Humans of Humanity: Britts Twiss
Britts Twiss has worked with Humanity Health Group for 3 years and is currently working as the WA state team leader for the Care Squad. Britt is a bisexual woman and spoke to us as part of our Humans of Humanity World Pride feature.
Hi Britt. Thank you for taking part in our Humans of Humanity World Pride conversation.
Can you please tell us a little bit about yourself?
I love studying and completed my Bachelor of Psychology in 2020 and my Master of Public Health in 2022. Health sciences have my heart and I hope to continue my studies in the next few years after a bit of a break. I’m particularly interested in Medical History and have an ever-growing collection of books and vintage medical resources – I’m always down to talk about weird medical theories.
Other than science, I enjoy painting, illustration, and making tatted lace in my spare time. I was a ballerina and competitive Irish Dancer in high school. I’m looking forward to returning to ballet now that I have a bit more spare time.
Being a big sister to my seven younger siblings is an important part of my identity, and I’ve been very blessed to get to watch my babies grow into amazing young people.
Sexuality is such an important component of our adult lives. How has your sexuality impacted your life experiences?
It took me a long time to fully accept my sexuality – no one really talked about sexuality in the circles I grew up in and certainly not bisexuality.
What are some of the emotions that surfaced as you were accepting your sexuality?
Understanding who I am and whom I love has been both challenging and beautiful. Realizing that my life didn’t have to look a certain way was amazing – I’m much less cynical about love nowadays! I’ve made so many amazing friends with whom I share my life now – my little family.
It took me a long time to fully accept my sexuality – no one really talked about sexuality in the circles I grew up in and certainly not bisexuality.
How did your family respond to your sexuality?
Having very conservative and religious parents is hard and means that I’m not out to a lot of people to keep my relationship with my young siblings. It’s hard to know that there are people that I grew up have such harmful beliefs.
I’ve had to find my own faith and peace within that – I had to learn that faith and bisexuality aren’t mutually exclusive and that who I am is not wrong. I hope that by sharing this with my siblings they can feel like they belong and are loved, regardless of who they are.
My extended family is a lot more accepting, my great Aunty Margaret particularly, she’s like a best friend and mum to me. She does want me to end up with someone who is an amazing cook, she doesn’t care about their gender.
How has your broader community accepted your sexuality?
The community I grew up in is not affirming in any way, they live by ‘love the sinner, hate the sin’. I’ve not had anything to do with that group since I left home, and my life is all the better for it. As much as I’d love to be able to change people’s minds, you have to pick your battles, prioritise your mental health, and realise that there are some groups who will always see you as broken.
As a bisexual woman, do you feel that Humanity Health Group is supportive of embracing your individuality and who you are as a person?
Definitely - Particularly my team who I spend most of my days with. We’re all very open and supportive of each other. I love wearing my pride Thylacine pin in the office as well so that people know that this is a safe place (and that I love strange animals).
I feel safe to be myself at HHG, and everyone at least puts up with my random science facts!
Are there any World Pride events in Perth or where you live?
There aren’t any specific World Pride Events in Perth as far as I am aware, but I’m also notoriously a home body. We do have a pride parade in November which I’m hoping to take part in this year.
Do you have any hopes for the LGBTQIA+ community for the future?
I hope that the queer community becomes even more accepted in society than it is – we’ve come a long way but there’s still a long way to go. We shouldn’t have to choose between being ourselves and being safe and comfortable.
As someone who grew up in church, I would love to see the wider Christian community become affirming – for safe churches to be common. There is so much harm done by faith based organisations to the LGBTQIA+ community, and it shouldn’t be that way. As somewhat of an Anglican I would love to get married in an Anglican church one day, regardless of the gender of the person I marry.