Video version of one of my most popular articles published with An Injustice
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So. Partly based on this thread. I bought myself a trans flag pin to wear on my suit jacket.
Wore it today at two large corporate events.
Was feeling pretty worried about it. Especially the second, since I was repping my company and trying to sell/market.
But.
Literally no one noticed or cared. Lol
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If there were any people there who are trans they likely noticed and definitely cared.
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This!!!
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Long overdue update. As predicted in the OP, my son did eventually have top surgery and began identifying as male. It has been a pretty crazy road with lots of twists and turns, as you can imagine. Some things easier than others. But most important by far is that I’ve had the privilege of seeing him become a person who is comfortable in his own skin (as much as an 18 year old can be, I think).
He started college a month ago and has been getting settled, making friends. And in “life comes at you fast” territory, yesterday he accepted a bid from a fraternity. He’s not 100% sure he’ll end up joining, but is interested enough to become a pledge and see what it’s like. There has been no straightforward gender discussion with the guys in the house, but my son would not be the only transgender member, and there are other brothers in the LGBTQ community.
When I am in fear about him out there in the world, the message I always end up getting back from the universe is “love your kid, support your kid, he’s stronger than you know”.
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This is pretty much it. The real world exists and we can’t protect them from it forever, nor should we want to. The most rewarding times in my life came from the scariest, nerve racking beginnings. I would never venture to take those experiences away from my kids. Wish them luck, give them the tools they need, and be open to always being there to support them, and they will likely do just fine.
As much as I hate how much hate there is in the world, I have to acknowledge that the opportunities for queer kids to be involved in accepting communities become greater and greater as the years go along. A Frat being open to transgender members would likely have been unheard of even a decade ago. Changes and acceptance are happening, despite the major backlashes. Those huge backlashes of civil rights seekers are always strongest before the death of the anti civil rights movement. Growing pains suck but on this front, the queer groups will persevere and succeed.
Grats to your son. Hopefully his college years are awesome.
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Tears of joy and pride 
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So my younger son is a freshman in high school and has a very “typical” P.E. teacher. In the past my son has told me about the teacher calling kids fat and using the r-word. Yesterday he apparently was grouping the kids by gender for a run and said “Because we all know there are only two genders and you’re one or the other, right?”
I do a fair amount of work to stay out of conflict with the world and the other people in it. I have to let go of judgement and find acceptance for everybody and everything. I have a super big mouth and ego, so just keeping my mouth shut most of the time is a pretty good approach for me. But I can’t stop thinking about all the kids this jackass says that stuff to, and the kids that are already confused and scared and how it must hit them. And I don’t think I can let it go.
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I think this is a perfectly fine instance of bringing up your concerns with the school counselor or principal. A man is allowed to have his own thoughts and feelings, yes, but he is there to teach, and this steps up to and crosses the line between teaching physical education and editorialising his political feelings towards a group of children.
You aren’t Karening in this case to make your concerns known to the school and, if you are active in any type of parenting group (PTA, etc) to make the concerns known there as well.
I know that part of LA can be hit or miss when it comes to what we would consider standard california political leanings, but I would be quite surprised if your son is the only one who has complained to their parents about this guy. There is strength in numbers. Look out for those who also may have the same concerns as you about the teacher and approach the powers that be as a group.
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Thanks and I agree. We just worked our asses off to keep the anti-trans dude off the schoolboard (and in another area the same effort appears to have failed and our schoolboard will now have one vocal anti-trans member), but the fact that it took work says a lot. And I agree, he’s totally free to think whatever he wants and keep that to himself.
I mean, for all I know the guy is trying to get fired so he can get featured on Fox News. I might be helping him!
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Sorry to hear you’re facing this.
Hopefully he gets a “please proceed” kind of moment.
On one hand, I get how the person being critiqued feels when being called “sir,” but the rest is fair criticism from Kat. I’ve gotten questions from teens on how to handle being misgendered. It’s hard not to want to respond in kind, even when it’s an honest accident.
The bit about questioning whether Kurt Cobain was trans tho is kind of disrespectful imo so am in agreement with Kat there.
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I assume you’ve read The Left Hand of Darkness. Do you think that was a good representation of being trans or the trans experience. It’s kinda backwards I guess, since everybody is gender fluid in the alien world and the cis guy is the outsider trying to understand it all.
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Never heard of it. Worth checking out? Sounds a little like the Star Trek TNG episode where Riker fell for an alien whose people insist on being non binary, but the person he fell for was a woman.