While inviting the whole world to something as personal as each other’s journey with their gender identity is a major undertaking, Brendon said the decision was easy enough to make. “The big reason I felt comfortable telling my story is because I knew that when I was starting to discover who I was and discovering myself, I would like to have a story like mine to see,” they said, “and that I could look back and think, ‘Other people have been through this’ and kind of have that support, like I’m not alone in what’s going on. “
Born of that decision was Draw with me, an exciting short documentary that paints an intimate portrait of Brendon and his family. The 24-minute film, produced by Ithaka Films in partnership with The Trevor Project, goes without saying in detailing a revelation journey that challenged the whole family and led Brendon to suicidal ideation before his art and his family’s growing support for them save, setting them on the path of advocacy.
Reliving their entire story on camera at such a young age – they were only 16 when the film was shot – was not always the easiest. “There were definitely times when I had to concentrate before I spoke,” said Brendon. “Because, obviously, he was talking about a very obscure subject. Constantine helped create this space [where] it was perfectly normal for me to say, ‘Hey, I need a minute to just focus and … deal with things.’ “