Raven Davina Gill stands in her truth. Throughout her life she has shown that there is no value in facing adversity sitting down.
Despite how low or embarrassing the situations were, she found a way to come out on top.
While at Christ Church Foundation School, she was often reprimanded and sent to the principal’s office for braiding hair during lunch.
But Raven took that raw talent to the now defunct International School of Cosmetology, where she received a distinction in cosmetology.
The 28-year-old transgender woman is now a successful hairstylist, who specialises in lace front wigs.
In 2016, Raven made court pages for disturbing the peace and the publication of the reports on her 25th birthday dampened celebrations of that milestone.
That was the first and last time she was arrested.
Coming out of that situation, however, she spoke of mistreatment.
This experience ignited her passion for the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) people and she began working closely with Equals and launching Butterfly, an organisation that sensitises the public to issues affecting transgender people.
Since then, she has worked with the Family Conflict Unit, the Barbados Family Planning Association, and the Ministry of Health on various projects aimed at assisting this community. (TG)
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