Texas Lawmakers Try to Criminalize Parents of Trans Kids
Trans girl, 10, schools senators on love and God
The 10-year-old girl looked Texas sassy in a flowered skirt and cowboy boots. Her voice was as even and confident as her message. “I do not like spending my free time asking adults to make good choices,” testified Kai Shappley to the Texas Senate last Monday. The chamber went dead silent as she schooled lawmakers on treating people with love and decency. Her message was simple but profound:
Texas legislators have been attacking me since Pre-K. I am in fourth grade now. It makes me sad that some politicians would use trans kids like me to get votes from people who hate just because I exist. God made me. God loves me for who I am, and God does not make mistakes. I want to say thank you to those of you who are sticking up for kids like me. By the time I’m in college, you will be celebrated in the history books.
After Kai finished testifying, murmurs rose in the Senate chamber. Coughs rang out, and politicians could be seen whispering to staffers. Nobody seemed quite sure how to respond to the simple message just delivered by a clear-voiced child.
Leave us alone. Leave us out of your politics. Leave us out of your religious condemnation.
