At the age of 16, Sebastian Veremundocurli tried to take his own life.
After coming out as transgender at the age of 15, his teenage years were full of judgement and prejudice.
Born female, Sebastian identifies as a male with the pronouns he/him.
Despite having supportive friends and family this couldn’t counteract the alienation he faced from teachers and classmates.
He said: “If I wore trousers to school I would be put in isolation because only boys could wear trousers.”
Not only did this interfere with his education, it had a negative impact on Sebastian’s mental health.
He explained that members of his class would treat him like ‘dirt’, judge him for changing in the disabled toilet and using men’s deodorant.
Sebastian said: “The Gender Dysphoria started getting worse and worse and it made me want to rip my skin off.”
He was told by teachers that it’s not okay to be trans as it goes against the Catholic religion after he was outed by his own classmates.
Luckily, he had a positive support network of friends.
He said: “Me and my three friends would spend time together just to make sure I was okay.”
Sebastian speaks highly of his parents saying his mum was supportive and his dad bought him his first binder.
Sebastian has recently undergone a mastectomy on November 17th, otherwise known as chest surgery.
This included the removal of breast tissue and the reshaping of the chest to appear more masculine.
Now going through recovery, Sebastian was happy to talk about the procedure and what it means for the future.
He said: “I took off my post operation binder, looked down and started crying,
“It has just been a long time coming.”
Sebastian did receive help towards funding his operation through the NHS, although he had to regularly check in with the clinic to ensure things were moving a long.
Before the procedure, Sebastian was on the waiting list for almost six years and started taking hormones at the age of 23.
Sebastian looks forward to going swimming with his two young nephews in the future without having to wear a binder.
As explained by the NHS, Gender Dysphoria is ‘a term that describes a sense of unease because of a mismatch between their biological sex and their gender identity’.
In a report released in March 2023 by the home office, 4,732 hate crimes had been committed to those who are transgender.
This means there was a rise of 11% compared to the year before.
Statistics show improvement in the quality of life for those who suffer with Gender Dysphoria, but there’s still a long way to go.
