Visibili-T is dedicated to transgender members of our community in Central Florida and Tampa Bay, some you know and many you don’t. It is designed to amplify their voices and detail their experiences in life.
This issue, we check in with Watermark’s newest staff member, Daisy Chamberlin. Chamberlin is the newest Orlando account manager and she’s very eager to begin working for Watermark.
Chamberlin came out as a trans woman in 2019 when she was in her early 20’s. She initially felt coming out would be an intimidating process but has grown much more comfortable in her identity over the last few years. As she has grown into her identity, she says being trans has become a part of her life that she thinks less and less about.
“I think a lot of cis people want to ask a lot of questions about it or want to know a lot about it, but for me, that’s so far removed from the front of my mind,” Chamberlin says. “I don’t think about being trans on a moment-to-moment basis. I think most of us have way more interesting stuff about us than being trans.”
Chamberlin says her being trans is a much less interesting topic than her passion for music. Outside of work, she spends most of her time with her band, I Met a Yeti. Her bandmates were some of her biggest supporters during her transition.
“It’s definitely my personal passion, as far as my passions go. It’s a priority,” she says.
Chamberlin has written a lot of songs about her experiences as a newly out trans woman.
“The first I Met a Yeti EP is pretty generally about the normal things people write music about, like breakups and relationships, but it was definitely through the lens of, ‘I’m coming out as trans while doing this,’” she says. “To varying degrees on each song, there’s levels of those themes in there.”
As Chamberlin grows more comfortable with her identity, though, she says she finds herself writing about her experience as a trans woman less.
“I think about that stuff a little less because I’ve been trans for a long time at this point, or it feels like a long time,” she says. “I don’t think about it as actively.”
After growing up in a more conservative city and attending a conservative college, Chamberlin says being in Orlando is a much better place for her. She feels like she fits in and is happy to have a home in a place so welcoming.
“I like [the] Mills[/50] District quite a bit. Orlando is definitely a little bit of a safe haven for me,” she says. “Moving here, I’ve connected with the idea of feeling like I’m in an inclusive and diverse environment.”
The support she feels within the Orlando LGBTQ community has also helped her learn to thrive within her identity.
“I think Orlando’s LGBTQ community is really supportive and diverse outside of just being LGBTQ,” she says. “My favorite aspect of this community is that I think we’re very welcoming and we’re generally a community that’s very open to learning.”
She says Central Florida is a great place for trans youth to explore their own identities and she hopes they will be able to seek out and take advantage of the many resources Orlando has to offer.
“If you’re in Central Florida, The Center is a great resource for career advisement and other issues, too. I would definitely say seeking a therapist is super beneficial and there’s a surprising number of ways to make that financially feasible for young people,” Chamberlin says. “In Orlando, it’s just a matter of doing online research and spending the time planning and figuring out where the safest places for you are.”
Chamberlin has high hopes for her future. She wants to continue to work within Orlando’s LGBTQ community. She also wants to further her music career.
Her other band, Resilia, will soon be releasing their album “Well Intentioned: The Name of the Game” and she is excited to expand her musical talent. Both of her bands produce post hardcore music, but Chamberlin says that Resilia has a more “poppy” feel to it.
Interested in being featured in Visibili-T? Email Editor-in-Chief Jeremy Williams in Central Florida or Managing Editor Ryan Williams-Jent in Tampa Bay.
