Thread by @DadTrans

I know a handful of trans adults in their latter years, who were supported at an early age. They are still trans decades later, living their lives, growing old, surviving. One lady in her 70s came to speak to me after meeting our family, including our trans daughter 1/

She told us how happy she was to meet us, & that we were supportive & accepting of our child as trans. Then, fighting back tears, she said, do you know I'm trans too, & I was a trans child. She told us after transition she'd had to move away from home, & had never disclosed 2/

her trans history to anyone outside her immediate family. She said that colleagues she'd worked with for years, & her close friends had no knowledge she was transgender. 3/

Her parents had supported her during childhood but she was told or had learned to hide that aspect of herself. To access medical care she moved across the country. She said she had led a happy life, with a loving partner, and a rewarding career. 4/

She was so happy to see our child was happy, supported & loved, & she saw a future for trans children, where they did not have to hide. Where trans children are accepted & supported. 5/

The Gender Recognition Act 2004 provided a formal (though expensive, & pathologising) process for changing legal gender for trans adults. The Equality Act 2010, gave trans school children legal protections to protect them from discrimination & abuse. 6/

Trans children have always been there, its just that only recently have they had legal rights. They've only recently had formalised access to established international standards of health care, & only recently not been forced to undergo years of stigmatising psychotherapy 7/

The current government might be able to change the laws to remove protections, they might be able to remove supportive policies from schools which protect trans (& LGBT kids) from bullying but they can't mandate trans kids out of existence. 8/

This generation of trans kids will not go back into hiding. They will not suffer another Section 28 or be forced into silence & shame. They are here, they are thriving, they are living. They need all our support to be given a voice, to be heard, #SupportTransKids #TansKidsLiving