Rebekah Bruesehoff (she/her) is a fifteen year old activist who is on a mission to spread a message of hope and improve support for transgender and LGBTQ youth.

Rebekah is transgender.  That means when she was born, everyone thought she was a boy, but she deeply knows herself to be a girl.

From the time Rebekah could talk, her favorite color was pink and she gravitated to typically “feminine” things. She loved to paint her nails and dress up in her mom’s old dance recital costumes. Her parents assured her colors are for everyone and clothes are for everyone.  She could be any kind of boy she wanted to be! They didn’t realize she wasn’t a boy.

After an intense period of anxiety and depression, Rebekah was able to articulate her gender identity, and with the support of her family and medical professionals, she socially transitioned at 8 years old. She changed her name and pronouns to go out into the world as herself. Her joy exploded! She no longer had to pretend she was someone she wasn’t.

Rebekah’s family members have been her fiercest advocates. Her mom, Jamie, is a writer and speaker who, from the beginning,  shared her experience raising Rebekah, a child who at first they identified as gender non-conforming.

When Rebekah transitioned, Jamie worked to educate their friends and family, her school, their church, and the larger community. Her dad, Christopher, is a Lutheran pastor. She has two little brothers who simultaneously adore her and think she’s pretty annoying like any good big sister. 

Rebekah stumbled into public advocacy in 2017 when she agreed to speak with her mom at a rally in Jersey City, New Jersey after the Trump administration rescinded the guidelines for transgender students. She told the crowd of 200 people that transgender kids like her deserve support and access to safe schools, but her impact ended up being much greater when a picture her mom posted of Rebekah with a sign that said “I’m the scary transgender person the media warned you about” went viral. 

Rebekah realized that not every transgender kid has an experience of overwhelming love and support. As she learned about the struggles transgender people face just because of who they are, she became committed to doing whatever she could to support the larger community.

Rebekah began speaking in front of politicians and policy makers. She works closely with Garden State Equality, New Jersey’s largest LGBT organization, to support the work they’re doing in policy and in schools. She advocates for transgender and non-binary kids who are fighting for the right to be who they are in their homes, schools, and communities. Arts and crafts turned into making protest signs, and school writing assignments turned into speeches. By being an out and proud transgender young person, Rebekah helps make space for other kids to be themselves

In June 2018, Rebekah spoke with her mom in front of more than 31,000 high school youth and their adult leaders at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Youth Gathering in Houston, Texas. As the first openly transgender person to speak at an ELCA Youth Gathering, she shared a message of hope and a call to action. Young people don’t have to wait until they’re adults to make a difference. The Church needs them and their message of inclusion now.

In December 2018, Rebekah testified before the state legislature in support of a bill that would require schools in New Jersey to include the accomplishments and contributions of LGBTQ people in what is taught across all disciplines. That bill was passed by the Senate and Assembly in 2018, and the governor signed it into law in 2019. It will go into effect for the 2020-2021 school year.

In February 2019, Rebekah published her first op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer. She wrote about why the Babs Siperstein Law was important to kids like her when it went into effect, allowing her to change the gender marker on her birth certificate to match who she knows herself to be.

Rebekah continues to spread a message of hope for transgender and LGBTQ youth internationally through public speaking, media appearances, and her own social media platform. She loves to connect with and support other LGBTQ young people by hosting meet-ups or speaking at their schools. Together with her mom, she advocates on a local, state, and federal level for policy that protects and supports LGBTQ+ people, she educates all kinds of people about what it means to be transgender, what transgender kids need, and she inspires people of all ages and identities to show up more fully as themselves.

Rebekah is honored and excited to be one of the newest heroes in the Marvel Universe as a part of Marvel’s Hero Project, a series that launched on Disney+ in November 2019. The series follows young heroes who are making remarkable and positive change across communities by dedicating their lives in selfless acts of bravery and kindness. Rebekah thinks all transgender kids are heroes, and she’s really excited to get to represent them in the Marvel Universe.

Rebekah joined the GenderCool Project in 2020 as one of their newest Champions. The GenderCool Project is an international story-telling campaign that’s helping people understand who transgender kids are, instead of what they are. Working with GenderCool, Rebekah has had the opportunity to work with companies like Dell, Intel, Indeed, and more to share her story and prepare them for the increasingly diverse next-gen workforce! 

Rebekah is especially passionate about LGBTQ+ representation in books, media, and beyond. She testified for NJ’s LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum in 2018. The bill was signed into law in 2019 and went into effect for the 2020-2021 school year. It requires middle and high schools across NJ to include the contributions of LGBTQ+ people as well as people with disabilities across school disciplines.

She launched the Mighty Rebekah Book Drive in June 2019 to collect books that include LGBTQ+ characters, stories, and history and get them into schools, libraries, faith spaces, and community organizations all over the country. Rebekah has received and donated hundreds of books, and she plans to continue this work until every young person has the opportunity to see themselves in the book shelves around them. 

When Covid-19 hit, Rebekah took her love of books online to read stories with LGBTQ+ characters and themes of diversity and acceptance on her social media platforms. She was recognized for her work increasing representation and advocating for LGBTQ+ youth as a Top 20 Finalist for Time and Nickelodeon’s 2020 Kid of the Year. Rebekah even shared an Act of Awesome, a story she’d written, on the Kid of the Year special on Nickelodeon, with Neil Patrick Harris introducing her and her work.

Finally, Rebekah published her first book, A Kids Book About Being Inclusive, in 2021 in collaboration with the GenderCool Project and A Kids Book About. At fifteen years old, this is just the beginning for Rebekah. She continues to advocate for transgender and non-binary youth in schools, athletics, and healthcare. Most of all, she wants to show people that transgender kids are just like other kids. They need to be safe and loved. 

When she’s not busy changing the world, you can find her binge-watching cooking shows, hanging out with friends, and hiking with her family in their home state of New Jersey and beyond. She loves musical theater, dance, playing field hockey, and getting straight As.