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In celebration of pride month, I would like to share my experience about being a very queer EVO student and Sci. CORPS worker. While I have learned that I am bisexual, which has come with its own journey, what has troubled me much more is the understanding of my own gender (and the inconsistency that has come with it.) I have spent some days really feeling like a boy, but others feeling like a girl– and sometimes– neither, and even both! After months of reflecting upon the many moments I have experienced in my life feeling confused, I have come to the conclusion that I am genderfluid. This means that sometimes I am a boy, a girl, neither, or a little bit of both. But once I had come out to myself, I knew that I had to now begin coming out to people. Amazing friends (who also all happen to be part of the LGBTQ+ community), therapy, and comics with queer undertones gave me the confidence to attempt being more open with my identity, and a great place to start was EVO.
While I haven’t come out to my parents because I don’t know if I can handle dealing with that every single day, it was a completely different case with EVO and Sci. CORPS! A space where there’s only one day a week of seeing each other (alongside the extra 2 days from working Sci. CORPS) sounded great. I could come out to everyone, and then not really have to deal with the repercussions for a week, and even use that week to mentally prepare for any tribulations that would follow! I was much more social with my fellow EVO students than I was at school, meaning that people audibly misgendering me wasn’t rare. After a few months, I knew it was time to face it.
I initially came out to one of the teachers of my class and was met by nothing but acceptance! I explained the intricacies of my gender and felt listened to. The teacher was very careful with how I wanted to handle coming out to everyone else, but after I explained I was fine with everyone at EVO knowing as long as my parents didn’t find out, she was very excited and open about it to everyone. In the weeks that followed, I received several different name tags that all came with different sets of pronouns to let everyone know what I was that day. While it took some getting used to for everybody, they eventually became pretty well versed in how to view and address me. While the occasional mistake still happens, it is usually followed by an apology from the person who made the mistake, or a clarification by me. Sometimes, I catch people properly correcting each other after hearing me being misgendered. I’ve even been given access to my own secret little bathroom for days where I feel uncomfortable using the typical “Man” or “Woman” ones. EVO and Sci. CORPS, things I already loved, have become even more integral to me and who I am. Because of the wonderful people here, I have found a new sense of pride in myself and will forever be grateful for this beautiful experience.
-Tristan Ortiz