I spoke about being LGBT+ in a school and the pupils left me brimming with Pride

They say children can be brutal – you never know what they are going to ask. So, as I prepared for my first school talk as a Just Like Us ambassador, fear crept in.

Just Like Us ambassadors are school guest speakers who discuss LGBT+ inclusion in secondary schools, sharing their stories of growing up LGBT+ with pupils to provide positive and diverse representation.

But what if I couldn’t answer their questions? What if, in my nervousness, I said the wrong thing and discouraged a curious year seven student? Or what if one of them was unkind to me? I couldn’t help but remember my own secondary school experience, when the word “gay” was used as a slur, and I lived in the constant fear that someone might catch me glancing at a girl and figure it out.

Back then, I denied myself even the quietest whisper of my own truth.

In an attempt to calm my nerves, I focused on the stories shared by my fellow ambassadors, in awe of their confidence and feeling so much hope and joy building up in my heart as I listened to one speak about their first queer relationship and the courage it took to come out.

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By the time the attention shifted my way, my heart was full, though the nervous flutter returned.

As I stood before a room of 13 year olds, reality struck me: we were in a secondary school, speaking to children at the age when I, too, had felt the first stirrings of confusion, without having the language or understanding to question my own identity. Growing up without any mainstream queer, Asian representation only deepened that confusion.

At the end of our talk, we opened the floor for questions. As ambassadors, we aim to respond to questions from pupils from our personal experiences and to the best of our abilities. Though I was as prepared as I could be, this was the part of our talk I was particularly anxious about.

However, I was pleasantly surprised by the sincere curiosity with which everyone asked their questions, and their openness to discussing these topics in an educational setting. They asked about labels and their significance with a maturity I had not expected. I had expected at least one cheeky joke or comment from the back of the classroom. Yet here they were, eager to understand the complexities of identity.

One question hit me the hardest. A student asked how they could support a closeted friend who had confided in them that they might be trans. The honesty of the question took me back to my own journey.

I hope that with continued effort, we will build a world where no young person feels isolated or ashamed for being who they are.

At 13, I had begun to subconsciously explore my own gender identity through subtle choices — how I dressed, how I carried myself. My family and friends had labelled me a “tomboy”, which, looking back, was my first experience with labelling myself differently from my peers, and was the first step I had taken towards understanding my non-binary, trans-masculine identity. Though there is no singular way to look or act “trans”, androgyny became an outlet before I even had the language to express what I was feeling.

That first experience as a Just Like Us ambassador left me brimming with pride.

It is through the efforts of organisations like Just Like Us that LGBT+ young people today are finding the support they need in society and in their education. They have the language, the representation, the freedom to explore who they are. And I hope that with continued effort, we will build a world where no young person feels isolated or ashamed for being who they are.

LGBT+ inclusion in schools benefits all pupils – book LGBT+ school guest speakers now.