Teamie Spotlight Pride Edition: Rafael De Leoz

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

My pronouns are he/him and I was born in the Philippines, where I grew up in Makati City. I had always been a creative tomboy of a kid- drawing on everything and telling stories to whoever would listen, playing with the many chihuahuas my grandmother had, messing around with my brother and cousins. I eventually graduated with a degree in animation and worked at a studio in the Philippines for a few years before moving to Canada. My very first moments in Vancouver felt like I was coming home. It felt right and I feel like this is where I'm meant to be.

When did you start at Kickstart and what is your role?

I started working as an animation revisionist at Kickstart in September 2018. It was the biggest surprise to hear them respond to my email since I was still living in the Philippines at the time. They didn't actively have any job ads at the time so I was pretty much just sending in my demo reel and expressing interest in working at Kickstart. I wasn't actively planning to move to Canada until early 2019 since I had JUST gotten my Working Holiday Permit around May 2018. The timing seemed to fit just right because a 2D show was gearing up and needed revisionists right away. The next thing I knew, I was having an interview over skype, booking my flight, combing through rental ads and somehow packing up my entire life in just over a week. Now, I work as an After Effects Artist at Kickstart, I have a strong support system of friends, neighbours and coworkers, and a dog that's obsessed with me.

How do you identify within the LGBTQIA2S+ community?

I identify as a bisexual trans man.

Are you comfortable with telling us about your journey regarding your identity? If so, was there a particular moment in your life when you started to feel comfortable with your identity? Are you comfortable sharing with us when you realized what identity you were comfortable with. Was there something that happened that triggered this realization?

I think even if I was just a young child, there was a part of me that kind of knew that I didn't feel right as a girl. But I didn't quite have the education or the resources to really understand or process that until I moved here. The environment I'm in now has been so understanding and welcoming that I finally felt safe enough to come to terms with things for myself and even start actively seeking gender-affirming care.

Growing up, did you find a lot of LGBTQIA2S+ representation in the media? Did you find this more positive or negative?

I didn't see a lot of representation growing up, and I'm so happy that in this day and age, there's more than there's ever been before. I remember the storyline of Santana Lopez on Glee really resonated with me and was a big motivating factor for me to come out to my family as a lesbian. Santana and Brittany were the cute cheerleader couple I spent so much time drawing and writing about when I was in my late teens. Then when Korra and Asami from Legend of Korra got together in the show's finale, I felt so whole and seen. One of my tattoos is actually an incognito tribute to that.

One movie that really stuck with me though was Boys Don’t Cry starring Hilary Swank as Brandon Teena, a trans man. I was incredibly drawn to everything about the movie and the person for a very long time, before I had even been able to come out to myself.

What advice do you have for people who are struggling with their identity?

It DOES get better. I know it might suck right now and you feel like there's nobody you can turn to, but there is at least one person on this planet, whether that be your internet friends or a friend/relative you're hesitating about opening up to or someone you're going to meet one day... there is SOMEONE who accepts you for who you are.

And at the end of the day, your identity matters the most to you and only YOU can define that (or not define that). You don't need permission to figure it out and you don't need someone to say yes or no. It's up to you and you only need permission from yourself.

What does Pride mean to you?

Pride started out as a revolution and a fight for our rights. At this point, it still is exactly that (and should be), but I think it's also become a celebration of life and love and this environment we're creating where we can just live and let live and love. I think the push for visibility has really helped with normalizing things that used to be taboo secrets in the closet. There's still more to be done, in this country and in other countries, but I think we're on the right track.

Tell us about your personal projects.

I'd mentioned before that I've been slowly developing a comic about a secret research facility experimenting on psychics and supernatural creatures. I've slowed down progress on it since there are some bits and pieces to the story I want to iron out further. In the meantime, I've started documenting/blogging my transition and sharing some of my thoughts and reflections on gender/sexuality stuff.

What sparked the idea for this project?

I was inspired by secret lab with psychics stories like Stranger Things, Beyond: Two Souls and Firestarter. I'm also really into werewolves and spent an embarrassing amount of time hooked on Vampire Diaries and Teen Wolf when they first aired. Mushing those two things together has evolved into this project.

As for my vlog, I enjoyed watching a lot of Jamie Raines's videos and figured I could create similar content, drawing from my experiences as a mixed-race immigrant starting my transition in my late 20's.

What’s your idea of a perfect sunday?

Naps. Lots of naps. Maybe a trip to an escape room.

Check out more of Rafael’s art on Instagram and vlogs on Youtube!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rafaelmateo.art/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIpm39z8SprDgWEHx3crE3Q