Kae Nielson

Community Spotlight

Recorded on June 16, 2025 by Eros Preston.

EP: All right. Hello. Go ahead and introduce yourself to the world.

KN: Hi, I'm Kae Nielson. I use they/them pronouns. I'm 20.

EP: Congratulations.

KN: Oh, thanks.

EP: What's your connection to the queer community?

KN: I identify as nonbinary and queer, as a loose sense.

EP: Yeah, it's a good umbrella label. Are you comfortable telling us when you realized you were queer?

KN: Sure. Yeah. I had a bit of a backwards journey. I actually started in, well, in sophomore year, I kind of realized that I was not cis[gender]. I started with demi-girl and decided it didn't really quite fit. So then I decided I was nonbinary. And then after that I kind of went, oh, wait a second. I also like women. That was around the same time.

But, you know, there are things that I'm looking back, like, I should have known. I totally had a crush on a girl in sixth grade because I was thinking about kissing her.

EP: I mean, that would do it.

KN: And I was like, yeah, that's totally something normal.

EP: Yeah, straight girls do that.

KN: Yeah. Yep.

EP: What about how you're connected to the Zionsville community?

KN: Yeah. So my family moved here in 2013. We’ve lived here for 12 years. I basically grew up here—like, we moved here when I was eight, so all of my formative years happened here. I go to college, but my family, my parents, still live here, so I'm frequently around.

EP: Yeah. What was it like growing up in Zionsville as a queer person?

KN: I have two answers. First of all is I think I got lucky with the people that I was friends with. Like, I was friends with people who were chill with queer people or queer themselves. But also, I get the sense that we're not as progressive as some people want us to believe.

EP: Yeah.

KN: Especially in high school, I could just see some lingering prejudices. But I think it was a nice place to grow up. And I met a lot of really cool people, like you, who helped me accept my queer identity. And figure that out.

EP: Good!

So, we know you grew up in Zionsville. You're going to college. What are you studying in college? What else do you do outside of that?

KN: I go to college at Purdue University. I'm studying Natural Resources and Environmental Science, with a concentration in Environmental Quality and Restoration and a minor in Plant Biology. You can choose to leave that all, or you can cut that down.

EP: I'll leave it all in. I'll expose you as a huge nerd.

KN: I am a huge nerd.

EP: It's okay, me too.

KN: I also swim periodically. I work at the aquatic center right now. I have an internship at Newfields working in their parks department—doing invasive removal, native plant restoration, picking up trash. The works, the works.

EP: Yeah.

KN: I read, I play piano, and I hang out with my mom.

EP: Real. Moms are pretty cool.

KN: My mom is pretty cool.

EP: Yeah. That's pretty much all the questions I had for you, unless you wanted to tell us anything else.

KN: I do actually have something. I just want to say that going to Indy Pride with you the very first time was a very eye-opening experience and a very validating… just seeing so many people being out and open with their identity and being proud of it, and seeing all of the support as well, because not everyone there is queer. There's a lot of allies there as well. Seeing that support, it just kind of helped me realize that, you know, it’s all right.

Like, you see it online. You see lots of queer creators online and in media. It was really important to me that I take my two roommates, who had not been to a Pride event before—I wanted to take them there as well, because it's just such a great experience to be able to come together and to celebrate your identity.

EP: Mhm.

KN: So I think what you guys are doing is really awesome.

EP: Thank you.

KN: Because that's not something that you get in a place like Zionsville. It's not like Indianapolis. Of course you're going to have stuff like that because it's a big city, but like, you don't really know who your allies are here unless you join GSA [Gay-Straight Alliance].

Also, I'm going to talk about this now because… being on a college campus, the LGBTQ center is very important to me. Because it's a place that I feel safe, that I can go. And they just got rid of our office, and I'm scared. I hope it sticks around, because I know I'm not the only person that feels that way about it. So I really hope that the LGBTQ center can stick it out.

EP: Yeah.

KN: Because it's such a great resource. And they put on so many events, too. There's also the Black Cultural Center, the Asian American Cultural Center, there’s the Jewish Center, I think, and there’s a Native American one. Important places, right, that we would like to keep open. So I worry.

EP: Yeah.

KN: But I hope that these places stick it out because they’re such a hot spot of very important culture, and I know they mean a lot to a lot of people on campus.

EP: Yeah.

KN: I think that was it.

EP: Thank you for doing the interview with me. Do you have any great life lessons or a final message to share with the world?

KN: Um, don’t do drugs.

EP: That’s a good one.

KN: And ♪ be who you are for your pride ♪

EP: So true.

KN: Leave that in.

EP: I will. I'm not sure how I'll get the singing part in it, because it’s going to be a written transcript, but I’ll maybe do, like, musical notes.

KN: Perfect.

EP: That’s all.

KN: Perfect. Thank you

*Parts of this interview have been edited for length or clarity.