Josiah McLaren has faced her own struggles navigating life as a 19-year-old trans woman.
But the current rhetoric about trans rights that has played out on a national stage has made that journey even more complex.
She has been harassed on public transport, and the red P-plater said she was punched in the face in a road rage incident last week.
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The road incident occurred quite quickly while Josiah was still in her car, so it is unclear why the driver resorted to violence, but she said it had nonetheless added to her anxiety and left her fearful to go out alone.
"There's been a couple of incidents already with transphobes that I've had," Josiah said.
"Once I was on the train and some guys just kind of came up to me and asked me what the hell I was.
"Before that even happened, I was already scared because of stuff you hear in the news, and even our Prime Minister doesn't support trans rights."
Josiah - who came out as trans late last year - is referring to the federal government's failed religious discrimination bill which didn't protect trans students, and more recently, the push to exclude trans women from women's sport being spurred by controversial Warringah Liberal candidate Katherine Deves.
"It's kind of been a little bit expected because I know how the world feels about the queer community because I have grown up queer already," she said.
"It took me a while to come out because I knew that it was going to be hard. And then you start to see more stuff everywhere, like it just has become a bigger 'issue' for a lot of people.
"It is confusing because you're stuck in a situation where you're progressing but a lot of society is still staying ignorant and are listening to what they want to hear."
But the teenager says she feels empowered to stand up against the critics, particularly the social media trolls who are looking for a reaction.
"It's just fun to play around with them and get them to go in spirals, because they all go insane about how you don't get angry at them trying to make you angry for these things," she said.
"They don't really know what they're talking about.
"They've been like, 'no matter what you cut off, you're still a man'. And I'm like, that's definitely not how SRS (sex reassignment surgery) works or how HRT (hormone replacement therapy) works."
That's not to say the abuse doesn't get her down.
"You can't exactly stay strong the whole time," Josiah said. "Otherwise, you're not very human.
"But most of the time I wake up, and I'm like, 'alright, I'm happy to be a trans woman. I'm happy to be who I am'. Everybody at work is supportive and everybody where I live is supportive. I've got my mum on board. I've got one of my sisters on board. I've got my dad just trying to figure it out, which is good."
She said she feels most for other trans people who don't have a similar support network, or are growing up in this environment where trans rights have become an election issue.
"The poor children in schools," she said.
"If it's hard enough for me with an open community and a very happy community, a loving community, you've just got to really feel bad for them, because of how much they have to go through on a daily basis.
Sage Swinton
Sage Swinton is a news reporter who was born and bred in the Hunter. She has been with the Newcastle Herald since June 2020, and covers Newcastle council as well as other general news.
Sage Swinton is a news reporter who was born and bred in the Hunter. She has been with the Newcastle Herald since June 2020, and covers Newcastle council as well as other general news.
