We are born into a world that doesn’t understand us and tries to change us, and when we tell our loved ones that we will be receiving medical treatment that we’re entitled to have and that will improve our lives, we have to deal with more of the same. Even concerned parents who just want the best for us are part of a transphobic world, and when they ask us to reassure them or explain ourselves they place on us a burden that we shouldn’t have to bear.
If you could say anything to them and know that they would accept and love you afterwards, what would you say?
What would you say to other parents who’re asking the same questions as your parents did?
For this zine, I’d like to collect together letters from trans people to their parents, answering all the questions they asked to the best of our ability. How is this different from someone getting cosmetic surgery because they don’t like the shape of their nose? Will this make it easier for you to make friends? How do I deal with the fact that my daughter is now my nonbinary child? And the list goes on.
When it’s finished I’d like it to be something that a trans or nonbinary person can give to their parent. It will ideally be a mixture of emotional writing and useful resource.
Rules: Up to 1,000 words, and tell me the name you’d like to use and your gender - anonymous is fine! Submit to cassian DOT lodge AT gmail DOT com, deadline 1st September 2017.
Output: I’ll make this available as a free PDF download and an A5 paper copy that you can order.
The deadline passed for this but I’ve not started working on it yet, so if you’ve been thinking about taking part there’s still time!
