By QUEERSTION co- EDITOR : EVA WILHELMINA
She appears bright and poised, she exudes an aura of confidence, yet her soft-spoken nature and sincerity speak volumes about her life’s journey .“I can’t say that I never felt like a boy, I just had to live as a boy for the first 14 years of life,” she says with eyes focused somewhere distant and obviously moved by this statement.
Kim Fouldien (19) was born in South Africa in the Overberg region, Caledon. I caught up with the young lady at a quint coffee shop in her hometown. A financial administration college student, Kim started her transition with the full support of her family in her early teenage years. “I live openly as a woman, e I face is concerning my identification particulars academic records because my gender marker has no been changed, the process in our country is not as easy as one might assume.”
According to Kim, identifying as Transgender means gives her a sense of belonging as a woman, adding that it is the T voice in the LGBT narratives which inspires her.
“So I’m basically whatever the world sees yet the true fact of it is that I feel and live my life like a woman. I knew from a very young age that I was different. My mom and dad accept me just the why I am. People think we wake up one day and decide to be trans but that’s not the case. In school,l I got bullied a lot. I was picked on for being too thin, for being feminine, for not liking rugby, for hanging around with girls and for having long hair. They mocked everything they could think of regarding my gender expression.”
“Trans people are the same as everyone else. We want to be happy, respected and to be comfortable. I know people who have openly said to me that they had prejudices towards Trans people but after getting to know me, they have come to understand more and changed their views. Trans is what I am. I was born this way. There is no difference between me and people who are not transgender.”
Kim was recently crowned Queen & Miss personality during a fundraising pageant to support the LGBT community. She says she enjoys entering beauty pageants for the sake of building new friendships. Kim inspires those around her to live better lives. We at Queerstion find Kim an inspiring being and would like to wish her a successful journey ahead in her transition and personal life.
“I want people to know that it’ s not a choice. Nothing has happened in my life to make me Trans. I was born Trans.”
Selfie time: Kim and Eva.