Keywords:
legal issues, trans, transition
legal issues, trans, transition
*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
Tara: And your children spend some time with you and some time with their father?
Dawn: Yep. Right now it’s 50% of the time in each place, but it’s in the court system, so I’m trying to get custody. Because I know for my trans child, there’s going to need to be decisions that happen before she’s 16. And, people tend to use different rules about the age of consent, like whether a 10, 11, 12, year old can make consent or not. Like, it depends I guess on where you’re at, but there are things that potentially might need to happen before she’s 16, so having custody is important to me so that she has the option to do what she needs to do so that she can transition further if she wants to, when she’s old enough.
Transcript
Tara: And your children spend some time with you and some time with their father?
Dawn: Yep. Right now it’s 50% of the time in each place, but it’s in the court system, so I’m trying to get custody. Because I know for my trans child, there’s going to need to be decisions that happen before she’s 16. And, people tend to use different rules about the age of consent, like whether a 10, 11, 12, year old can make consent or not. Like, it depends I guess on where you’re at, but there are things that potentially might need to happen before she’s 16, so having custody is important to me so that she has the option to do what she needs to do so that she can transition further if she wants to, when she’s old enough.