Eden feels safer on the street than a hostel, where they must identify as a man or woman for a bed.
The non-binary 24-year-old has been sleeping in a Brisbane CBD shopfront since January.
The city’s rental market is tighter than it has ever been – but for people who are gender diverse, the options are even more limited.
Eden was at a men’s hostel dormitory at the start of the year but felt they had to hide their identity.
“A lot of emergency accommodation is very rigid and very binary in how they care for people,” Eden said.
“I’m not the kind of person to care about what other people think of me but at the same time when I’m in this situation, I’m so vulnerable. I don’t know if they’re going to want to hurt me and just for not fitting into their expectations of what gender is.”
“It’s terrifying and isolating and depressing because I can’t be myself,” they added.