A transgender woman living in Mount Isa has been nominated for Queensland Rural Trans Activist of the Year Award, for breaking down stigma in outback communities.
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Emily Wells, has been recognised for improving the way the Transgender, Gender Diverse and Non-Binary communities are viewed in remote communities while supporting other transgender persons.
Ms Wells said she was unsure who had nominated her for the award, but it was a lovely surprise.
"I was ecstatic and very surprised. I want to thank whoever it was who nominated me because I was very happy and surprised," she said.
"I was awarded this award back in 2018 but it is still quite surprising to get nominated again. It is very exciting especially for rural and remote trans."
Ms Wells moved to Mount Isa in 2018 and since then has worked with a number of local groups to support other transgender persons on their journey.
"I voluntarily work with the LGBTIQ+ youth group at Mount Isa Headspace and also have a presence in the Mount Isa community," she said.
"I do have transgender people and parents of transgender children who approach me, mostly because I am visible and try to provide them with guidance and someone to talk to."
Ms Wells said she was openly discussing transgender with locals to help stamp out the stigma surrounding transgender.
"I am very visible in the community through the mere fact that I work at the hospital and am heavily involved in community," she said.
"Going stealth was not an option for me but I believe it has given a different view point of transgender people living in remote communities."
Ms Wells said the response to transgender from Mount Isa residents had been mostly supportive.
"For trans people in Mount Isa it is a small community that is very conservative. Generally speaking I am well accepted in the community, but I do get stigma.
"I have actually been spat on and obviously there are other forms of discrimination within the community, but most of Mount Isa is okay.
"I think most people have seen me around and that I am just an everyday human. There is nothing to be afraid of, we are not out there to change the world we are just being who we are."
Ms Wells said this message was the biggest message to be conveyed to locals.
"We don't wake up one morning and decide to be transgender, we are actually born transgender," she said.
"I knew I was female at the age of seven. I didn't know the word transgender back then, just that my body was wrong and that I was a girl.
"It is not something you would choose, no one in their right mind would choose to be transgender, it's just who we are."
The finalist of the Queensland Rural Trans Activist of the Year will be awarded at the Queensland's Trans Community Awards 2020 on November 15 in conjunction with Trans Awareness Week.
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