One story among many
PITT stories help us remember.
I’m grateful that Parents with Inconvenient Truths about Trans (PITT) shared my essay, The Third Path: Supporting My Trans Identified Daughter by Focusing on Connection yesterday. I hope it provides some support to parents navigating the new reality.
I often think about how we live in a new reality; broadly speaking, we’re living through a shocking change that profoundly impacts our children’s health and wellbeing. I imagine being told in 2010 that my daughter would grow up and have the option to be seen as a man… I would think it was a fantasy, a break from the reality of eons of human existence. Yet here I am.
I remind myself that I am not alone. Reading PITT stories can help; so many of us are managing the best we can. I remember PITT was the first place I headed after hearing of my daughter’s new identity; I looked to see how others were handling the same news in their lives. In the weeks after, I sought input from a wide range of sources and views, and I still did not know how to be in this new world.
I think, in part because this is uncharted territory culturally speaking, I felt pressure to do what others were doing, which wasn’t necessarily the most helpful thing for me.
Over time, and with considerable effort, I came to terms with and reframed my experience with my adult daughter’s trans identity in a way that felt authentic to me.
And now I am sharing with the hope that my experience, one among so many, can shine some light for others.