Highlights:
- Nerissa Trindade is the author of the book Growing Through: How coming out transformed my life.
- The book describes her personal discovery and journey as a gay person.
Nerissa Trinade never understood why she felt different from others until she moved to Australia. She was born in Calcutta in India, but says that life was sad and lonely.
“I didn’t have the words growing up then to express what my feelings meant. I didn’t know why I was different. I ended up being bullied in school, misunderstood at home.
“And that led to me leading a very isolated, disconnected, alienated life growing up and I felt stifled which then kind of led to a lot of failures in life.”
Listen to Nerissa Trindade's story in her own words:
Ms Trindade realised very late in life that she was gay. However, before identifying this, she says she always knew she was different.
“Growing up, I always felt a little bit different. I did not really fit the Indian so-called girly mould. But, I never really understood what those differences were and I did not understand why everyone was making me fit into a certain mould that I didn’t really fit in, and I didn’t feel myself defined by."
But I kept having to change myself. And, society and schooling all of that tried to fit me into this mould,” says Nerissa Trindade, who has written about the experience in her book Growing Through: How coming out transformed my life.
Nerissa Trindade moved to Australia in 2004 as an international student, and says that step changed her life for good as she felt free to examine her own self and identity in ways she had not before.
'Growing Through' a book by Nerissa Trindade Source: Nerissa Trindade
“Much later, after moving to Australia and going through self-discovery I was able to identify my own true self.
“And even after identifying how I presented a gay woman of colour, it took me a long time to be able to feel comfortable to own that identity and step out and say look this is who I am, and I am comfortable in the person that I am. “
Once I was able to do that, that’s when life changed.
The realisation, however, did not simply happen overnight.
“It took a lot of courage. I had to break a lot of self-beliefs ingrained into me, a lot of types, a lot of hostility and negativity around somebody being gay,” she explains.
But, her family accepted her with open arms.
“When I did end up telling my family, they were accepting of me and I have been fortunate to be a part of society, family and friends that love me and support me for who I am,” she tells SBS Hindi.
The journey has never been easy. It took a lot of time.
Now Ms Trindade is sharing her story with the world through her book, which tells her personal story right from the time when she was a kid to her journey at this point today.
“It's very honest, conversational and open in the way that I write, and I share very personal experiences that I went through in my life that helped me identify who I am.”
