iO Tillet Wright is a photographer. He’s also a human. He also lived the first six years of his life as a girl … then a boy, then a girl, then — well, I’ll let him explain.
For iO, gender is something that can grow and change over time. iO lived the first six years of life identifying as a girl. Then, she decided she wanted to be a boy. But at age 14, he wanted to explore what it meant to be a girl and identified as a girl for many years after that.
“I don’t care what pronouns you use for me anymore. He or she is fine. Still don’t identify as ‘they’.” — iO Tillett Wright (@iOlovesyou on Twitter)
iO was super fortunate to have a family who supported his choices and for which his ever-evolving gender expression was just not an issue.
What’s the message here? Gender shouldn’t have to fit any labels. You shouldn’t have to check a single box and squish yourself into it. In fact, why don’t we just say f*** boxes altogether?
iO is working on a photography portrait project called “Self Evident Truths” to convey just that — that LGBTQ people, no matter how they identify or where they fit on whatever spectrum, are just people.
Now that’s a message I can get behind.
Hold up! Are you feeling confused? Here are some definitions that may clear things up a bit:
- Biological sex: This is determined by your genitalia.
- Gender expression: This is how you see yourself on the giant spectrum that is gender and how you present that to the world. <– This is what we’re talking about.
- Sexual orientation: This is how you define whom you are attracted to.
Check out the full video of iO’s conversation below.
Want to hear more from iO? Check out his TED Talk, and learn more about his photography project, “Self Evident Truths.”
