“I just didn’t understand. I just felt like I was doing something wrong, but I didn’t know what it was, or why.”

Aster

Aster grew up in Mexico City and sensed from a young age he was different from other kids. As he grew older, he discovered more about his sexuality and gender identity, but felt alone without a support system.

When Aster was around 12, all he wanted to do was kick a ball, but in Mexico it was not acceptable for a girl to do that.

“That was something that was excruciatingly hard, especially because I just didn’t understand. I just felt like I was doing something wrong, but I didn’t know what it was, or why.”

When Aster began to express his realizations regarding his sexuality and gender, he was met with resistance from his family.

Aster moved to New York in his twenties and although he no longer speaks to his family, he now has people in New York that he considers family. Finally, he felt he could be himself and start his transition. He explained, “It’s like getting a weight lifted off.”

Aster found Immigration Equality through a friend, and his asylum case took six months from start to finish.

He said, “Immigration Equality gave me the tools that I needed to be able to build my asylum case at no cost, which is incredible, and basically saved my life.”

He is now in graduate school, studying remote sensing and satellite observation, and was accepted into a NASA Jet Propulsion Lab Fellowship Program.