I am a parent, special education teacher of trans/non-binary students, and Christian Educator and Deacon in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) and this is far more than a parent's right to know and choose what is best for their children. Children are not going to change who they are, but instead they will hide, and they will die due to the stress and anxiety of not being their true selves. My daughter (assigned male at birth) is fourteen years old and diagnosed as high-functioning autistic. She is brilliant and the school system never gave her a second thought as she has always passed everything and just didn't fit in with her neurotypical peers because she was so far advanced. The stresses became more apparent as she got older. We went on more medicines to help her fit in, and then in April 2022 she came out to me as transgender. I work in education and unlike many of my family members, am familiar with children's developmental psychology due to my graduate studies.
So many of the walls that have been built through the years have came down as my daughter has been able to live her true identity. Sadly, so many of our youth do not have families that have been educated in psychology or are open enough to learn a new way of thinking, and even if they are, the students might be scared of reaching out to the adults in their lives not realizing how accepting can become. This stress leads to suicidal ideation and unhealthy spirals of dangerous behaviors. I would much rather have a transgender/non-binary child that is alive, than a child that never felt the ability to explore their identity with people they trust that is dead.
I am writing for my students and my children's peers that do not have advocates or do not know they have advocates. Perhaps a 15 year-old doesn't know what is right for them at the time, but we need to give them the advantage of knowing that we trust them. If a small child says someone touches them inappropriately we are not going to question that, but if a teen says they identify as a gender that differs from the biological sex they were assigned at birth, we feel the need to say they do not know what they are talking about?
We have came so far, and do not need to go backwards in a crisis of mental health affecting our young people.