When I was a Ph.D. student in sexology, I had a conversation with a colleague that forever cemented, in my mind, why I needed to speak out against the transitioning of children with gender dysphoria. Nowadays, every left-leaning parent and educator seems content to take a child's word at face value if they say they were born in the wrong body, not realizing that by doing so, an important conversation is being brushed aside.
On the day in question, our research lab had just finished our weekly meeting, and I chatted with my colleague as I packed up my things to head back to my office. He had told me previously about his son, who from the moment he was born, announced that a mistake had been made - "I'm a girl," he would say.
As a little boy, his son loved playing with dolls. He would wear his mother's dresses and high heels, and wanted to grow his hair long like Princess Jasmine from the movie, "Aladdin." At school, he preferred the company of girls to that of boys, who were rambunctious and mean.
After many years of therapy and fighting constantly about the course of action they would take, his son had come out as gay.
I grew up as a straight woman in the gay community, at a time when homophobia was rampant in North American society. I witnessed the harassment and ignorance that my friends faced on a daily basis. Most, as a result, hid their sexual orientation from anyone outside of the community, and few were openly out to their families.
Comment: The dis-ease of being busy