Erica told BuzzFeed News that Corey was always feminine, even from the time she was very young. "She loved to dress in high heels and dresses. In public she wore boy clothes — I just assumed she might be gay."

When Corey was in the fifth grade she was bullied so badly her mother made the decision to pull her out of public school and begin homeschooling. It wasn't until Corey was 11 years old that the mother-daughter duo came across a video of transgender YouTuber Jazz Jennings and everything suddenly clicked. "She said, 'Mom, I'm just like her, I AM a girl.'"