Non-Binary Person Thrives After Finding Supportive Community. “I Feel Very Optimistic.” [Video]

By I’m From Driftwood

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Vic grew up feeling different and disconnected from their own body. After moving from the Dominican Republic to New York City at a young age, they faced confusion about their identity but lacked the words to describe it. One day, they stumbled upon a Pride parade and discovered Queens Pride House, where they met a friend who shared their own struggles with gender identity. Together, they embarked on a journey of self-exploration, finding support and resources online and eventually embracing their non-binary identity.

After a long period of darkness and loss following that friend’s death, Vic found love and support from their partner, who encouraged them to continue their gender journey. Thanks to the support of their newfound community, Vic now lives an optimistic and confident life.

Transcript provided by YouTube:

0:00
[Music]
0:00
foreign
0:07
to Domingo Dominican Republic when I
0:11
was younger I felt like I knew I was
0:13
different and my body like was not mine
0:17
and the way that I remember that is by
0:21
my mother telling me stories about how I
0:24
acted when I was younger when I was a
0:27
toddler
0:27
she would tell me that when she would
0:30
put dresses on me like I would just like
0:32
rip them off of me and just like
0:35
completely
0:37
and just not enjoy it then when I was
0:40
five we moved to New York City and my
0:42
father was a superintendent so we would
0:44
move a lot I experienced like a lot of
0:47
confusion with who I was I didn’t know
0:52
the words
0:54
to describe what I was feeling I knew
0:58
that I liked girls but I didn’t know
1:00
that I
1:02
about gender when my father took a job
1:06
in Jackson Heights I was like I already
1:09
14 or 15. one random day on a Sunday I
1:14
was just hanging out at home and I
1:18
decided to go get something from the
1:20
bodega and as I’m walking like I see a
1:25
crowd of people so I go into the ballet
1:27
and I ask oh what’s going on and the guy
1:31
goes like Oh it’s uh a prime parade and
1:36
like I pretended like I didn’t care even
1:39
though I was like very happy inside
1:41
so I go back home like speed home
1:44
because my father was walking around and
1:47
like I didn’t want him to see me and I
1:49
found Queen’s Pride house which was on
1:54
two blocks away from my house and
1:59
I went up and I started talking to
2:02
people they told me about the youth
2:05
group that was there I was like 19. so I
2:08
go and I meet everybody I met this
2:11
person in Queen’s Pride house so we
2:13
exchanged numbers
2:16
um and we hung out some more we became
2:20
close friends they confided in me that
2:25
if they don’t feel comfortable in their
2:27
gender and that’s when I started to
2:30
also be like I also don’t feel
2:34
comfortable in my gender and started to
2:36
explore that a little bit further I
2:39
bought myself a binder they bought
2:41
themselves a binder
2:43
and we like connected through that
2:46
through the fact that we are not of this
2:49
gender I
2:51
started you know Googling youtubing and
2:55
like I found that there are other people
2:59
who also feel this way and that I’m not
3:02
alone even though like I had a lot of
3:05
queer lesbian and gay friends I didn’t
3:09
really have a lot of non-binary friends
3:12
to support me uh only them they would
3:16
support me they would be like your they
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would affirm me they would like take
3:22
care of me but sadly they passed away
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and then I had
3:29
nobody it was a really dark time I
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basically
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felt numb so four years past of me just
3:39
doing
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basically nothing and just being sad and
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depressed while those four years passed
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like I was dating and I was talking to
3:49
people but nothing really solid
3:52
um so I went on dating on a dating site
3:55
and I met my partner who I’m with now
3:58
within the two years of
4:03
us dating they confided me that they
4:06
were non-binary I was like oh yeah no I
4:10
think I’m non-binary too and they told
4:12
me that I should do something about it
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that they’ll be happy to go through this
4:18
journey with me and through my partner’s
4:21
support uh I was able to get hormones
4:25
and Top surgery and the funny thing is
4:29
that
4:30
through my partner’s support I was also
4:33
able to tell my mother that I was going
4:35
to get Top surgery and she actually went
4:37
with me
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to the surgery
4:42
and stood with my partner in the waiting
4:47
room as I was getting surgery I feel
4:49
very good I feel very optimistic
4:52
I feel I don’t feel as
4:55
um depressed as I did anymore I
4:58
recommend for people who
5:03
um are questioning their sexuality or
5:06
their gender to really find support if
5:09
you feel safe and supported you should
5:10
definitely do your research
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um find ways to feel more comfortable in
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your body
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uh find resources
5:21
find more support
5:23
it just fine community
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[Music]

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This post was previously published on YouTube.

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