JACKDAW (HE/THEY)

"I'm a disabled nonbinary trans man, living in a wonderful household of poly trans people. If I'd seen someone like me when I was much younger, I think my head would have exploded from the realisation that I could exist like this.

I spent a long time trying to stay as close to the box of what I was supposed to be, even with being openly queer, but I think it was accepting my disability was possibly the thing that pushed me over the edge into becoming myself more authentically. The further I got from what I was 'supposed' to be, the closer I got to myself I guess?"

"The other side of it is how isolating it can be- going to an event means I need to plan my entire week around that or I pay for it massively. Having to spend a lot of time thinking about medical appointments does also take up energy from transition related things- I've seen so many people 'overtake' me for lack of better phrasing, and it's a weird set of emotions. It also adds another filter to how I relate to my body- my transness and disabledness can feel hard to pry apart from one another at times, same with my fatness (I'm not the biggest person ever but I actively experience fatphobia in medical environments in particular)."

"I very rarely see trans people who look like me on social media and the like, but I know we are out there and do exist and if some photos of me make someone else feel less alone, that would be amazing. I also want to be able to show the world that bodies like mine that are disabled and trans and fat are radiant and worthy."

WHAT DOES VISIBILITY MEAN TO YOU, AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

"Visibility is looking in the mirror and getting that feeling of 'oh, hello, there you are' but on an even bigger scale. It's feeling like your actual self is being seen and acknowledged, and seeing it in other people and feeling the hope that comes with that. There's so much joy in that, and it's so important because the isolation and loneliness without the visibility is crushing.

Safety and rights and everything like that are so important too for surviving, but visibility feels like the thing needed for thriving."

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