Bel Priestley, a TikTok star. (National Day of Student Pride)
Bel Priestley, the “Heartstopper” year two star, has shared her story of overcoming bullying at school in an effort to motivate other transgender people.
In Alice Oseman’s gay young adult drama, TikTok star Priestley, who portrays Naomi as trans, claimed she was aware of her trans identity at the age of 13.
Priestley recalled growing up in Leighton Buzzard, where she claimed being transgender wasn’t “really a thing,” in an interview with the BBC.
“My entire life, I’ve been bullied.” After punching one of my bullies in the head when I was six years old, I switched schools, but I also experienced bullying there.
I was an only child, and my father is a very strong man. I tried to please him by playing football, basketball, and taekwondo because he wanted me to play sports, but I definitely wanted to act and dance.”
Priestley claimed that when she was 12 years old, she revealed her sexual orientation, which led to stress, panic attacks, and an eating disorder.
When she was 13 years old, she discovered what being trans meant on Instagram and remarked, “Everything suddenly made sense.”
The following morning, I came out as transgender. I immediately recognized it as a step, contrary to what my parents first believed. I made the decision to rename myself and began attending school while wearing a skirt.
“People let me do my own thing when I was just a gay son fiddling with makeup. The abuse became more serious when I became transgender.
“After that, I had to struggle to survive, and I thought my youth was over. I had to eat lunch alone in a room by myself because I was very scared to go to classes. I would walk around the hallways.”
Some teachers responded to Priestley’s claim that she was the first student to transition at her school in a conflicting way.
She claimed that one teacher insisted on deadnaming her and forbade her from using restrooms that matched her identity.
Priestley was thankfully accepted by her family after coming out as trans, but she started making makeup tutorials on YouTube because she couldn’t find anyone who looked like her online.
Priestley recently discussed her “manifested” role in “Heartstopper” season two in an interview with the Evening Standard.
The 20-year-old started using TikTok to document her transition and has since amassed more than 1 million followers. She claimed that filming “Heartstopper” had been “one of the best experiences of my life.”
She dreams of playing a Disney Princess, Bond girl, or superhero in the future and hopes to have surgeries to complete her transition.
“I want to be someone who the younger generation can look up to and maybe get inspired by.” She remarked, “I detest the idea of someone feeling lonely like I did when I was growing up.
When I receive comments saying that I have assisted people in coming out to their families, it is gratifying. I just want to be the best role model I can because I am aware of how important role models can be to individuals. I want to be the adult version of myself.”
