IF MY CHILD WAS TRANSGENDER

According to the news, parents of a six-year-old are preparing to sue their sons’ school after a male classmate was allowed to attend school dressed as a girl. The couple intends to homeschool their son stating that "our concerns were raised when our son came back home from school saying he was confused as to why and how a boy was now a girl. We believe it is wrong to encourage very young children to embrace transgenderism, boys are boys and girls are girls". The parents are now being accused of being transphobic and religion and faith have become the main points of conversation because the school happens to be a Church of England school and the parents happen to be Christians.

I'm not gonna go into the whole religion thing because I feel the headlines pointing out the couple's faith are just after "clicks" but I do want to say this:

I don't have a transgender child but I would like to think that if I did and if they told me that they were unhappy, that they wanted to die, that they wish they hadn't been born, or that they felt they are "wrong" - I would do anything in my power to help them feel "right", loved and accepted no matter what.

Why?

Because there are far too many young people out there who are self-harming or worse for this, a perhaps somewhat uncomfortable issue for some people, to step out of the shadows and be talked about, understood and perhaps even accepted. It is no surprise that the teenage suicide rate amongst the transgender community is the highest amongst teenagers and as a parent, it breaks my heart to think about all the young people out there who feel like they can't be who they truly are, so much that they prefer being dead!

The truth is, no one asks for a transgender child. You don't plan your future and say to yourself "OMG, I really wish I have a girl who wants to be a boy". But sometimes things do not work out the way you plan, it's called life. So you take the hand you've been dealt, and it can be a freakin' hard, scary AF hand, but you make the best out of it FOR YOUR CHILD.

As a parents we want our children to be happy, which is why most of us would walk through fire, climb any mountain and go to the end of the world and back for our children and the fact of the matter is that BOTH sets of parents are trying to do what they feel is best for their kids.

It is just so unfortunate that as a society we cannot have a conversation about complicated issues without resorting to name calling and judgment. So I urge people to put themselves in the other person's shoes before passing judgment and before acting in a way that they would not want to be treated.

And finally, I encourage you NOT to leave this page because you disagree with 'an opinion' but rather stay and talk about it.