Although Brendon invites the whole world to something as personal as his own journey with their gender identity, Brendon said the decision is quite easy to make. “The biggest reason I felt comfortable telling my story was because I knew that when I was just starting to discover who I was, I would find out for myself, a story like mine would want to go see, they said. “and that I could look back and like, ‘Other people have been through this’ and just have that kind of support, as if I’m not alone in what’s going on.”
Born out of that decision was Draw with me, a moving documentary short that paints an intimate portrait of Brendon and their family. The 24-minute film, produced by Ithaka Films in partnership with The Trevor Project, draws no beats in outlining an upcoming journey that challenged the entire family and led Brendon to suicidal thoughts before their art and the growing support of their household they have not been saved, which puts them on a path of intercession.
The revival of the whole of their story on camera at such a young age – they were only 16 when the film was shot – was not always the easiest. “There were definitely moments where I had to center myself before I spoke,” Brendon said. ‘Because of course it was talking about a pretty dark subject. Constantine helped create this space [where] it was perfectly fine for me to say, ‘Hey, I need a moment to just center myself and … handle things.’