through their eyes

By Alysiana P

You walk by probably about 50 new people at school that you may never even consider taking a second thought about. But each of those faces has a backstory that can peak your interest, one being Navi’s.

Navi Granado is a junior transgender male at Yerba Buena who goes by he/him pronouns.

A trans male at Yerba Buena High School who is open of his sexual orientation as well as very friendly to come across, even if passing by to classes.

Granado discovered his sexuality in 7th grade. Though, he was curious beforehand, browsing through social media and getting struck by the curiosity of rainbows and colors.

“I was scrolling through TikTok and saw a big rainbow and was like 'hold on, scroll back a minute.' They were explaining something with the LGBTQ+ community and I'm like 'I'm gonna read up about this. I'm gonna make myself knowledgeable,’” said Granado.

Things aren't as easy as it seems though, because not everyone can be as supportive as we’d wish they could be in the sense that people can support you on things but it won't always be to a full extent.

A family member of Granado's, who is one the closest people in his life, is transphobic along with the rest of the family, and though Granado is out, a member of his family sees them as a buff lesbian which is left alone.

Granado chooses to stay quiet about his sexuality still for the sake of not breaking any relationship he has with his family for the best of the situation.

He’s chosen to stay in the closet for a little while now, from 7th grade until now, which is the time frame in which Navi had a realization of his sexual orientation.

“Well, see buddy, it was back in the 7th grade. I was at…like the beginning part, we've just begun the part of LGBTQ+ community and, like, I was looking through the flags and I see this one flag. And I'm like 'hey, this cool colors flag, first of all,' and I read about it and I'm like 'hey, I'm not a butch lesbian, I'm just a trans man.’”

Upon just curiosity and a bit of research, Granado has become the person he is today, an openly social transgender male living freely as some would assume.

As open as he is, it isn't so easy and it for sure was upon finding out his true identity. As nerve wrecking and scary as it was to come out, it was not in such an easy way to be able to find the courage to voice that.

Along with Granado's entire family being transphobic, he was also scared something would have happened considering he and his girlfriend at the time had broken up. Said girlfriend knew that he was trans as well as his pronouns and Granado did not want anything to be risked.

Having to hide it while others knowing, where one little slip up could've messed things up, is definitely something nerve wrecking that would've had someone on edge. Never knowing if something could be said wrong to set a reaction off.

Having come out in 7th grade while dealing with the nerve wrecking energy of having anyone in his family hear of his orientation.

Though, the nerve wrecking energy is also part of the reason of who he is today and what he chooses to do to himself, such as hair.

“…but the point is to like school friends, pretty scary. But it was also thanks to said school friends I actually got to get my first short haircut. So that was pretty swag.”

Now having short hair, he chooses to dye it quite often with vibrant colors that can be due to various things.

One could be to express himself more of who he is, to create an art piece within themselves shown through vibrant colors.

He says not much has changed while transitioning, such things as his physical appearance or what he wears.

“Okay see, transition wise, the only thing I really changed was the shirts I wore. That's about it, I was never really super into wearing skirts and everything; my mom knew that. My mom always dressed me up in blue so it didn't really make a difference besides the time I asked her to buy me boxers and she's like 'cool.' I find these more comfy anyways.”

Nevertheless, Granado chooses to express himself confidently with no shame about it whatsoever, from clothes, to hair, to even conversing whilst bringing it up upon the way. Just as a clarification, even if it's just small talk while speaking of classes or you're a new friend, he will casually bring it up as an informational piece.

A small part into his story that can piece a bigger picture.

With being friendly and outgoing of both orientation and friendwise, there is bound to be hatred or judgment regardless of where you go, though he has said not much has been shown in those categories.

“Oh see, I don't really get negativity for it. See, one time I was wearing, like, a cropped top, because I could and I didn't have any clean shirts. Had my high waisted two-colored pants, I ran past the boys by Mr. Millers room and they said 'ew, a lesbian.' So it's either I'm mistaken for a lesbian or a guy.”

He says all he seems to get is mistaken comments or confused ones regarding what he looks like.

Along with how he chooses to present himself, there are other important aspects that make Navi, Navi.

Some ways he chooses to present himself are much more sentimental that hold a deeper meaning such as his name Navi, which has a sentimental sweet background to it.

“So this is an interesting story, my dead name Neveah. Heaven backwards, right? You never would've guessed, my best friend at the time who still goes here. She was like 'hey, I'm gonna give you a nickname. I gave all my friends nicknames and I wanna give you something. What's something that starts with an N?' And I'm like 'heck, I don't know.' 'Navi, I'm gonna start calling you Navi.' Hell yeah. It's gonna be my new nickname now.”

All are essential parts in who he has become as a person and how he introduces himself in life. Small aspects that turn into one, a casual person you might cross on a daily basis.