The experience of an LGBTQ+ graduate in Brazil: Caio's story

Caio Andrade, Comms Intern at Warner Bros. Discovery, Brasil, spoke to myGwork about her journey as an LGBTQ+ graduate. From feelings of anxiety in teenage years, to coming to understand the power behind living authentically, Caio describes how understanding yourself can lead to a newfound confidence.

Tell us your story as an LGBTQ+ graduate:

I am currently studying journalism at the University of São Paulo in Brazil. After being accepted into the university, I moved to a new city at the age of 17. It was a very abrupt moment in my life, especially because I didn’t feel safe expressing my sexuality and gender freely during school. So, psychologically for me, this moment would not only be an academic or professional watershed but also a time of reinvention and self-discovery. Therefore, with so many external changes happening, my internal self also underwent these processes, and I began to seek to live my most authentic self.

I came to understand myself, upon entering the university, as someone in gender transition and lived each step and stage of this transition with the support of colleagues and professors. Of course it was very hard sometimes, because I was trying to conciliate being away from my family, learning how to live in a big city, studying and having my classes, with my non-stop mind with all of my gender questions and struggle. I was - and I think I still am - learning how to live as an adult, even as I get to know myself every day and seek rebirth.

But, I think I used all of these questions to want to learn more about my community, and how I could help it, in my graduate area. It was in an elective course on performance and gender that I came into deeper contact with other LGBTQIAPN+ people within the university. There, I formed connections that helped me a lot subjectively. From that point, I began to get closer to the community among the student body and decided to revive the LGBTQIAPN+ collective at the institute where I study, which had been inactive for approximately two years. Along with other colleagues, we re-established the collective, and today I lead it, organizing events, discussion groups, and meetings for the community.

Through these connections and learnings, many things have been internalized, and I believe I have become stronger and more confident in understanding myself as well. With the academic and experiential exchanges, I was able to find a comfortable and welcoming space within the institution, which can often be deceptive, appearing diverse and inclusive while operating in a completely contrary manner. At least, within this space that I have been fortunate to be a part of and belong to, I have encountered another facet that improves every day and, with much hope, will become an even better place for future LGBTQIAPN+ students.

The university certainly gave me the sense of freedom I needed to increasingly find my place within the LGBT+ community. My actual experimentation with feminine gender performance was entirely within the context of my undergraduate studies, where I explored my fears and achievements daily. It was somewhat frightening to experience all of this while being watched live by people from the university, especially given the stigmas associated with the academic environment, which is very white and heteronormative, but, with a lot of support from amazing people I met there, it was possible. The first people I told about my pronoun changes were friends from the university, who encouraged and welcomed me to share more with others classmates and people around me. Alongside one of them, after presenting a project, I shared this significant personal step with my classmates and professor, who received me warmly and even gave a round of applause. Everyone makes a great effort to make me as comfortable as possible, and I couldn’t be more grateful.

There is definitely a "me" before and after my time at the university. The changes in my life are undeniable.