Alia Ramna from Cardiff is one of many people in the UK who has gone through conversion therapy in an effort to try and suppress her gender identity. Growing up in an extremely religious household in Wales' capital, she was told a demon was controlling her thoughts, and that she needed to "pray it away". Now a proud transgender woman with a supportive group of friends around her, she has bravely decided to speak openly about her story in an effort to help others in similar situations.
Growing up, Alia was aware that her feelings and creative output were something she had to hide due to her family's views. An extremely creative person, she started creating paintings and drawings depicting female characters, which she now understands to be self portraits of her true self. With the threat of her art being destroyed by her parents, Alia did all she could to hide her outlet, but was often found out.
Sitting down with reporter Joe Ali, Alia explained how her drawings were her way of figuring out what she would look like once she had transitioned. Seeing herself become her authentic self on paper, the beauty of this realisation was quickly snubbed out under her strict home life. With her own family suggesting she was possessed by a demon, Alia was forcefully subjected to conversion 'therapy' in an effort to stop her presenting feminine.
