Readers React: Transgender kids can’t wait for adults who need to take their time to accept them

To the editor: A few years ago my once-vibrant child started withdrawing from extracurricular activities. Grades started plummeting, and school absences piled up. There were diagnoses of depression and anxiety; suicidal thoughts became part of his life. (“LGBT divide grows as 11 states sue feds over transgender bathroom rule,” May 25)

My child’s continued suppression of his true gender had reached a precipice, and his fear of “coming out” was spiked with worry about my kicking him out and abandoning him.

A close friend of mine told me we need to educate people regarding transgender issues one at a time. Frankly, as the mother of a transgender child, I cannot wait for society to catch up. This is not about our kids experimenting with a phase.

Despite my inner critic regularly picking apart my physical appearance, my brain has never once told me that my hardware doesn’t match my gender. I cannot begin to imagine what I would do if my brain constantly told me my parts don’t align with my gender.

Back to bathrooms. If a crime is committed in the ladies’ room, the perpetrator is a cisgender (not transgender) man. If an incident occurs in the girls’ locker room, it’s a cisgender boy trying to sneak a peek. A transgender person is in the bathroom to go to the bathroom. That’s it. They’re not miscreants; they are authentic, caring and certainly courageous.

They deserve to be treated with respect — just like everyone else.

Carolyn Rosenberg, Huntington Beach

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