never wore dresses, skirts, or anything like those by choice. I only wore t-shirts, sweatpants, or shorts, although girls' shorts were always far too short for me. I often got picked on for not looking how the rest of the girls in Oshawa “should look.” Eventually, I stopped caring about their opinions. One day, I worked up the courage to ask my parents to cut my hair short. They agreed, and after that, I started to feel much more confident.
However, it wasn't until COVID that I truly realized my identity. I never faced any challenges within my family when I came out. My dad said from day one, "It doesn't matter who you like as long as you're happy." I think it just took me so long to figure it out because it never registered in my child brain that I could be gay, so it never clicked. However, during COVID, with nothing to do, it became a topic I thought about often. I quickly realized that I did, in fact, like girls. Not long after, I also realized that I have no gender either.
Ever since then, I have felt much more comfortable in my skin and have started presenting in a way that makes me feel comfortable, rather than how people think I should look. The community here at Centennial is a lot more accepting than at my high school or elementary school. Before, I often had to filter what I said about girls or limit my speech because people would get weird if I talked about it for too long. Here, my program and friends encourage me to be myself, which has been such a sigh of relief. It's so freeing to finally be able to be authentically me, and I am grateful to have found people here who love and accept me for who I am.