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I can’t imagine the freedom some younger transgender youth have when their parents approve of and actually help with their gender transition.
I can use the example of my own grandchild who benefited completely from having the support of both of their parents. (It is the grandchild’s choice to be referred to as they.) Of course how I grew up was totally on the opposite side of the acceptance spectrum. I was expected to be the best boy I could be and if I wasn’t I was always expected to do better. As much as I resented being put through all of that, the process probably set me up for success later in life. When I faced difficult situations, I just kept trying until on occasion I found success.
Finding success as I sought out what to do concerning my increasingly serious gender issues proved to be my greatest win but it did not come easily. I compare it to being on a very slippery gender slope and finding yourself losing control the perceived damage. I was very scared on what could happen if I completed my male to female gender transgender transition. I could lose everything I worked for in my semi-successful male life such as family, friends and finances to name a few of the major ones.
Once the sliding began and I started to slide down the slope, I couldn’t stop. The biggest problem was I didn’t really care because for the first time in my life I felt natural in my own skin. I didn’t have to put up feeling just a little all the way to being completely foreign when I was successful as a man. Nothing seems to have been enough…
