Grace | Titirangi
“I’m 15 years old. I was born in New Zealand and still live here in Titirangi and I play a lot of musical instruments. I play saxophone and piano, and I really enjoy just performing and spending time with my friends.
Definitely cutting my hair was a big thing, because I cut it last October and I was faced with, oh so you’re a boy now, or transgender, or wait you’re a lesbian? I’m like, no I’m still a girl, I’m heterosexual, and just because my appearance is different to what you perceive as being the normal, that you shouldn’t assume it’s not, and basically I just embrace my personality now, and I’ve learned to just face other people and not really care what they think, because it doesn’t really affect me.
I just told them that they shouldn’t assume things before they know the whole story, not in like an aggressive way, but it’s just facing what people have already experienced, and it’s their response to me that will be a collection of what they have faced in the past. They might be experiencing something new, so they may not know how to treat it, and all judgements come from past experiences. Make sure you know both sides of the story, or all sides of the story, before you make any judgements so that they’re actually valid, and they actually concern the person rather than what you think concerns the person.
I really like to help people and make people aware of things, in specific how when people are different from them it doesn’t mean that they’re completely different. We’re all human, and even though we’re all different, we’re all the same in a specific way. I can just help people become aware that other people are different and that they should pay attention and know all sides of the story before raising judgements, so that they’re valid to people.”
