Damien Leonhardt is no stranger to online harassment. The non-binary trans person grew up on the internet and has changed drastically over time as they discovered their true identity.

Back in 2010, Damien went by the name ‘Jessi Slaughter.’ One may remember Jessi Slaughter from viral videos, such as this one featuring their father. Both before and after this video went viral, Jessi Slaughter was taunted online.

‘I was harassed for quite a bit after the videos, people sent me random stuff in the mail, ordered pizzas to my house, sent prostitutes, it was ridiculous,’ Damien recalls. ‘Someone even hid in the bushes outside my bedroom window. I kind of just dealt with it until it went away.’

‘Looking back it seems like that wasn’t even the biggest thing happening in my life at the time, there was a lot of family stuff going on and I was dealing with undiagnosed and untreated mental illnesses, the “Jessi Slaughter” stuff made that worse but it seems tiny in comparison,’ they explain. Read more via Gay Star News