Why is Trans/NB representation important? Well buckle up folks, cos this matters. I grew up feeling out of place, called a 'tomboy' or 'butch' - all these sodding words that never made sense. I was rubbish at football (or many 'tomboy' pursuits) and was an all round softie. 1/9

So what was I? It took me until I was in my damn 20's to hear the term 'Nonbinary' (genderqueer, genderfluid etc were there, but about as visible as Bigfoot on a foggy day). I knew I wasn't female, just as I knew I wasn't male - finding a label didn't change my identity 2/9

It gave me words and a community to understand what had always been true. My dysphoria over my chest has been constant, but I had never seen anyone wearing a binder. Just one character in a TV show, or a film or on stage would have made a world of difference to little Robyn. 3/9

It would have given me a language for my feelings, confirmation that I was in fact loveable and not as hopelessly alone and freakish as I felt. I still believe that I could never be considered attractive. Why? Because name the last trans/NB person you saw depicted 4/9

as sexy. Or as having physical worth and value.
Imagine a trans/NB character who is represented as being happy and comfortable with their body. Who is loved. Who is not lesser because of their identity, but who has learned to own it.
I have always been nonbinary. 5/9

I have always had this unshakeable sense of identity, but that does not correlate with self esteem. We are storytelling creatures - be that oral or physical or otherwise. When our stories are not told, we grow up feeling like our lives are not worthy of remembering. 6/9

Not seeing Trans/NB people represented in media also impacts Cis folks! If you don't see us, we become Other. We are dehumanised. Why fight for the rights of people you have no connection to? But representation gives a human to the identity, it helps everyone to empathise. 7/9

As an actor, I want to play the characters that I so desperately needed growing up. The characters I never thought I could be. Yes Trans/NB people are a minority, but just because there are less of us, that does not make us lessor. 8/9

I don't care if I change the world for just one person - because I've just changed the goddamn world. THAT is what representation does. 9/9