Nadia Choi is a transgender woman dedicated to the mission of representing every single alphabet of the acronym. More day than not, she wakes up with a struggle. And that struggle might not be unique to her, but a struggle that most LGBTQ+ people also experience. It might also be that discrimination is real, and being alive as LGBTQ+ is not always super easy nor obvious in a lot of parts of the world. For a non-LGBTQ “normal” person, believing in themselves might already not be easy. For some reason, most people don’t believe in themselves. The extra challenge for LGBTQ+ people is they’re told they’re not real, it’s a passing phase, or it’s better to hide. When this message is internalized, it becomes self-sabotage. That was Nadia’s experience, and often she believes she is not real. So then what’s next?

Well, when we move from the non-fiction section to the fiction section of a bookstore, we end up with princess and fairies, magic and dragons, robots and time travel. So, if we’re not really real, we might as well make it the awesome part of unreal. What are the excellent stories we are discovering, and what are these stories we can share? That becomes the definition of a publisher, and the traffic, reach, and audience we monetize with advertising.

Fighting hate includes fighting internalized self-hatred. Because that was the only way to belong in a society that hates people like her. Which is another way to understand why it’s such a pain in the butt to survive and exist.

Nadia learned that the best way to learn is to teach. And the best way to get what she wants is to help others get the same thing. She wants to survive and thrive. She wants to exist in this world without fear. She wants to survive financially. And when it’s time for her life to end, she wants to die not alone, with friends, and with family. She wants to belong, be loved, and allow her voice to matter. And is thus our message to others, whether you are LGBTQ+ or not.

You belong. You are loved. You matter.