September 2, 2024 • 20 mins
Nadya Lopez from the Here We Are campaign joined Danielle to talk about her experience as a young transgender student who came out during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the journey she has gone through with her parents along the way.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:11):
Good morning, Peepsen, and welcome to wok F Daily with
Meet your Girl Danielle Moody. Pre recording from the home
Bunker as I am off today for the Labor Day holiday,
but as always we leave you with great interviews and
content for you to enjoy while hopefully you were out
enjoying the last remnants of summer, even though summer is
(00:34):
unofficially over until you know the fall equinox, but whatever, folks,
I'm excited to bring you an interview today with Nadio Lopez,
who is a participant in glads Here We Are campaign.
If you remember, several weeks back, we interviewed another participant
in the Here We Are campaign, which highlights the stories
(00:59):
of trans people in this country through their own lens
and their own stories, which is incredibly important. Oftentimes, too
often trans people are spoken about in terms of statistics
and headlines and devastation and murder, but not through the
lens of joy, happiness, health, acceptance, and love. And so
(01:24):
today's conversation with Nadia, who participated in the campaign and
is a full time student, she talks about her story
and I got to tell you it was incredibly moving
and just so energizing to speak to such a young,
fabulous person who just knows who they are, and I
(01:47):
think is just such a beacon for young people, young
queer people, but young people in general, for the courage
and just like beauty that she shows of what it
means to live in your skin. And so I really
hope that you enjoy my conversation with Nadia Lopez and
(02:09):
you get some inspiration from it. Folks. I am very
happy to welcome to wok F Daily Nadia Lopez, who
participated in the Here We Are campaign that GLAD rolled
out to showcase the stories of transgender people in the
(02:29):
United States because we know that over the past several years,
the trans community, particularly trans people of color, have been
under attack. There have been I think, my god, I
must have lost count over five hundred or some odd
policy measures that have been drawn up to kind of
invisibilize trans people. Nadia, tell us a bit about yourself
(02:52):
and why you decided to get involved in the Here
We Are campaign.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Hello everyone, Nadia Lopez. I am from Miami, Florida, born
and raised. I'm keeping Palestinian trans woman, very proud of
all my heritage and everything. So I went to high school.
I started my transition in high school during the pandemic,
and that was you know, that time for me was
(03:18):
very of like figuring out who I was. You know,
we were all locked down. We were all like stuck
in one room, and we had like really think about
so much stuff. When you're like alone with your own thoughts,
so much can come up. So I started transitioning during
the lockdown. And then my senior year was the first
year back when we were in person. So that was
(03:38):
my first year back ass Nadia. In this high school,
everyone was like, oh my god, you know she came
back home.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Girl.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
I'm like, hey, everyone, how we do it? But also
that same year that was the same y I don't
say gay was passed too, so that was the same Yaing.
I also applied to be a change maker in the
Alliance for LGBTQ Youth down in South Slorida. It is
a leadership position. It was like a group of clear
(04:07):
youth that would get together and would try to work
on our own advocacy and our own leadership skills to
put all that effort at work that we've been working
on together into the policies and into advocacy into South Slorida.
I was so grateful when Glad reached out to me.
This whole process was like two years in the making,
(04:28):
kind of because I got my first email from them
when it was like the middle of my freshman year
in college. I'm right now going into my junior year.
I go to school for fashion design and for performing arts.
Those are my two passions. I love everything about art,
and I've always strived to make sure that inclusivity and
especially with trans people, is brought to those realms of art.
(04:51):
So I got my first email like the middle of
my first year, and first of all, I was like,
first of all, Glad, Okay, hey.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Glad, Glad.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
I was like, oh my god. Like Glad turned out
to me like this. Like first of all, I thought
it was a SPA. I was like, this can't be real,
Like no, no, no. But then I really looked into it
and it was like they really wanted to tell a
story of just a trans person and them in real life.
And I love because they wanted to include me and
my dad. My dad is my biggest support. I love
(05:22):
him and Dad. He's like my best friend. And if
y'all see the video, he is in there speaking alongside
my mother as well. I'm very good, but I have
very supportive parents. So when we got onto the calls
with the team and with everything, we were just talking
about like what is kind of like my angal you know,
like what do I kind of want to do with
(05:42):
these PSAs with just lead my story? And I remember
telling them I was like, I want to show the
trans joy. I want to show yes, a trans woman,
a young trans woman, especially a young, a brown, young
trans woman, come on, let's speak on it, smiling with
her family, having fun with her friends, and just enjoying life.
(06:05):
Because we are constantly seeing in the media, whether it
is a TV show, a movie, politics, we see on
all these videos, we are always seeing a trans zoone
being knocked down, yep. And I want to be that change.
I do not want to see any more of these.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
These s's like trauma porn, right, Like it's not to
say that the bad and horrific things don't happen, but
they're not the only part of the stick exactly.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
And I feel like a good example of media that
balances out really well is post. I love posts. I
feel like they balance out the hard truth of being
a trans woman at that time, plus the joy of
having family and having recognition and validation of one another
from the community. I think that's a good example of
balancing the two. But still it's like you still see
(06:57):
like all these especially in media, you see if there's
a trans character, they are known for being just trans,
that they're all that's their only personality trait, and their
whole storyline is like I was outcasted, I was this,
I was that wow girl, I like I literally told
them so straight up. I was like, I want happiness.
I want our videos to be of us smiling. I
(07:19):
want the joy. Because being trans is such a beautiful experience.
And with media and with all of these like polities
going up, people think that being trans is like so
hard and like so like you know, hurtful on your life,
and of course, like we have those moments in our lives,
but being trans as well is so rewarding and so beautiful.
(07:41):
I love being trans. It is like a part of me. Like,
but first of all, I love being trans, but it's
not the only thing I.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Am, right, right, You're also an artist, like you're also
a person of color. Yeah, I think that it's always
so important. The thing about media in a lot of
ways is that it flattens people. It flattens people into
boxes that can be checked off. And so I think
that what is beautiful about the campaign that Glad did
(08:06):
is that it is revolutionary. It shouldn't be, but it
is revolutionary to show trans people in their fullness, to
not just be a stat to not just be a headline,
but to show trans people that are loved. And I
think that that is what that is what your video
did is to say, like, I am trans and I
am loved. I have a family that loves me. Because
(08:28):
I think too often we hear the stories of the
trans homelessness, right the youth homelessness, and being kicked out
of your home. So talk to us about your family,
your family support, and why it was important for you
to showcase that.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Uh, I mean, my family's apartments a world to me.
I remember my first conversation specifically with my parents. They
were very confused. I mean, my mom is a Hispanic
Arab woman. My dad is Hispanic as well, from New York.
They both were raised in you know, conservative lifestyles just
because of their cultures, their how they were raised around
(09:03):
people at that time. But they were raised my mom
came from Cuba, like in the sixties, so all these
things like that was in their head when they when
they first heard me say I'm a woman, they were
very confused.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
How old were you?
Speaker 2 (09:17):
I was fifteen. I was fifteen years old. I'm now twenty.
So it's been five years. Yeah, oh my god, it's
been fine.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Five years.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
That's crazy. That's so crazy to think about. Oh my god.
But so I remember telling them. We were sitting on
the couch and I was like, I need to tell
you guys, I'm a woman. My dad was just quiet.
My mom was like, what are you talking about, very confused.
It's sook been mom a little bit, a little longer
than my dad. Surprisingly, I was a little confused with that.
(09:50):
But my dad did the research. He read about young
trans trans women. He went to like focus grow groups,
he went to p FLAG, he went to those those groups.
And now he's like on the board of the Florida.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Tar Okay, okay, Dad, Yeah, come on dad.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
We love dad. And then right when you know, my
dad started going to these meetings my mom, like all
this love that my mom had towards me started coming through,
and then it was all that validation of you know
her helping me, like my mom bothering my first dress.
I remember that moment that she helped me pick out
my first I don't know if it was a dress
or it's hop whoever, my first affirming piece of clothing. Yeah, yes,
(10:31):
she helped me pick it out. And it was like
the moment of her looking at me, her buying it
and being like, I love you.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Oh I'm gonna cry.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Yeah, it's I love them. I love I love my
parents very much and they love me so much. And
I remember my even my dad saying it was either
I accept my child for who she is or I
lose my daughter. Mm hmm. And I told him straight up,
I was like, whatever y'all do, I'm gonna still be
me if you support me or not. I'm to put
(11:00):
myself first. I'm going to be myself. And they just decided,
you know, to join the bandwagon.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
Do you hear from other young people about how your
story and your advocacy has helped them? Yes, right, because
it's been five years, you know, for you, it's both
a long time and a short time.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
Do you hear from other young people who may be
on the precipice of coming out to their family having
these conversations. Yeah, and how do you kind of walk
them through it?
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Oh my god. I mean I hear stories constantly. A
specific story was I was Rizzo in my senior year's musical.
I was the first transformant casted in my school. And
after the opening night, I came to school the next
morning and a girl came out to me and said,
seeing you as Rizzo in your authenticity made me finally
(11:57):
walk in these halls today as myself, And she like
came out to me and she was telling me like,
I'm trance as well, and hearing you and seeing you
helped me being myself now walking these halls. I was
seventeen at that time when I was crying my eyes out,
Like it was like seven in the morning. I'm crying,
and I'm like, oh, we're gonna have to go to English,
(12:18):
like gro what. But it was just a moment I'm
never gonna forget. And I'm always hearing stories about people
my age and younger with their families and stuff and
asking me like what should I do. I always tell
people who ask me that question patience. It's so hard. Ooh,
it's so hard to be patient, But especially when you're transitioning.
(12:42):
You are going through so much. You're going through so
much mentally, you're going through so much physically. It's like
you're basically coming out of a cocoon. You are like
everything you are pushing to get out constantly. It feels
like we're trying to leave this old past self while
trying to balance still be a human being. And look
(13:05):
like when they tell me I'm just so frustrated with
my parents and so first, I just don't shareway I
get it. I'm like, girl, I get you, I get you.
I was frustrated my parents too in the beginning. It
took them, like, even though they're so supportive and they
love me so much right now, it took them a
hot minute. And I'm always gonna give them their flowers
for being the most supportive parents ever, and I love
them so much, but I'm never gonna forget the times
(13:27):
where it was it was stressful, because I mean, we
all grow, and they grew. So it's like I understand
that that moment.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
And grace is important right to provide, and I understand it,
like we always want people to be where we are
as we're moving through our own life journey. But I
think that it's also important to provide people with grace
and give them the space to get to where you're going, right, Like,
I'm not telling people to you know, shrink themselves right
(13:57):
or dim themselves in order to get people to where
they're going. But I do think that patience really in
this context, really is a virtue.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
Yeah, because it's also the play Devil's Advocate. On my parents' side,
it was like they had a son for fourteen years
and all of a sudden they had to now go
through their own transition. It's like they had to go
through their mental transition of now seeing their son now
as their daughter. So it took them a second, but
(14:26):
it was that great, as you said, the grace that
I let, I gave them to have their moment to process,
to understand, to do their own research. So at the
end of the day, the only you know, we could
do is exist. We could teach as much as we can,
but we are not We are not a girl. I
don't have a doctorate, I have not got PhD. And
(14:46):
this thing. I could just tell you my experience and
I could tell you my story and that's it. But
when it comes to learning about the community, that's kind
of on them to kind of figure out more. If
they want to have all these questions answered, they have
to do their own work, because I'm still answering my
own questions myself. I'm still growing, I'm still learning, I'm
still figuring out who am I. Who is Nadia? I mean,
(15:08):
it took me a minute to even get to Nadia.
I mean when I came out, Nadia wasn't even in
my head at the moment, I was like, I just
saw I'm a woman. I'm a woman. And then it
was throwing and it was seeing my hair grow, it
was seeing my face softened, it was seeing my body
transform into the woman that I was that mirror. It
(15:28):
was seeing that woman I always saw when I was
younger come to life and fruition like it was. And
then once once it was complete, once I felt like myself,
I was like, that's Nadia. That's who I am. My
name is Nadia. And it was beautiful because even when
my mom helped me live my name and everything, and
(15:51):
we kind of like had like a saving my family,
Like we were kind of sitting together like thinking about names,
and I was like, guy's Nadia. My mom's idea was
it's like, how about Nadia? And I was like, ooh,
I kind of like her. And I then like later
throughout that week, I was looking in the mirror, I said, yeah,
that's me.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
And I love this too because it also gave your mom,
your family, like the opportunity to be a part of
that naming process in the way that they had right
when you.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Were born exactly, you know.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
And so I feel almost as if, like in your rebirth,
your family got to really also shift and change and
transition as well. And I think that that's really really beautiful.
Last question for you, Nadia is what advice do you
(16:49):
give to people who are either struggling to come into
their fullness of who they are and also share that
fullness with other people. What advice do you give to them?
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Oh, I would say to be ourselves and to walk
into our fullness, as being a transperson is a statement
in itself, and it is a huge step to make.
It is scary, and once you walk out, girl, there
ain't no going back, so you gotta make sure you're ready.
(17:26):
And I told someone this, My favorite thing to tell
someone is to shine like a star you were born
to be. I love saying that. I love telling people
that what if I see, if I see the goodness
of them, you gotta shine like a star you were
born to be, because we're all born stars, and we're
all in this huge, beautiful night sky that we live
in every day. Some make compilations and some go shooting stars.
(17:52):
But the thing is, it's like when you when you're
going into it. I remember I expected all of my
big moments to happen at the xac same moment. But
you have to remember that transitions are not always smooth. Yes, yeah,
oh I ate that. Oh that was, Oh, oh wow,
(18:17):
you gonna put yourself on the girl I was. Transitions
are always are They're not always smooth. And if there's
a bump, it's okay. You acknowledge it. As my high
school teacher told me, recover and continue. You take it in.
You gotta recover from it. You got hit, it's okay.
You're gonna come back up. You're gonna keep going, and
(18:39):
you are gonna keep going here to keep going no
matter what. Being ourselves is a huge statement, and the
fact that you are choosing yourself is a beautiful thing,
and you always have to remember that being yourself is
the best decision you could do. At least for me,
choosing myself, choosing my womanhood, choosing to leave my house
as Nadia was the best I could have ever made
(19:01):
in my life. Because now I walk with my headheld high.
I walk in spaces knowing, look at me, I'm that girl.
I am Nadia.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Let me tell you something, if fashion does not work out,
then you move yourself into motivational speaker and life coach.
Because I know, I'm serious. It is truly inspiring to
see somebody that is so young and so in tuned
and so aligned with themselves like it really is inspiring.
(19:35):
And I just I want to thank you for making
the time for WOKF and I want to thank you
for making your life a testimonial for others to be
able to follow. I really appreciate you.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Thank you so much, you know, and thank you for
having me and giving me this platform. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
That is it for me today, dear friends on wok F.
As always, power to the people and to all the people. Power,
get woke and stay woke as fuck.
Good morning, Peepsen, and welcome to wok F Daily with
Meet your Girl Danielle Moody. Pre recording from the home
Bunker as I am off today for the Labor Day holiday,
but as always we leave you with great interviews and
content for you to enjoy while hopefully you were out
enjoying the last remnants of summer, even though summer is
(00:34):
unofficially over until you know the fall equinox, but whatever, folks,
I'm excited to bring you an interview today with Nadio Lopez,
who is a participant in glads Here We Are campaign.
If you remember, several weeks back, we interviewed another participant
in the Here We Are campaign, which highlights the stories
(00:59):
of trans people in this country through their own lens
and their own stories, which is incredibly important. Oftentimes, too
often trans people are spoken about in terms of statistics
and headlines and devastation and murder, but not through the
lens of joy, happiness, health, acceptance, and love. And so
(01:24):
today's conversation with Nadia, who participated in the campaign and
is a full time student, she talks about her story
and I got to tell you it was incredibly moving
and just so energizing to speak to such a young,
fabulous person who just knows who they are, and I
(01:47):
think is just such a beacon for young people, young
queer people, but young people in general, for the courage
and just like beauty that she shows of what it
means to live in your skin. And so I really
hope that you enjoy my conversation with Nadia Lopez and
(02:09):
you get some inspiration from it. Folks. I am very
happy to welcome to wok F Daily Nadia Lopez, who
participated in the Here We Are campaign that GLAD rolled
out to showcase the stories of transgender people in the
(02:29):
United States because we know that over the past several years,
the trans community, particularly trans people of color, have been
under attack. There have been I think, my god, I
must have lost count over five hundred or some odd
policy measures that have been drawn up to kind of
invisibilize trans people. Nadia, tell us a bit about yourself
(02:52):
and why you decided to get involved in the Here
We Are campaign.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Hello everyone, Nadia Lopez. I am from Miami, Florida, born
and raised. I'm keeping Palestinian trans woman, very proud of
all my heritage and everything. So I went to high school.
I started my transition in high school during the pandemic,
and that was you know, that time for me was
(03:18):
very of like figuring out who I was. You know,
we were all locked down. We were all like stuck
in one room, and we had like really think about
so much stuff. When you're like alone with your own thoughts,
so much can come up. So I started transitioning during
the lockdown. And then my senior year was the first
year back when we were in person. So that was
(03:38):
my first year back ass Nadia. In this high school,
everyone was like, oh my god, you know she came
back home.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Girl.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
I'm like, hey, everyone, how we do it? But also
that same year that was the same y I don't
say gay was passed too, so that was the same Yaing.
I also applied to be a change maker in the
Alliance for LGBTQ Youth down in South Slorida. It is
a leadership position. It was like a group of clear
(04:07):
youth that would get together and would try to work
on our own advocacy and our own leadership skills to
put all that effort at work that we've been working
on together into the policies and into advocacy into South Slorida.
I was so grateful when Glad reached out to me.
This whole process was like two years in the making,
(04:28):
kind of because I got my first email from them
when it was like the middle of my freshman year
in college. I'm right now going into my junior year.
I go to school for fashion design and for performing arts.
Those are my two passions. I love everything about art,
and I've always strived to make sure that inclusivity and
especially with trans people, is brought to those realms of art.
(04:51):
So I got my first email like the middle of
my first year, and first of all, I was like,
first of all, Glad, Okay, hey.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Glad, Glad.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
I was like, oh my god. Like Glad turned out
to me like this. Like first of all, I thought
it was a SPA. I was like, this can't be real,
Like no, no, no. But then I really looked into it
and it was like they really wanted to tell a
story of just a trans person and them in real life.
And I love because they wanted to include me and
my dad. My dad is my biggest support. I love
(05:22):
him and Dad. He's like my best friend. And if
y'all see the video, he is in there speaking alongside
my mother as well. I'm very good, but I have
very supportive parents. So when we got onto the calls
with the team and with everything, we were just talking
about like what is kind of like my angal you know,
like what do I kind of want to do with
(05:42):
these PSAs with just lead my story? And I remember
telling them I was like, I want to show the
trans joy. I want to show yes, a trans woman,
a young trans woman, especially a young, a brown, young
trans woman, come on, let's speak on it, smiling with
her family, having fun with her friends, and just enjoying life.
(06:05):
Because we are constantly seeing in the media, whether it
is a TV show, a movie, politics, we see on
all these videos, we are always seeing a trans zoone
being knocked down, yep. And I want to be that change.
I do not want to see any more of these.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
These s's like trauma porn, right, Like it's not to
say that the bad and horrific things don't happen, but
they're not the only part of the stick exactly.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
And I feel like a good example of media that
balances out really well is post. I love posts. I
feel like they balance out the hard truth of being
a trans woman at that time, plus the joy of
having family and having recognition and validation of one another
from the community. I think that's a good example of
balancing the two. But still it's like you still see
(06:57):
like all these especially in media, you see if there's
a trans character, they are known for being just trans,
that they're all that's their only personality trait, and their
whole storyline is like I was outcasted, I was this,
I was that wow girl, I like I literally told
them so straight up. I was like, I want happiness.
I want our videos to be of us smiling. I
(07:19):
want the joy. Because being trans is such a beautiful experience.
And with media and with all of these like polities
going up, people think that being trans is like so
hard and like so like you know, hurtful on your life,
and of course, like we have those moments in our lives,
but being trans as well is so rewarding and so beautiful.
(07:41):
I love being trans. It is like a part of me. Like,
but first of all, I love being trans, but it's
not the only thing I.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Am, right, right, You're also an artist, like you're also
a person of color. Yeah, I think that it's always
so important. The thing about media in a lot of
ways is that it flattens people. It flattens people into
boxes that can be checked off. And so I think
that what is beautiful about the campaign that Glad did
(08:06):
is that it is revolutionary. It shouldn't be, but it
is revolutionary to show trans people in their fullness, to
not just be a stat to not just be a headline,
but to show trans people that are loved. And I
think that that is what that is what your video
did is to say, like, I am trans and I
am loved. I have a family that loves me. Because
(08:28):
I think too often we hear the stories of the
trans homelessness, right the youth homelessness, and being kicked out
of your home. So talk to us about your family,
your family support, and why it was important for you
to showcase that.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Uh, I mean, my family's apartments a world to me.
I remember my first conversation specifically with my parents. They
were very confused. I mean, my mom is a Hispanic
Arab woman. My dad is Hispanic as well, from New York.
They both were raised in you know, conservative lifestyles just
because of their cultures, their how they were raised around
(09:03):
people at that time. But they were raised my mom
came from Cuba, like in the sixties, so all these
things like that was in their head when they when
they first heard me say I'm a woman, they were
very confused.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
How old were you?
Speaker 2 (09:17):
I was fifteen. I was fifteen years old. I'm now twenty.
So it's been five years. Yeah, oh my god, it's
been fine.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Five years.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
That's crazy. That's so crazy to think about. Oh my god.
But so I remember telling them. We were sitting on
the couch and I was like, I need to tell
you guys, I'm a woman. My dad was just quiet.
My mom was like, what are you talking about, very confused.
It's sook been mom a little bit, a little longer
than my dad. Surprisingly, I was a little confused with that.
(09:50):
But my dad did the research. He read about young
trans trans women. He went to like focus grow groups,
he went to p FLAG, he went to those those groups.
And now he's like on the board of the Florida.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Tar Okay, okay, Dad, Yeah, come on dad.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
We love dad. And then right when you know, my
dad started going to these meetings my mom, like all
this love that my mom had towards me started coming through,
and then it was all that validation of you know
her helping me, like my mom bothering my first dress.
I remember that moment that she helped me pick out
my first I don't know if it was a dress
or it's hop whoever, my first affirming piece of clothing. Yeah, yes,
(10:31):
she helped me pick it out. And it was like
the moment of her looking at me, her buying it
and being like, I love you.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Oh I'm gonna cry.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Yeah, it's I love them. I love I love my
parents very much and they love me so much. And
I remember my even my dad saying it was either
I accept my child for who she is or I
lose my daughter. Mm hmm. And I told him straight up,
I was like, whatever y'all do, I'm gonna still be
me if you support me or not. I'm to put
(11:00):
myself first. I'm going to be myself. And they just decided,
you know, to join the bandwagon.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
Do you hear from other young people about how your
story and your advocacy has helped them? Yes, right, because
it's been five years, you know, for you, it's both
a long time and a short time.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
Do you hear from other young people who may be
on the precipice of coming out to their family having
these conversations. Yeah, and how do you kind of walk
them through it?
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Oh my god. I mean I hear stories constantly. A
specific story was I was Rizzo in my senior year's musical.
I was the first transformant casted in my school. And
after the opening night, I came to school the next
morning and a girl came out to me and said,
seeing you as Rizzo in your authenticity made me finally
(11:57):
walk in these halls today as myself, And she like
came out to me and she was telling me like,
I'm trance as well, and hearing you and seeing you
helped me being myself now walking these halls. I was
seventeen at that time when I was crying my eyes out,
Like it was like seven in the morning. I'm crying,
and I'm like, oh, we're gonna have to go to English,
(12:18):
like gro what. But it was just a moment I'm
never gonna forget. And I'm always hearing stories about people
my age and younger with their families and stuff and
asking me like what should I do. I always tell
people who ask me that question patience. It's so hard. Ooh,
it's so hard to be patient, But especially when you're transitioning.
(12:42):
You are going through so much. You're going through so
much mentally, you're going through so much physically. It's like
you're basically coming out of a cocoon. You are like
everything you are pushing to get out constantly. It feels
like we're trying to leave this old past self while
trying to balance still be a human being. And look
(13:05):
like when they tell me I'm just so frustrated with
my parents and so first, I just don't shareway I
get it. I'm like, girl, I get you, I get you.
I was frustrated my parents too in the beginning. It
took them, like, even though they're so supportive and they
love me so much right now, it took them a
hot minute. And I'm always gonna give them their flowers
for being the most supportive parents ever, and I love
them so much, but I'm never gonna forget the times
(13:27):
where it was it was stressful, because I mean, we
all grow, and they grew. So it's like I understand
that that moment.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
And grace is important right to provide, and I understand it,
like we always want people to be where we are
as we're moving through our own life journey. But I
think that it's also important to provide people with grace
and give them the space to get to where you're going, right, Like,
I'm not telling people to you know, shrink themselves right
(13:57):
or dim themselves in order to get people to where
they're going. But I do think that patience really in
this context, really is a virtue.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
Yeah, because it's also the play Devil's Advocate. On my parents' side,
it was like they had a son for fourteen years
and all of a sudden they had to now go
through their own transition. It's like they had to go
through their mental transition of now seeing their son now
as their daughter. So it took them a second, but
(14:26):
it was that great, as you said, the grace that
I let, I gave them to have their moment to process,
to understand, to do their own research. So at the
end of the day, the only you know, we could
do is exist. We could teach as much as we can,
but we are not We are not a girl. I
don't have a doctorate, I have not got PhD. And
(14:46):
this thing. I could just tell you my experience and
I could tell you my story and that's it. But
when it comes to learning about the community, that's kind
of on them to kind of figure out more. If
they want to have all these questions answered, they have
to do their own work, because I'm still answering my
own questions myself. I'm still growing, I'm still learning, I'm
still figuring out who am I. Who is Nadia? I mean,
(15:08):
it took me a minute to even get to Nadia.
I mean when I came out, Nadia wasn't even in
my head at the moment, I was like, I just
saw I'm a woman. I'm a woman. And then it
was throwing and it was seeing my hair grow, it
was seeing my face softened, it was seeing my body
transform into the woman that I was that mirror. It
(15:28):
was seeing that woman I always saw when I was
younger come to life and fruition like it was. And
then once once it was complete, once I felt like myself,
I was like, that's Nadia. That's who I am. My
name is Nadia. And it was beautiful because even when
my mom helped me live my name and everything, and
(15:51):
we kind of like had like a saving my family,
Like we were kind of sitting together like thinking about names,
and I was like, guy's Nadia. My mom's idea was
it's like, how about Nadia? And I was like, ooh,
I kind of like her. And I then like later
throughout that week, I was looking in the mirror, I said, yeah,
that's me.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
And I love this too because it also gave your mom,
your family, like the opportunity to be a part of
that naming process in the way that they had right
when you.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Were born exactly, you know.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
And so I feel almost as if, like in your rebirth,
your family got to really also shift and change and
transition as well. And I think that that's really really beautiful.
Last question for you, Nadia is what advice do you
(16:49):
give to people who are either struggling to come into
their fullness of who they are and also share that
fullness with other people. What advice do you give to them?
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Oh, I would say to be ourselves and to walk
into our fullness, as being a transperson is a statement
in itself, and it is a huge step to make.
It is scary, and once you walk out, girl, there
ain't no going back, so you gotta make sure you're ready.
(17:26):
And I told someone this, My favorite thing to tell
someone is to shine like a star you were born
to be. I love saying that. I love telling people
that what if I see, if I see the goodness
of them, you gotta shine like a star you were
born to be, because we're all born stars, and we're
all in this huge, beautiful night sky that we live
in every day. Some make compilations and some go shooting stars.
(17:52):
But the thing is, it's like when you when you're
going into it. I remember I expected all of my
big moments to happen at the xac same moment. But
you have to remember that transitions are not always smooth. Yes, yeah,
oh I ate that. Oh that was, Oh, oh wow,
(18:17):
you gonna put yourself on the girl I was. Transitions
are always are They're not always smooth. And if there's
a bump, it's okay. You acknowledge it. As my high
school teacher told me, recover and continue. You take it in.
You gotta recover from it. You got hit, it's okay.
You're gonna come back up. You're gonna keep going, and
(18:39):
you are gonna keep going here to keep going no
matter what. Being ourselves is a huge statement, and the
fact that you are choosing yourself is a beautiful thing,
and you always have to remember that being yourself is
the best decision you could do. At least for me,
choosing myself, choosing my womanhood, choosing to leave my house
as Nadia was the best I could have ever made
(19:01):
in my life. Because now I walk with my headheld high.
I walk in spaces knowing, look at me, I'm that girl.
I am Nadia.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Let me tell you something, if fashion does not work out,
then you move yourself into motivational speaker and life coach.
Because I know, I'm serious. It is truly inspiring to
see somebody that is so young and so in tuned
and so aligned with themselves like it really is inspiring.
(19:35):
And I just I want to thank you for making
the time for WOKF and I want to thank you
for making your life a testimonial for others to be
able to follow. I really appreciate you.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Thank you so much, you know, and thank you for
having me and giving me this platform. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
That is it for me today, dear friends on wok F.
As always, power to the people and to all the people. Power,
get woke and stay woke as fuck.
Host
Danielle Moodie
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