Thread by @CKnightWrites

I have a trans kid. At 5yo, he told us his correct pronouns and gender. Transition at that point was communicating that to everyone so he wasnt misgendered.

At 6, transition was a haircut and letting him go shopping.

That's all the transitioning any young child is doing. 🧵

Now he's ten. We've educated him on puberty and what will happen to his body. He wants his voice to drop and a chance to have a beard; he does not want breasts, and he doesn't want to menstruate. We're going to get him on puberty blockers soon.

We aren't going to force him to deal with dysphoria when there is a safe, reversible way to avoid it. There is no surgery; no doctor would do it, and we don't want it. The blockers will allow him to develop safely and happily, and that's all any transition is supposed to do.

Anyone who tells you kids are being forced into surgeries knows they're lying. Anyone who tells you trans kids don't know what they want is either lying or has never met a trans kid.

They claim to want to let these kids grow up and decide who they are. That's what we're doing.

Children are people. They know who they are. And even if who they are changes in fundamental ways as they grow, no one is preventing that. The reverse is true—we'd be forcing him to develop in a certain way if we didn't do puberty blockers. This way, his body is his to control.

His genitals are as irrelevant right now as they have been since the day he was born. The obsession that his genitalia should determine how his body develops and how he's supposed to feel about it is just ridiculous. It has no more relevance to his person than his brown eyes.

We've let him know that he has full bodily autonomy and that we respect it. We've taught him that no matter who he is today or tomorrow, we love him and will support him. We've raised a happy, healthy boy, and so long as hate doesn't get in the way, he'll stay happy and healthy.

This is the truth to raising transgender kids that the transphobic, hateful, dangerous "gender criticals" don't want you to see. They want to strip children of choice with their own bodies, and they want to create trauma. We have to stop them. #ProtectTransKids

Fair warning: giving children choice and bodily autonomy is an incredibly personal and meaningful thing to me, more as a CSA survivor than as a trans person myself. I will probably mute this thread early, esp. if hateful crowds find it. If you respond to them, untag me please.

Also, please remember to use TWs if you share stories of trans trauma in comments or QRTs. Thank you!

Wow, this blew up. It's especially cool to see other parents of trans kids sharing their love for their kids. 💜

I wish I didn't have a link to share, but if you like our story, you can help me gain some freedom to enjoy the world with my kid:

gofund.me/b86fa361

Update:

https://twitter.com/CKnightWrites/status/1627102496119492608?s=20