Ree’s Story
Discover Ree’s story through school and university and into work as a non-binary person with epilepsy.
Illustration by Wednesday Holmes @hellomynameiswednesday
Key themes: school, university, disability, work
I realised I was different in primary school when peopled began pointing out that all my friends were boys. I was called names, but I didn’t understand the words and I ignored it. When I got older, I realised something was off again when my friends began dating and I wasn’t as interested.
I realised at about 14 that I was LGBTQ+, but I didn’t want to tell anyone because I thought there was no point. I became inspired by actors and footballers, and I got more active through politics in my community.
I was dealing with doctors a lot at this time in school because of my epilepsy, so I was also misgendered a lot. However, I felt that I didn’t have time to focus on that because my health was a priority.
When I left school and went to university, it felt like my health had finally been sorted and I started to share with new trusted friends how I felt. I was also able to spend time abroad in Arizona and I met some of my closest friends there.
I still didn’t feel okay though. My gender felt fake. I felt stuck and I didn’t know how to get out. Just before the pandemic, I decided to shave my head to raise money for epilepsy. It was a close cause to my heart, but this also meant I could now actually express myself.
Since then, people have treated me differently, but lots of people have also been awesome. I now volunteer for Just Like Us as an ambassador and my girlfriend, who is a cis lesbian, helps me deconstruct my gender and sexuality while I understand myself as a non-binary lesbian. I still struggle with labelling myself, but I have come to accept that this may change and that it’s totally okay to change.
I was always afraid to be myself at work, I thought I was more employable as a woman than I was as someone non-binary. I had a string of jobs where I didn’t come out at work because there wasn’t even an option on the workplace systems to be non-binary.
However, at Scope I’ve never been more supported to be myself as an LGBTQ+ person and as a disabled person. In pride month, I shared my journey with colleagues, and my boss and my whole team are always behind me.