Gisele Shaw On Her Decision to Come Out as Trans, How Not Being Out Affected Her

Gisele Shaw came out as a transgender woman during Pride month, and she recently opened up about her decision to do so. Shaw spoke with Denise Salcedo on Instinct Culture for a new interview discussing her coming out and more. You can check out some highlights below, per Fightful:

On what inspired her to come out as trans: “WrestleMania week, I attended an event called Dresslemania, where we auctioned off dresses that were important to us and has significant value to us. At the event, we told stories about our personal, you know, quite personal adversities, me having a rough childhood because I was being bullied by people, and it just wasn’t nice. This fan came up to me after the event, who happens to be a trans woman as well. She just wanted to share her story with me, and, she just wanted to talk to me and say that she could relate to my story. For me, at the time, because I wasn’t out, I panicked inside, and I was like, “Oh, my God, I’m like, You’re my workplace, and you want to talk about this. I just didn’t know how to deal with it.

“I know, I just brushed her off — which I went home, and I was just so feeling like I was feeling like crap, after because I looked up to the Knockouts and looked up to the Divas, and these women, incredible women, inspired me to be who I am today, and to follow my dreams and my goals and all this stuff. I am on the other side now, and I have the opportunity to do that for someone else, and I didn’t really do that for them, I brushed them off. So, that’s when it clicked. I was like, why am I so scared? I’m taking my power back. Enough is enough. So that’s when I went to IMPACT Wrestling and I said, ‘Hey, if you’re able to help me with this, that would be fantastic.'”

On how not being out affected her: “I just want to live my life effectively. I think that’s the most important thing. we only get one shot in this life and I don’t really want to be, you know, I don’t want to be pretending to be someone else. I want to just be me and, and also as a performer, that really affected me as well because I would go out in the ring and I would not be able to perform 100% because I’m always thinking, ‘Okay, are the fans talking about me? Can they tell?’ Like, what are they saying about me, you know?

“Even with my personal life as well, like, I would go out, you know, to a restaurant, or wherever. I’m constantly thinking, it’s like, you’re always on the edge, and I can’t really just fully be myself and just relax. You know, we’re always thinking, ‘What are people thinking?’ So, yeah, and I just thought I want to be able to use this platform that I have, IMPACT Wrestling, for good and I would love to be able to inspire and educate and raise awareness, especially for the next generation. I just hope that I can do that, and do them justice.”

On representing the trans community: “It’s such a huge responsibility. I really also want to say and remind people that while we are representing that community. What we can do is, hopefully, inspire people with the platforms that we have, educate people, and raise awareness, because I am not an activist, but I am an advocate, and sometimes people do, they think that ‘Oh, my God, you’re the poster child!’ No, I don’t want to be a poster child. I’m here to educate and raise awareness, and inspire,” she said.