Biography:

Diagnosed with autism at an early age, Zoe has had a lot of problems with connecting with people and finishing her education. Her problems have been amplified by the fact that she’s a child of divorce. Her mother, a Bolivian woman, was abandoned by her husband, a white man, leaving Zoe with complex feelings about him, as well as her racial identity. She was enrolled in special education pretty much as soon as she started school, which left her feeling othered.

By the age of 13, she longed to be an ordinary boy and fit in with her peers, not understanding that she would always be different. High school brought her a lot more troubles than expected, with mounting academic pressure, bullying and the struggle to build a social life for the first time ruining her mental health. Through her teenage years her mental health issues developed into deep self loathing, suicidal depression and a long lasting self harm habit. She had enormous trouble finding herself through all of this, and never suspected that she was struggling with gender dysphoria along with her other issues, though she did accept her bisexuality at the age of 16, falling in love with a boy from her school.

Her hopeless romanticism persisted throughout her life, with her falling in love with people who never did anything but hurt and suppress her throughout early adulthood. Her depression didn’t let up after high school, so she never made plans for her future and never went to college. However, that proved to be the right choice for her. After feeling like she had wasted the first 20 years of her life, she moved to a different city and started pursuing her life long passion for art. At the beginning she had a lot of trouble making ends meet and with her mother unable to financially support her, she took up sex work to support herself for a brief period of time. Eventually, she made a lot of connections in the city’s underground and art world and became able to support herself through her art. She moved in her current household at the age of 22, living with a handful of good friends in a chill, autism friendly environment. She felt that everything in her life was perfect. Her mental health was stable, she had kicked the self harm habit, she didn’t have toxic people in her life anymore and she was feeling better than ever, yet something still felt very wrong. She started exploring her gender expression and eventually figured out that she’s a girl. She had known her girlfriend, Natasha, for a few months at that point and they were good friends, but with the beginning of her transition a new spark lit up between them and they started entertaining the possibility of a casual, open romantic relationship.

A few months into her transition, already having had multiple appointments talking about hormone replacement therapy with her doctor, she met her boyfriend (and main partner) Kasey at a house party. It was attraction at first sight and they started dating very quickly, even though it was new territory for both of them, Kasey’s first trans partner and Zoe’s first time dating a straight guy. He helped her overcome her insecurities relating to her gender identity and she opened him up to the more adventurous side of life and bettered his work life balance tenfold, so in many ways they complemented each other perfectly and made each other better people. Nowadays Zoe is finally thriving and feeling fulfilled, something she never thought she would reach.