Parenting Trans Kids
The Blindness of Parents Hurts Queer Kids
Far too often, when a young person comes out, they get rebuffed, challenged and refuted
I recently posted this slide on my Instagram feed.
It was in response to a parent, who was disbelieving their child on the basis that “there had been no signs.”
I’m familiar with this scenario. I’ve lived it.
Most often, in these scenarios, the environment around the child is so glaringly transphobic (or queerphobic generally, and transphobic by extension) that the child knows better than to raise a hand.
And also, the parents are so obsessively cis-hetero-normative that they wouldn’t for a second entertain that their child might be queer or trans. And thus, plain-as-day gender-non-conforming behavior, clothing choices, social circles, and even direct communication all get dismissed.
“That’s nothing,” — say the parents. “Johnny is just being silly, that’s all.”
“That’s nothing,” — say the parents. “Johnny is just being silly, that’s all.”
