I photographed Nick just months after he was chosen as the Cape’s first transgender prom king at Barnstable High School in 2019. He told me he’d always felt different as a child and began to have more awareness of transgender issues in his early teens after Katelyn Jenner came out. “My brother actually said ‘you’re a boy’ before I even had awareness myself,” he explains. Moving from Sandwich to more progressive Barnstable High School helped him feel more supported by his community and after seeing a specialist and joining a support group for LGBTQ youth, he started transitioning medically the summer before his senior year. Soon after starting the process, his voice dropped, he grew facial hair and his exterior began to more closely resemble his interior identity.
“The best part about transitioning was how much more comfortable I became, and also how people showed up for me in such supportive and selfless ways. It’s definitely hard navigating dating while being trans though,” he adds thoughtfully. I was particularly struck by Nick’s comment that more people statistically think they’ve seen a ghost than a transgender person which is why he plans to be open about his trans identity.
Today Nick is enjoying living in Vermont with friends and his dog. “I’m still figuring out my career path but in the meantime I’m working at a new job I enjoy, I regularly go to trivia nights and enjoy skiing, dinners, and coffee shops with my friends whom I love,” he says, smiling.