A man who punished himself for ‘being in the wrong body’ has been nominated for an LGBT+ award after he retold his journey of self-discovery.
Lewis Hancox, originally from St Helens , shared his experiences with the world including how he used to punish himself “for being in the wrong body,” in his novel, Welcome to St Hell. Before living life as his true authentic self, Lewis tried to control how he looked through diet and exercise, which eventually led to a diagnosis of anorexia. However, after navigating through coming out twice, first as a lesbian, and second, as a trans man, Lewis found himself in a state of mind where he could start working towards helping others and it has paid off. The 32-year-old was been shortlisted from over 72,000 nominations for the Positive Role Model Award for LGBT at the National Diversity Awards, which return to Liverpool Anglican Cathedral next month.
Now, amongst the final eight, Lewis told the ECHO : “Growing up in a small northern town in the early 2000s, I couldn't see myself reflected in any media. There was no trans representation and very little LGBT awareness in general. That's why it's such a huge honour to be nominated for the Positive LGBT Role Model award. To think I could be that hope for others means so much to me. I pride myself on educating in a relaxed way, through humour and relatability. Across all my work, my message is that we all have a lot more in common than we realise, we're all human and we're all on our own journeys.”
