Keywords:
identity, privilege, advocacy
identity, privilege, advocacy
*When Tara contacted Dawn to ask her if she approved of the way Tara used her words in a chapter in Tara’s book, Teaching Gender and Sexuality at School, out in early 2019, Dawn gave Tara an update of how her family was doing. Since her interview in November 2016, Dawn has gained full custody of her children. Her daughters have switched schools, and the new school accepts her younger daughter as trans. Dawn says it was a non-issue for the school. Dawn’s younger daughter uses her chosen name and the girls' washroom at school. None of the other children know she’s trans. Overall, Dawn says, school is a much safer place now for both her daughters.
Transcript
Dawn: I do think that children deserve to have their voices heard, regardless of how they identify or like any people have the right to define themselves in their own way. And it shouldn’t be system of people that get to control somebody’s identity, especially if the systems of people are made up of people with privilege and the other person in question is somebody who is potentially marginalized. So I guess I get frustrated because I see all of it on a much bigger level of oppression in our society, and I don’t really see any of this that’s happening as just about my child, or about me, it’s just about our society as a whole doesn’t do a good job of supporting kids and also supporting women and supporting trans folks and supporting people of colour and indigenous people and people with disabilities. We have a society that is created on privilege that just maintains itself, doesn’t always question “Is this in the best interest of all the people who live here, or just certain people?” So that’s why I see the advocacy piece as being important.
Tara: Key.
Dawn: Because I don’t want to have gone through all of this, like to get custody of my kid so my kid can be happy and then just forget about it.
Transcript
Dawn: I do think that children deserve to have their voices heard, regardless of how they identify or like any people have the right to define themselves in their own way. And it shouldn’t be system of people that get to control somebody’s identity, especially if the systems of people are made up of people with privilege and the other person in question is somebody who is potentially marginalized. So I guess I get frustrated because I see all of it on a much bigger level of oppression in our society, and I don’t really see any of this that’s happening as just about my child, or about me, it’s just about our society as a whole doesn’t do a good job of supporting kids and also supporting women and supporting trans folks and supporting people of colour and indigenous people and people with disabilities. We have a society that is created on privilege that just maintains itself, doesn’t always question “Is this in the best interest of all the people who live here, or just certain people?” So that’s why I see the advocacy piece as being important.
Tara: Key.
Dawn: Because I don’t want to have gone through all of this, like to get custody of my kid so my kid can be happy and then just forget about it.