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IngridsLittleAngel

(1,962 posts)
Sun Feb 27, 2022, 12:26 AM Feb 2022

What I Did for My Trans Daughter Is Not 'Child Abuse.' It's Love.

https://jezebel.com/texas-mom-trans-daughter-greg-abbott-child-abuse-direct-1848596848

I’m a mom of a trans girl named Shaheen. She used to be a boy named Shahrick.

When Shahrick was 4, he told me there were no such things as fairy godmothers. He had just seen Cinderella on DVD, and very seriously he said, “I know fairy godmothers aren’t real, because every night I wish upon a star and pray that I will wake up to be a girl, but my wish never comes true.” I thought carefully and then gently replied, “Shahrick, that wish will never come true, but let’s talk about why you want to be a girl.”

....

Of course, this was more than ten years before Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate any reported instances of children undergoing elective gender-transitioning procedures. The directive opines that this gender-affirming care amounts to “child abuse” and seeks to investigate parents helping their child secure it. Governor Abbott also reminded teachers, doctors, and other individuals who interact with children that they are mandatory reporters under the Texas Family Code, so they could face criminal penalties and loss of licensure for not reporting the “abuse.”

----------

Excellent read and not only touches on doing her best to be a good, loving mom to Shaheen, but what it's like living in Texas with a trans daughter while Governor Hot Wheels is going out of his way to harm trans teens.

I wish we had more parents of trans children like Nirmeen Anver. Life would be far easier for our brothers and sisters if they existed.

And, it's truly sad that it's 2022 and we still need to discuss such things like they're shocking. But considering what's going on post-2020 with the QOP, with them getting meaner and louder, we have no choice but to push back even harder.

And just to warn anyone planning to go through the comments: A couple toxic comments in the "greys" there, though, sadly. All too common anymore, and something G/O Media needs to be more mindful of, especially when posting such touching and sensitive pieces as this.
19 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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What I Did for My Trans Daughter Is Not 'Child Abuse.' It's Love. (Original Post) IngridsLittleAngel Feb 2022 OP
Fuck Abbott vercetti2021 Feb 2022 #1
I'll second that.. Fuck Abbott... IngridsLittleAngel Feb 2022 #2
You're bein WAY too kind!! InAbLuEsTaTe Feb 2022 #12
Anything else would prompt an FBI visit vercetti2021 Feb 2022 #13
That is what every mother should strive to be... Enter stage left Feb 2022 #3
I agree.. IngridsLittleAngel Feb 2022 #4
The right wing is just way too obsessed with other people's private matters unblock Feb 2022 #5
I think republicans I_UndergroundPanther Feb 2022 #6
They are... IngridsLittleAngel Feb 2022 #8
They want us dead vercetti2021 Feb 2022 #10
They do IngridsLittleAngel Feb 2022 #11
Well keep it coming vercetti2021 Feb 2022 #14
Very good point you brought up... IngridsLittleAngel Feb 2022 #15
My mom was 86 I_UndergroundPanther Feb 2022 #7
Your mom sounds amazing IngridsLittleAngel Feb 2022 #9
GQP marches under the banner of "freedom!" lambchopp59 Feb 2022 #16
QOP "freedom" is "Freedom for me, not for thee!" IngridsLittleAngel Feb 2022 #17
the whine and complain about govt interferance in ppls lives , here ya go AllaN01Bear Feb 2022 #18
QOP hypocracy on blatant and loud display... IngridsLittleAngel Feb 2022 #19

vercetti2021

(10,156 posts)
1. Fuck Abbott
Sun Feb 27, 2022, 12:28 AM
Feb 2022

Wish he'd fall down a flight of stairs and free us Texans from his bullshit. Fucking evil fascist motherfucker

 

IngridsLittleAngel

(1,962 posts)
2. I'll second that.. Fuck Abbott...
Sun Feb 27, 2022, 12:32 AM
Feb 2022

He is indeed a fascist. He's going out of his way to harm or kill trans kids. And at this point, I want him to wind up under another falling oak tree.

 

IngridsLittleAngel

(1,962 posts)
4. I agree..
Sun Feb 27, 2022, 12:38 AM
Feb 2022

We shouldn't need to spotlight moms like her, because, this should be every mom - especially the mom of a trans child. But this is the world we live in, and too many mothers are so wrong about it. Denying who their child is. Or worse, disowning them.

So, bless Nirmeen. Thank goodness Shaheen has her love and support. And may her courage, strength and love be an example to other moms.

unblock

(52,288 posts)
5. The right wing is just way too obsessed with other people's private matters
Sun Feb 27, 2022, 12:56 AM
Feb 2022

particularly when it comes to gender and sexuality.

They really straight up do not believe in liberty and freedom. If they did they'd say well I may not understand it, that's not for me, but people should be free to line their lives as they see fit.

Instead they think government should force people to be something they aren't, even if it has zero impact on others. Literally the only "upside" of all this anti-lgbtq legislation is that the bigots can... well seriously, I don't know what they get out of it. I guess they can't wrap their heads around it so they want it punished, which anyway accomplishes nothing good, not even for them.

When mini-unblock told us she was actually a girl, we basically said thanks for letting us know, but this changes nothing. You're still the same wonderful kid, we love you same as always, and you still have to do your homework.

99% of everyone's interaction with other people has nothing whatsoever to do with gender or sexual matters, yet these people can't put it out if their minds.

 

IngridsLittleAngel

(1,962 posts)
8. They are...
Sun Feb 27, 2022, 01:22 AM
Feb 2022

I mean, all of this starts with their utter hatred of "the others" in all forms. But there seems to be special hatred for LGBTQ's, and even more for the trans community... Partially because Republicans can't get their minds out of the gutters, or quit thinking about what's going on in people's private lives.

I've said before there are reasons why I can't even talk to Republicans anymore. Part of it is I can't handle their Kool-Aid drinking. "The GOP stands for freedom and small government!" Sure they do - if you're not an LGBTQ. Suddenly, they stand for huge government and have plenty to say about what we do in our bedrooms, how we choose to present ourselves and live our lives, you name it.

You're right. How we live our lives do not affect others. But their bigotry and bullying and thirst for control harm us. They know it, too. The cruelty is the point. One day, what they'll realize is we're the strong ones, and it's been them that's been weak all along.

Bless you, though, for being a loving parent to mini-unblock and still loving and accepting her when she came out. I wish more trans kids had amazing parents like you.

vercetti2021

(10,156 posts)
10. They want us dead
Sun Feb 27, 2022, 01:45 AM
Feb 2022

End of story. All these bills targeting LGBTQ kids now. Just another way for them to be bullied, harassed and physically assaulted. Essentially the GQP wants to drive LGBTQ youth to suicide. Call it holy cleansing to them or whatever but that's the goal.

They figure get them young since they can't get them as adults.

Fuck the GQP fascists. They'll have a hall of a fight to force us back into the closet. I'll fuck some people up if they try it on me.

And bless yall for your mini you! I was the same. I was a girl all this time

 

IngridsLittleAngel

(1,962 posts)
11. They do
Sun Feb 27, 2022, 02:07 AM
Feb 2022

The evil ones, like Hot Wheels and DeathSentence, want us killed - either by our own hands, or one of their zombies doing the dirty work for them. I've believed that for a very long time, and been told I'm crazy for believing that. Well, they don't hide it anymore. It's right here and in our faces, and, turns out I wasn't crazy after all (at least over this).

The so-called "good ones" are just fine with them doing so, so long as we stay out of their way and let them get what they want. They don't "hate" us, they just don't care what happens to us as long as they get what they want. Which means... They're no better than the evil ones. They're no friends. Bad people do bad things because "good" people let them.

And sure enough, they figure it's easier to harm the trans community when they're young, which is why we're now seeing open warfare on the trans youth of this country, with Florarabia and Texbekistan trying to out-do each other every day to see who can be the most evil.

Well, they've left us no choice but to push back at this point.

vercetti2021

(10,156 posts)
14. Well keep it coming
Sun Feb 27, 2022, 04:20 PM
Feb 2022

The more anger and push back you'll get. They think they are the majority. When they are the minority. The LGBTQ population isn't 1 or 2 percent. It's at least 15% of the population. You kidding? Its huge...people don't wanna stay in that closet ever.

 

IngridsLittleAngel

(1,962 posts)
15. Very good point you brought up...
Sun Feb 27, 2022, 05:14 PM
Feb 2022

These goons (or the spineless enablers who don't care what happens to us as long as they get ours) like to call us a "wedge issue" or a "very small percentage&quot and throw around numbers like "1%" or "3%". What they fail to get is we're not something that can easier be verified by birth records. There isn't something on our ID or birth certificate that just comes out and screams LGBTQ. Or, in other words: They're just basing their minute percentages upon the number of people who have come out, or been outed. There are a lot more in the closet than they think, and obviously, the number is far higher than what they think.

Eventually, some of them are going to come roaring out of the closet - feeling they need to push back, feeling there is nothing to lose by coming out, or just being tired of hiding. A lot of people will be surprised when that "1 or 2%" gets left in the dust and it winds up closer to 10%.

I_UndergroundPanther

(12,480 posts)
7. My mom was 86
Sun Feb 27, 2022, 01:15 AM
Feb 2022

But she caught me one day tied up trying to put a sports bra on,wore them very tight to minimize the chest, crying,she saw all the bruises on my chest.

She paid for me to get them removed.

I was so thankful once she helped me get untangled I hugged her tight cried even more and thanked her over and over.

She saved my life. I felt such relief with them gone after suffering them for 45 years. Now I feel like I dont hate by body 24 -7.

Its not abuse.
Its lifesaving. Literally.

 

IngridsLittleAngel

(1,962 posts)
9. Your mom sounds amazing
Sun Feb 27, 2022, 01:33 AM
Feb 2022

I'm so glad as well that she was there for you, helped you, and was so supportive. You're so right. The love and support of a wonderful parent makes all the difference in the world. And their help, their aid in our transitioning, is live-saving.. It's not abuse. It's the total opposite of abuse.

I lost my mom shortly after I turned 13. She was shy of turning 38. I think she knew deep-down inside about me, but, we knew so much less about being trans in the 80's than we do now, and it wasn't so openly discussed. I do think were she still here she would've been my biggest source of support and would be doing all she could to help me with transitioning. I absolutely know she would've been loving and accepting. But, sadly, she's been gone for a long time. And most of what is left of my family... Not supportive. At all. I no longer have relationships with any of them and doubt I will live long enough to see that change.

Thank goodness for moms like ours. I wish there more in this world. Because, yes.. Their love and aid saves lives.

lambchopp59

(2,809 posts)
16. GQP marches under the banner of "freedom!"
Sun Feb 27, 2022, 09:50 PM
Feb 2022

Then starts down their list of groups to curtail all freedoms from.
I wish I had the resources to save LGBT youth from sleeping under freeway bridges like I did to spare my own life in 1976.
I wouldn't be here to tell of that had it not been for kindness of strangers that wasn't completely spoiled by the proliferation of homelessness has overwhelmed everywhere now.
Yet part of the PTSD includes the only night I ever seriously considered suicide, hanging myself from that bridge railing in the morning after I arrived in the city from a long hitchhike.
It was Christofascist fuckheads like Abbot who had convinced me I didn't deserve my life. That I was "filthy"beyond forgiveness by the sky spooks. What chance did I have of survival? I saw no way forward... until dawn broke... and a small dog found my hiding place.
I wandered, I met a friend, and that night had a bed to sleep in.
These things don't happen these days, everyone all afraid of each other.

 

IngridsLittleAngel

(1,962 posts)
17. QOP "freedom" is "Freedom for me, not for thee!"
Mon Feb 28, 2022, 03:04 AM
Feb 2022

The only people they care about are white cishet males. No one else need apply. They hate us all - the only thing that's a matter of debate is who they hate the most.

Thank goodness for those strangers, thank goodness you're still here. Going through that is tough. Like you, like many LGBTQ's, I too have PTSD... Not for being part of the rainbow, but being abused by such Christofascists. Some have titles like Abbott... Some are just ordinary people who claimed to be my "friends", then wanted to see how much they could hurt me.

Such strangers are hard to find, but, they're out there. They not only help to keep us going, but, prove not everyone is evil. I just wish we had far more of them in this world, and far fewer fascists like Governor Hot Wheels.

AllaN01Bear

(18,336 posts)
18. the whine and complain about govt interferance in ppls lives , here ya go
Mon Feb 28, 2022, 04:42 PM
Feb 2022

from abortion to this . keep out abbot

 

IngridsLittleAngel

(1,962 posts)
19. QOP hypocracy on blatant and loud display...
Mon Feb 28, 2022, 04:55 PM
Feb 2022

"I'm a Republican! They don't believe in interfering in my life! No masks! No vaccines! FREEDOM!" - every Republican-voting white cishet male

But when a woman wants an abortion, or, a child like Shaheen comes out and wishes to transition.. "We need to regulate and control that! They can't make that decision! They don't know enough to make that decision! We need to make it for them!"

Rights for me, not for thee. Freedom for me, not for thee. The Republiqan fascist lullaby.

Fuck Abbott.

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