he/him, 22

Youth Support & Outreach Peer Leader

L (he/him) may not wear a cape yet. But make no mistake, he’s every bit ‘The Warrior.’ A Caribbean-American trans masc leader, L is studying Education & Human Development, diving deep into child and adolescent mental health.

Since 2018, he’s brought steady leadership to BAGLY through involvement with the Youth Leadership Committee, the Health Education And Risk Reduction Team (HEARRT), and the MA Trans Youth Summit.

L continues a journey that began years ago, fighting tooth and nail to protect trans youth and ban conversion therapy in Massachusetts.

In what ways has BAGLY helped you write your own story and follow your own path instead of one that someone else imagined for you?

“When I started attending BAGLY, I was 15, and for the first time, the youth workers and the program staff and a lot of the staff at BAGLY in different positions, were trans people, and it was really amazing; and gave me such a sense of hope and representation to see trans people who had so many positions and who had built such beautiful lives for themselves and who were achieving their goals and living lives and having families and were feeling successful in whatever success meant for them.

And it just made me feel a big sense of hope that I could grow up and be exactly who I wanted to be, and I could be a happy trans adult. And also it made me feel like I had so many supportive adults to talk to when it comes to my own journey growing from a teenager to a young adult.”