Gabrielle Diana

Early life

Gladu was born on February 28, 1999, in Ottawa, Ontario. Gladu was raised in Ottawa by her parents, and attended the Catholic school system up until completion of 8th Grade. Gabrielle switched into the Public school system for High School, and is currently completing her 12th year of High School.

Gladu's family consists of Polish, French, Irish, and Scottish heritage.

Transition

Gladu is widely known for her work in the transgender community. She has been involved in helping the trans community gain recognition and visibility, as well as dedicating much of herself to documenting her transition online. Gladu has worked with The Advocate, and was named one of the 25 Trans Pioneers of 2015.

Gladu experienced being treated differently from a very young age due to her feminine behaviour and appearance. Gladu's mom, Rosemary, stated in a YouTube video that Gabrielle had asked her about gender identity and why she was a boy instead of a girl. Gladu stated in an article for the Huffington Post that she "used to wear my mom’s dresses and makeup, and it wasn't easy in the beginning since I wasn't transitioning."

Gabrielle attempted suicide on December 12, 2012. Though Gladu was not yet out as trans, the suicide attempt was related to her gender identity and confusion surrounding her female identity that she had yet to explore. In regards to her suicide attempt, Gladu said, "I was very, very confused. I knew something was different about me. I was so afraid of what people would think of me.". Following her suicide attempt, Gabrielle began treatment at CHEO, and began intensive therapy by seeing social worker Richard Voss to help her develop coping mechanisms and address the issue. During the time she saw Voss, Gladu began to discover that her female identity was becoming stronger, and she started to research Transgender people and educate herself on Gender identity. Gabrielle has stated that she came out to herself on August 3, 2013, and had recorded a YouTube video coming out as Trans, but unfortunately never ended up posting it due to fear of rejection and hatred.

Gabrielle started her first year of High School at a different school board system, and intended on starting the year identifying as male. Gladu has said that she didn't begin school, already transitioning, because she wanted to see how people would react to her as a gay boy. Gladu began changing her pronouns at school, and first asked her classmates and teachers to call her Bebe. Already living as a female at school and with her family, Gladu decided to publicly come out as transgender in December 2013. Gabrielle began to see Dr. Stephen Feder, and Dr. Margaret Lawson at the Diversity Clinic, at CHEO.

Gabrielle started to medically transition in April 2014, by taking Lupron to block the production of Testosterone. Gabrielle then started taking Estrogen as part of HRT on March 24, 2015. Gladu has been referred by her team at CHEO to surgeon Dr. Brassard to perform her SRS.

On September 27, 2015, Gladu received the message that her name had been legally changed to Gabrielle Diana Gladu. Gladu uploaded a video to her twitter, which was filmed by her cousin. Gabrielle's mom surprised her with a cake that revealed that her name was legally changed. Gabrielle revealed that her forename Gabrielle, was inspired by Coco Chanel, and her middle name, Diana, was an tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales, who Gladu became influenced and inspired by.

Career

Gabrielle co-founded a non-profit organization with Amina Lakin, called Into Full Bloom. Lakin and Gladu founded the organization together, and they aim to help transgender people by supplying them with resources and things that would help them transition easier if it's not possible to do on their own. Gabrielle began her career on social media on YouTube where she documented her transition but has since moved into the business world when Into Full Bloom was created. Gladu has used Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms to connect with her followers and establish herself outside of YouTube.

Music

Outside of working with the transgender community, Gabrielle has teased music for a long time. Gladu began writing an album prior to transitioning, but scrapped all songs and material once she started to transition. During August and July 2015, Gladu teased the release of her debut album, calling it a "folk & indie" record. Songs meant to be released were titled Seventies, The Coast, If You Want To Fall In Love, Lovers, and Based. Gladu revealed in September 2015 that the album wouldn't be released. In regards to why the album wouldn't be released, she said "my old co-producer and I parted ways because I wanted to make good material!!".

Gladu recommenced the creation of a new album in early 2016, and teased the writing and producing process, but began to keep quiet about the state of the record from June–September 2016. A demo was released on soundcloud called A Song For You. On September 9, 2016, Gabrielle revealed that she was working on new music again, and that the new music reflected where she is in her life right now, as opposed to where she was previously. The name of the album, the release date, and any other information about her solo record is unknown.

BELLEAMINA

Gabrielle and her friend, Amina Lakin, have teased music under the name BELLEAMINA. They revealed that they will be using the names Bambi L'amour and Violet L'amour as their stage names in BELLEAMINA. Bambi and Violet are characters who represent the sound and lyrical style of BELLEAMINA. The music is rumoured to be different from their solo material.

Personal life

Gabrielle identifies as a trans woman, and does not label her sexuality, as she says she does not "think it's important, especially after the labels put on me by society when I started transitioning." Gladu was raised Roman Catholic, but has since stopped practicing the religion. Gladu is inspired by teachings and beliefs of Tibetan Buddhism.

Gladu has gained a large following on social media, and has become close friends with fellow people in the transgender community. Gabrielle has been inspired by friends including Elliot Fletcher, Ella Giselle, Amina Lakin, Julie Vu, among others.