Angelina, 20 years old, She/Her

Angelina believes in miracles and angels, but it was her love for Angelina Joli that inspired her name. “I’ve often been told that our eyes look the same,” she says with a flirtatious smile.

“Since I was little, I knew that I was born into a body that is not mine.”

At the age of 15, Angelina sees the Virgin Mary appear to her in a dream. Born into a Druze family in Syria, she could not convert to Christianity but her numerous visits to the local priest allowed her to find refuge in the Christian faith. Believing in miracles, believing in the Virgin Mary, believing in a merciful God, allowed Angelina to live her differences in a peace that her family and her country could not offer her.

Angelina is a woman at heart who, at the age of 20, is paying dearly for having been born transgender in a ruthless world in which she gets insulted, beaten, robbed, and even thrown out of a moving bus.

A refugee in Lebanon, she converted to Christianity and found some peace of mind but no physical safety. The harassment continued, the discrimination too, then the injuries and the total loss of her home on August 4, 2020:

“It was a morning like so many other mornings
But the evening was an evening when the sun went out
And rise again only to spread sadness »

Angelina’s passion for religion and scripture also shapes her thinking. If she can recite David’s psalms by heart without any hesitation, she is also able to tell her life in verses. Inspired and sure of herself, she leaves us with this masterful tirade:

“When a human being runs along walls
Begging God for protection
When a person leaves their home
To visit a friend
With headphones in the ears
To block out the words on the street
To avoid tense exchanges and problems
When someone like me leaves their home
A person who wouldn’t hurt a fly
Who wouldn’t kill nor stand to see spilled blood
Who wouldn’t steal nor kidnap
They say we’re damaging the country’s reputation
Talking about me and the likes of me
When we find a cat or a dog roaming the streets
We remove them from the middle of the road to keep them safe
They say we’re damaging the country’s reputation
That we we’re indecent and shameless
While we are probably the cradle of goodness
Of sensitivity and good feelings
We must be seen as a symbol of peace
A symbol of love and fraternity
Because the bond that brings us together
That unites the people of my community
Is a powerful bond, strong like no other”

The comforting object

We asked all participants to bring a comforting object they would like to have with them during the interview, should they choose to. Angelina brought a rosary, which she kept ginning, or rather caressing, during our meeting: “When you have a force you can rely on or a prayer you do believe in, it is impossible to ever be defeated or disappointed. »

Angelina’s needs

6 months of rent, transport, food, clothing: CAD 6,000