From lifting weights to fighting for progress at parliament, Necho Brocchi is a strong trans woman.
Her resilience has been forged in the fire of discrimination, prejudice and bigotry.
"I've lost my job solely for being trans," Ms Brocchi said.
"I was punched in the face. I had my bag thrown onto a main road.
"This is not uncommon."
Five years ago Ms Brocchi, who lives in Brisbane, was in the early stages of medically transitioning.
"It's something I wanted to speak more to my employer about, and they were not accepting of it," she said.
She said she was fired from her full-time job in after-school care.
"It's not easy losing a job and being told the only reason why you lose a job you love is because of your gender identity," she said.
Now 28, Ms Brocchi is a social and policy worker, and studying to be a human rights lawyer.
Her goal is to become a legal advocate for the trans community.
In January, she gave evidence at a Queensland parliamentary committee inquiring into the Births and Marriages Registration Bill 2022.
Under the new legislation, introduced in December, trans and gender diverse people would no longer need to have undergone sexual reassignment surgery to register a change of sex.
"To be able to change that documentation will have a huge impact on our community," Ms Brocchi said.
While Queensland is moving to improve the rights of trans people, other jurisdictions are going backwards.
Activist Navindra Jayasekera, 23, said the trans community was being oppressed globally.
"We're seeing that in states in America, which are overturning their laws in order to make it harder for trans people to transition," she said.
Ms Jayasekera said intolerance led to violence, which she experienced recently at Sydney World Pride.
"We actually got into a brawl with a bunch of fellas who started saying Bible verses at us, saying that we were a sin," she said.
"We were just chilling outside of the club, having a good time, when these fellas came to us."
'We have existed for eons'
Ms Jayasekera, who transitioned two years ago, said there was nothing radical about being trans or gender diverse.
"Trans people have existed for eons in many different countries across the globe," she said.
"Speaking as someone from Sri Lankan heritage, we've had trans girls for over 2,000 years. During colonisation, a lot of that was overturned."
As well as transphobia, Ms Jayasekera has been subjected to racism.
She tries to counter backlash against LGBTQIA+ people with kindness.
"I like to lead with love," she said.
"I just try and show up and be my best self. And that honestly sometimes disarms people because they're not expecting that.
"They want me to be the threat that they already perceive me to be.
"And when I don't live up to that expectation, it honestly kind of confuses people."
Gender affirming surgery out of reach
Gender affirming healthcare improves the quality of life of trans people, but it is difficult to access.
Max Johnston would like to have surgery, but they cannot afford it.
"A lot is not covered under Medicare. Any kind of surgical intervention is fully self-funded in Australia.
Mx Johnston, who is non-binary, said there should be government support to make it more affordable.
"It is not just a cosmetic procedure. It is, for some people, lifesaving," they said.
"Depression is a massive killer in Australia. For people in the transgender and gender diverse community, suicide rates are quite high."
Mx Johnston has struggled with their own mental health.
"At 22 years old I was so depressed, I did not think I would have made it to my 30th birthday," they said.
Mx Johnston was a patient at the Metro North Health Gender Service at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital.
There, they began hormone replacement therapy.
"I actually kind of like looking at my reflection now. I think my mood is more stable. I don't feel like I'm hiding something all the time," they said.
"It's empowering to say 'This is who I am'."
The gender service opened in 2017 and provides social work, psychology, psychiatry, sexual health care, GP services, and speech pathology.
Gender service coordinator Rebecca Cooley said demand was steadily increasing.
She puts it down to the growing social acceptance of gender diversity.
"Comparing from 2019-2020 financial year to this financial year the referrals are up," she said.
"The waitlist for our services is now quite long.
"It's not good because we're the only service established specifically to provide gender affirming care in Queensland to adults."
'Astronomical' costs
Ms Cooley said while new patients are seen almost immediately, they must wait about 10 months to begin the process of transitioning.
"People forget that at the heart of it, these are human beings," she said.
"Gender dysphoria is the distress that someone feels around their body and their appearance.
"People will not leave the house, people will avoid showering for days on end sometimes, because they cannot stand to even look at their body.
"People with voice dysphoria will avoid speaking and having any communication with people, because they can't hear their own voice. It causes so much distress."
Ms Cooley said people do not have to suffer gender dysphoria to be gender diverse.
"You can have an incongruence with your assigned sex at birth and your gender, but you might not have the associated stress that comes with that," she said.
Ms Cooley said Medicare should not classify gender affirming surgery as cosmetic.
"The prices are astronomical, it's not accessible through the public health system," she said.
"For top surgery, you're looking at around $10,000 out of pocket with private health."
'Visibility is precious'
Today is International Transgender Day of Visibility.
Mx Johnston is sharing their story to give hope to young people struggling with their gender identity.
"Visibility is precious. What it means is people going through their journey at the difficult end can see people doing OK," they said.
"People like my partner and I are doing OK. We're doing well and really starting to thrive in life."
