Unidentified

Stoney Bertz for Over the Rainbow Into the Light

Stoney’s story:

Growing up, non-binary was not a term that was popularized or even existed in my world. I’ve always towed this imaginary line first, identifying as the sex I was born as and then beginning to examine what that meant. Questioning never came to mind during adolescence, there did not seem to be many options. Queer became the overall identifier of me, not knowing any other description, I continued through life. When I first heard the term “non-binary” I could not tell you where I was or what I was doing but I can tell you how I felt. I felt like instead of being defined by a term or word the definition and complete idea had just found me, as exactly as I was. As a queer kid sometimes it can be hard to see the world around you as for you when everything around you often  says you should not be who you are, but in this case I had to make no changes or no alterations to be this, I was home. 

I can’t say that my folks were particularly encouraging, mainly for the reason that they didn’t know they needed to be. Like me, they had a limited understanding of gender identity and gender expression however what I can say is that my folks always made it a point to make sure I was comfortable expressing myself in the way that I saw fit, even if it was a point of contention for us at times. They were always supportive in my endeavors and made sure to let me know I was loved no matter what. Now, as an adult we can have an open and honest relationship because they trusted me first, even without being armed with all the knowledge they would have access to in today's world. 

https://stoneybertz.bandcamp.com

Watch Stoney’s music video Unidentified https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_M_DfASq1c