After coming out at 13, Brendon Scholl thought about attempting suicide and wasn’t sure if there was a purpose to living. “Everything was weighing on me so much, I couldn’t handle it,” Brendon said, reflecting on years of struggling with their gender identity and how they saw themselves. Brendon is now in a better emotional and mental place, thanks to ample family support, and identifies as gender-fluid and uses “they” and “them” pronouns. While many people know from a very young age that they are either a boy or a girl, that is not true for everyone. Some people, including Brendon, know they don’t fit into being a man or a woman exclusively and use a term like gender-fluid to describe their gender. Brendon is now a happy and healthy teen who is leading their school community in ensuring other LGBTQ kids have access to the help and resources they need.

“I would Google, ‘Why do I feel like this?’” Brendon said. “In sixth grade, using my old feminine name felt weird. I’m in such a better place than I was a few years ago. All you hear are the horror stories — of trans people getting kicked out of their homes, getting murdered, sent to conversion counseling — but you don’t hear about the successful or hopeful ones. Maybe the world isn’t all horrible. I don’t care if the world is ready for me or not — I’m ready.”