This unfortunately brings up a few (unwanted) memories, some a bit weirder than you would expect.
Before coming out to my mother she told me that fortunately I had turned out to be normal - after just having spent 10 minutes explaining to me that gender was a spectrum! At that time she was 80+.
When I finally came out to her (when she was 87) she told me that she knew that (s)he was trans masculine - which I had deducted many years before (I caught her having a dysphoric breakdown) - but had chosen to just stay solidly closeted. When asked why she hadn’t reacted to the times I had been caught showing my feminine side, she said that she had assumed it was an autism/intelligence thing. The few times I did get caught she left the room, and my father “handled” the “problem”.
The current Olympic transvestigation nonsense brings up further memories, as my mother was based on her unique physique an elite sportswoman: better endurance and strength than her competitors, superhealing, etc. Fortunately for her in the 1950/1960s elite performances for women were fully accepted.
Many years ago my family had a sports team solely consisting of close family members, with a mixed gender sub-discipline where she played the male role and I the female role - so a lot of knowledge was not exchanged, creating a very weird atmosphere in the family.
Yes - and think they are convinced they are doing the right thing, and that it is ultimately a good thing. It is as tragic and heartbreaking as it is unnecessary and unwarranted.
I also read the story and some of the comments. I sense a pattern of religious hooey, abhorrence of science and while I didn’t see any climate hoax rhetoric, I’ll bet it’s part of the same ignorance. I agree with Robin that their “unconditional love” has a heavy price of admission.
I read the link you provided, and I even cruised through the comments. There are so many families there who are clearly desperate to keep their child from being who they are at any cost. Is what we are so horrid? Is our happiness worthless? Parents say they will love us "no matter what," and yet it's clearly not true. I can envision so many of their children just waiting to grow up and move out and cut ties forever.
No, we are not so horrid. This is a problem they have that comes from deep within themselves. I have learned the hard way that a parent's love is not always unconditional, and you are correct - many of their kids just bide their time until they are grown and are financially independent so that they can transition on their own. These are the same parents who will cry how traumatized they are because their kids end up going "no contact" and wonder why their kid would do this to them.
![People with Inconvenient Truths about Transphobes [PITT]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_80,h_80,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F704ba0db-3e10-4112-9364-c2f224d0cfae_500x500.png)
![People with Inconvenient Truths about Transphobes [PITT]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_36,h_36,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F704ba0db-3e10-4112-9364-c2f224d0cfae_500x500.png)
This unfortunately brings up a few (unwanted) memories, some a bit weirder than you would expect.
Before coming out to my mother she told me that fortunately I had turned out to be normal - after just having spent 10 minutes explaining to me that gender was a spectrum! At that time she was 80+.
When I finally came out to her (when she was 87) she told me that she knew that (s)he was trans masculine - which I had deducted many years before (I caught her having a dysphoric breakdown) - but had chosen to just stay solidly closeted. When asked why she hadn’t reacted to the times I had been caught showing my feminine side, she said that she had assumed it was an autism/intelligence thing. The few times I did get caught she left the room, and my father “handled” the “problem”.
The current Olympic transvestigation nonsense brings up further memories, as my mother was based on her unique physique an elite sportswoman: better endurance and strength than her competitors, superhealing, etc. Fortunately for her in the 1950/1960s elite performances for women were fully accepted.
Many years ago my family had a sports team solely consisting of close family members, with a mixed gender sub-discipline where she played the male role and I the female role - so a lot of knowledge was not exchanged, creating a very weird atmosphere in the family.
It breaks my heart to know that real parents are doing exactly this to their children.
Yes - and think they are convinced they are doing the right thing, and that it is ultimately a good thing. It is as tragic and heartbreaking as it is unnecessary and unwarranted.
I also read the story and some of the comments. I sense a pattern of religious hooey, abhorrence of science and while I didn’t see any climate hoax rhetoric, I’ll bet it’s part of the same ignorance. I agree with Robin that their “unconditional love” has a heavy price of admission.
I read the link you provided, and I even cruised through the comments. There are so many families there who are clearly desperate to keep their child from being who they are at any cost. Is what we are so horrid? Is our happiness worthless? Parents say they will love us "no matter what," and yet it's clearly not true. I can envision so many of their children just waiting to grow up and move out and cut ties forever.
No, we are not so horrid. This is a problem they have that comes from deep within themselves. I have learned the hard way that a parent's love is not always unconditional, and you are correct - many of their kids just bide their time until they are grown and are financially independent so that they can transition on their own. These are the same parents who will cry how traumatized they are because their kids end up going "no contact" and wonder why their kid would do this to them.
Truly it boggles the mind.