January 18th, 2008 by Stephanie Stevens

The View from (ab)Normal Heights

"Some trans by the numbers, gleaned from the news in the past few days ...
<snip>
#3 - 50 — In a recent poll, the percentage of Bulgarians surveyed who said they would disown a gay child who came out ... the figure was even higher if a child were transgendered.

#4 - 53 — According to another survey, the percentage of American transgender youths surveyed who had attempted to take their own life."

Nasty stats those. I just cannot get how a parent can ever disown a child, for whatever reason. When you commit to having a child, you make a promise to love and support that child no matter what happens, even if that child becomes a murderer. It's your flesh and blood after all, a part of you you carried inside you for almost a year. For somebody who achingly wants to be a mother but never will be, that just destroys me.

Quote from: lady amarant on January 18, 2008, 03:02:23 PM
Nasty stats those. I just cannot get how a parent can ever disown a child, for whatever reason. When you commit to having a child, you make a promise to love and support that child no matter what happens, even if that child becomes a murderer.

It'd be nice, wouldn't it?

Sadly, I think many parents give birth to their *expectations*, and not to a "child." They give birth to a son, daughter, lawyer, cheerleader... whatever label they wanted to be. And when the child doesn't do their duty and be the nice little programmable robot they wanted to live vicariously through again... look out.

Did they really EVER love their child? Or were they just in love with their own projected image of themselves?

~Kate~

Quote from: Kate on January 18, 2008, 03:39:47 PM
Sadly, I think many parents give birth to their *expectations*, and not to a "child." They give birth to a son, daughter, lawyer, cheerleader... whatever label they wanted to be. And when the child doesn't do their duty and be the nice little programmable robot they wanted to live vicariously through again... look out.

Did they really EVER love their child? Or were they just in love with their own projected image of themselves?

I guess you're right. I suppose those of us that do have supportive parents (And I'm not even too sure about mine, truth be told... ) are a very lucky minority.