Gemma
My identity is: Lesbian and non-binary
My pronouns are: she/they
GSU Staff Member
While I'm open about my sexuality and gender identity now, for a very long time that wasn't the case. When I grew up I didn't know anything about LGBTQ+ people other than the not so kind words I heard thrown around on the playground. All I knew was that I didn't feel the same way as my friends did about the boys in our classes and I thought there was something wrong about that.
It wasn't until I met a family member who was a woman in a relationship with another woman that I realised what being LGBTQ+ actually was. As soon as I realised that I didn't have to grow up and be with a man I felt scared but ultimately so much relief. It's impossible to try and condense the several very difficult and confusing years it took to come out to myself, and the several more it took to come out to anyone else. But now I'm through those years, living my life as a lesbian is the truest and best thing I could have ever done for myself.
University was a complete game changer for me in terms of being LGBTQ+. I could introduce myself as whoever I wanted to be. From the day I arrived at university, I never hid my LGBTQ+ identity. It was very freeing to find a community of other queer people who fully excepted me. As a sociology student, I also got to spend a lot of my university experience researching Gender and Queer theory which taught me a lot about the history of the LGBTQ+ community and I loved being able to write essays about my lived experiences.
My pride message:
While it is true that we have come a long way from where we once were for LGBTQ+ rights, there is still so much further to go. I'm so lucky to have a group of people around me who are accepting but I am very aware of all of the LGBTQ+ people around the world who are not in such a fortunate position. It is important that we celebrate how far we have come as well as continuing to fight for all members of the LGBTQ+ community.