- Trans woman Nicole Garraway, working previously as a mechanic and also an avid motorcyclist, was considered a forced to be reckoned with in the local remote control car club in the outback town of Alice Springs.
- Growing up, Garraway knew that she was different. She was uncomfortable in her own skin and couldn’t stand the image that she saw in her reflection.
- She wanted to let transgender individuals who are coming out in their community to know that they’re not alone.
It’s not usual to see transgender woman in a race track, but for Nicole Garraway, she called it her home.
Garraway, working previously as a mechanic and also an avid motorcyclist, was considered a forced to be reckoned with in the local remote control car club in the outback town of Alice Springs, North Territory in Australia.
Born in the wrong body
“Nobody sees her as anything abnormal or different … You just don’t want to mess with her on the tracks, that’s the thing,” Kellie Vermolen of the Remote Control Car Club Committee said. “She’s got to be brave and she’s got to be tough.”
She continued, “But hey, now I can say she’s a girl like us, and that makes me even more proud. I mean, powerful women? Good.”
Growing up, Garraway knew that she was different. She was uncomfortable in her own skin and couldn’t stand the image that she saw in her reflection.
“I used to wake up in the morning and hate what I saw, now I wake up and love what I see,” she explained.
She soon faced challenges coming out in a small town, but all of that didn’t matter on the race track at the Alice Springs Remote Control Club. In fact, she recalled the time she wanted to be called by her name.
“I said, ‘I’m changing my name to Nicole,’ and everyone was like, ‘yeah, hi Nicole’,” she stated. “I was actually surprised at how much support I got at the club… I was actually surprised at how much support I got at the club.”
But even if she had changed physically, her love for the sports has not.
Coming out in rural towns
Additionally, for a transgender like her in a rural town, particular like Alice Springs with only 30,000 inhabitants, it would be easy to stick out.
That’s why she wanted to let transgender individuals who are coming out in their community to know that they’re not alone.
“Be honest with your friends about your struggles,” Garraway explained. “Pretty much everyone will support you, there’s very few people who don’t.”
With plans of starting her life anew in the big city of Sydney, she said she had planned out her next step in her career.
“[I want] to start working as a mechanic again, because I sort of went away from the tools, but I miss it too much,” she explained. “I would love to start racing again, but mum kind of has a bit of an issue with that.”
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