Amid unprecedented trans visibility and just days after former Olympic champion, Bruce Jenner went on National television and came out as transgender, I was asked to join the team at PIX Channel 11 to tell my story as a trans-mom, and the mother of a trans-boy, Penel.
When my child told me at two years old, “Mom, everyone thinks I’m a girl and I’m not. I’m a boy. I don’t feel like a boy, I am a boy, mama.”
I had to stop and listen, do the research, expand my understanding, and ultimately lead with my heart. Transgender people are a healthy, normal and important part of our human condition. And to not see them as such is to deny their civil rights as human beings. It’s that basic. My son is a transboy, I’m a trans-mom and my life is better now that I understand the spectrum of identity.