BrandElsa is a performer at heart. Everything thing is done with passion. Leaving a little sparkle everywhere they go. Not to say to road has been easy. But BrandElsa will stay true to themselves no matter what. This is the road to aliveness.
BrandElsa had a psychedelic experience in the summer of 2019. One in which there was a vision of a genderless nature. “It was at that moment I recall seeing this vision and immediately recognized on a level that I was looking at myself in my purest form. Once I was out of the experience, I began to integrate the truth that I am made of stardust, as is everybody, and the essence of my being is love!”
“I came out of that experience feeling so very connected and content with myself and experienced a level of self-love I had not been able to experience without feeling an internalized pressure to perform in order to feel worthy of love and acceptance.” BrandElsa now educates people willing to learn about being genderless, or at least understanding it.
Tell us more about living gender less?
“There are plenty of people who identify as nonbinary and each person has their own personal reasoning that aligns with their journey of understanding their gender identity. For me, “nonbinary” is a better language to describe my relationship with gender. Since I was young, I never felt like I “fit in” as one of the boys, but knew that I wasn’t a girl. Everything society was telling me (through family, culture, media, etc) as to how little boys should act and what they should like never sat well with me and I was constantly rebelling against that system in some way or another. When I came out in college as gay, I believed all of my feminine tendencies were a result of my sexual orientation. However, as I grew and saw greater diversity in gender expression within the queer community, I knew there was another layer to be discovered. After doing some research and hearing about the experiences of other individuals assigned male at birth (AMAB) and the language they used to define themselves, the term nonbinary resonated with me so I adopted it for myself. It has become my way of rejecting what society says I should do and living a life in accordance to my hopes, dreams, desires and reveling in the experience of doing it all how I deem fit.”
Do you think living genderless will make a difference in society?
“Do I think my nonbinary existence will make a difference in society? I believe it will. Do I think I, as an individual, will make massive change and singlehandedly dismantle the gender binary and everything it affects? No. The difference I make is for the people of all ages who recognize my gender identity and see the joy, freedom, and truth that comes with it. They see it as a possible blueprint for how they can potentially live their lives. Sometimes people are walking around trying to find a version of themselves they can identify with and need to see more gender-expansive people know that they are not alone, weird, damaged in any way. When people are free to live their truth, there won’t be any need to dim the light of others through violence or the subtle ways of emotional or mental trauma”
How do people treat you when you tell them you are genderless?
” I don’t necessarily go around just telling everybody I meet that I’m nonbinary, explicitly. Usually, when I tell people my pronouns, which are they/them, they might have some follow-up questions but that’s been pretty rare with people I just met. I’ve been pretty fortunate in my lived experience because most people meet me with a cheery disposition and good nature that I haven’t had any adverse reactions to. I will share that when I first explained to my mother about my identity, she flat out rejected it and said that she didn’t understand it. Which to her credit I cannot fault her for her truth, but that did sting a little bit because the follow-up questions I was prepared for never surfaced. The conversation was kinda abruptly ended, which almost made me feel as if I had to try to justify my gender expression for parental approval, which I don’t believe anyone should have to do.”
BrandElsa believes that they are meant to rebel against the system and set rules of life. “Since I was young, I’ve always bucked up against the system in some way, usually through my likes and interest which aligned with “traditionally female”. Now in my 30s, although really beginning during my late teens, I began to live the truth of my sexual orientation, I feel I constantly challenge society expectations in my daily life and assuming that people are prepared to have a discussion from a place of knowledge and respect I try to not shy away from spreading some “good trouble” from time to time.”
BrandElsa’s road with sexual orientation has not been easy or happy. Born Brandon did not feel right so BrandElsa was reborn, coming out to Brandon’s father lead down a road of feeling abandoned. A feeling we at Rebels never want anyone to feel. After reading this, I had to take a moment. My mind will never understand how we live in the year 2021 and parents still try and put their children into a box that fits in with society. But after my break, and I came to sit down, and work on the blog more, I released just what an amazing Rebel I have on my hands. I think BrandElsa puts it in better words themself:
“I wish people of the world knew that it is perfectly okay to reject and redefine some of the societal rules we take as “normal” and to re-discover our true selves (including likes, dislikes, gender identity) that have always been there since birth but covered over for whatever reason is applicable to them. I would like people to see me/read my story and know that my ability to express and explore my gender identity isn’t a direct threat to them but rather an example and invitation to lean bravely into the unknown to be led toward a life that is designed specifically for them.”
What rebel in life inspires BrandElsa?
“I find myself constantly inspired by anybody who bucks up against tradition and the gender binary, so the rebel who comes to mind is author, poet, scholar, and activist Alok Vaid-Menon. They are a Southeast Asian nonbinary person of trans feminine experience whose social media posts are rich with historical examples of how the gender binary is a tool by white, ruling classes used to suppress to rich diversity and vastness of the human experience. I’m always going to be inspired by that.”
What is BrandElsa up to these days?
“Right now, I’m at home in Los Angeles working a few performance gigs here and there. I am hoping more touring performance opportunities come my way as I definitely miss traveling, but I trust the Universe is handling all those details. Outside of that, I’m looking to develop more content for Haus of Elevation (the coaching business I began during the pandemic) as well as I’m in the early stages of writing a book. AHHH, just saying that out loud is kind of crazy but it’s something that’s been on my heart for a couple of years, so I think it’s time”
BrandElsa is a very open and open-minded Rebel, they have taught me so much throughout this blog, we hope you continue to sparkle and change the world’s mindset, one step at a time. Feel free to check BrandElsa out on a podcast called The Haus of Elevation available on Spotify/Apple Podcasts. You can also follow them on IG @BrandonAndVlog or @HausOfElevation
“Sometimes you don’t know you exist until you see someone as you existed before” -
George M. Johnson