Please Stop Saying You’re “Worried” About Trans Kids
Let’s talk about what you’re *really* worried about instead
I hear you, fellow parents and countless other adults. You pose this question to me a lot, and for the record, I want it known that I fully agree with you, on at least this one point. So let me say it loud and clear: wearing dresses or playing with dolls should be okay whether you have girl or boy parts. Period. The end.
Unfortunately, our society isn’t quite there yet.
My three kids all defied traditional gender roles and stereotypes to some degree. My oldest, a cishet male (now age 20) played with dolls as a child, and sometimes proudly wore a tutu while doing so. My next oldest, a cishet female (now 19) played with her big brother’s toy guns, and for a long while, she hated wearing anything girly. Even at the age of 2 she’d rip out the hair bows I’d so lovingly placed on her little head, lobbing them to the floor with no mercy.
My third child, my youngest — assigned male at birth (now almost 15) — was something different altogether.
Liking (or not liking) particular gendered toys/clothes/items is not the problem. The problem is with our society, which fails to appreciate the beauty of the gender spectrum, or to recognize the gift of gender diversity…
