Daniel’s Paper Dolls Use They/Them Pronouns
To Keep Everybody Safe, part 4
Author’s note: As a proud Q+ ally and mom, more than one child in my parenting village self-identifies as LGBTQIA+. This story was inspired by conversations I’ve had about gender identity, gender-creative presentation, and being transwonderful with Q+ children and the important grown-ups in their lives.
After school, Grandma asks Daniel what happened to his nail polish.
Daniel scratches his head. “Mom did a compromise. Dad doesn’t want people at school to think I’m a girl. Dad only wants to protect me.”
“Hm,” says Grandma.
“I, um, don’t know what’s wrong with being a girl.”
Grandma slows down and stops walking. Daniel stops, too.
Grandma turns to Daniel and places her hands gently on his shoulders. “There is nothing wrong with being a girl, just like there is nothing wrong with being a boy or being one of the many more genders in the world. Some people think everyone is either a girl or a boy, but this isn’t true. There are many genders. I also just learned that some people don’t have a gender and some people have more than one gender.”
Daniel asks, “What does that word mean?”
