Dd is 15, and knows that we have opposite opinions on trans issues. She saw my FPFW pack (which I had deliberately left open on the kitchen table) and asked me about it.
She listened carefully to what I had to say, asked questions, tried to present her viewpoint. I lost her when I explained that I don't think that I should have to lie because someone else wants to be different.
But during the conversation dd cried. Not sobbing, just a red face and wet eyes. And my heart broke for her. The rational part of her keeps getting glimpses of the Emperor's bare skin, but the female-socialised, compassionate, SM-influenced teenager can't cope with the contradictions. She has autistic traits, and once she believes something finds it very difficult to change her belief. Plus she's GNC and sees that as something she has in common with transpeople, rather than having her femaleness in common with women.
And my heart broke for her. She's trying to be a good, kind person. She's swallowed all the "you can be anything you want" and the "we should be inclusive of people who are different ", and now we telling her that that's wrong. And she cannot conceive of a world where she has no rights, and has no idea of what she stands to lose.
