Connor Deir

My Story

I’ve always believed that finding your voice is the first step to creating change. As a gay teenager growing up in North Carolina, that journey wasn’t always easy. I spent years quieting parts of myself to fit in—until I joined the Speech and Debate team at Providence High School. Speech and Debate didn't just teach me how to speak in support of arguments or legislation, but how to speak up for myself. I practiced speech after speech in my debate coach's classroom after school, learning how to stand a little taller, speak a little louder, and believe in myself.

The self-confidence I developed carried me through my coming out experience, through college, and to a new chapter—working on Capitol Hill for Congresswoman Valerie Foushee. As I prepare to start my new job, I’m eager to turn my passion into tangible change by seeing how advocacy translates into policy. I’m committed to using my lived experience and my background in advocacy to help shape policies that protect and uplift our most vulnerable communities. I know what it feels like to be unheard, and, with dedicated advocacy, no young person should ever have to feel that way.