12 Ways Parents Can Show Support for Their Nonbinary Kids
As told by a nonbinary kid.
As a young nonbinary adult who’s been out of the closet for more than a year, I’m comfortable with who I am, and my mom is as well. I came out slowly over time, first mentioning that I was considering changing my name and then suggesting that I was starting to use they/them pronouns alongside she/hers at school.
When I finally officially came out to my mom over the 2019–20 winter break, she had questions, but she didn’t boot me out of the house — which is a low bar, I’ll admit. She wanted to understand what being nonbinary was, why I wanted top surgery if I wasn’t a trans man, how going on T would affect my personality, how changing my name would change her understanding of the person she raised, and why I wasn’t comfortable being a sometimes masculine-presenting girl.
Now that my mom and I have each had months of conversations, heart-to-hearts, individual therapy, and support group sessions, I feel prepared to provide advice to parents of newly out nonbinary youth and young adults.
Thank you for taking the time to do this work. If you’re here reading this, I can tell you that you’re already on the right track.
Without further ado…
