Growing in a military family living in the Midwest, Joelle Espeut didn't have the supportive environment she needed to live as her most authentic self. After moving to Houston about seven years ago, she is now working towards creating, empowering and uplifting spaces for Black transgender women. Espeut was born in Germany, where she spent the first four years of her life.
Both of her parents were in the Army, so they moved around quite a bit until her family ended up in St. Louis, Missouri. She explained how difficult it was trying to navigate her gender identity there as a teenager.
"I always felt awkward because as a child, I knew that this outward presentation of my identity wasn't who I was. I just didn't have the language for it," said Espeut. "I really didn't have the freedom to really explore.
It was the Midwest. It was St. Louis.
It was in the late 90s and so there really wasn't that brave space to really explore identity as much." She shared that her parents were not supportive and accepting of her being transgender, further leading her to suppress how she wanted to express herself. That's why she made the decision to move to Los Angeles when she was only 17.
Not only was it a place that empowered Espeut to be her most authentic self, but it allowed her to pursue a career in fashion for more than a decade. However, she still experienced workplace discrimination as a transgender woman. "I was at companies that were more open and accepting.
But the moment that I said I.
