Ben Hodge, 20, didn’t feel able to come out as a trans man at school – despite coming out as non-binary at 14 and using they/them pronouns. It was only when he went to college that he felt comfortable telling his peers and teachers that he’s a trans man. And despite attending a Catholic college, he told the Liverpool Echo that the reaction from staff had been “brilliant”. “When I left high school and went to a different college, I saw it as a fresh start and was ready to come out. I realised I’m a lot more masculine and identified more as a male than I did as non-binary. “In my new college I came out as a trans man and changed my name to Ben and asked people to start referring to me as ‘he’ instead of ‘they/them’ pronouns.