education, gender, homophobia, vulnerability, protecting my child
Karleen: I do workshops in schools all the time...
Tara: Right.
Karleen: ...from kindergarten to university, and kids stare at me and ask me questions, and that's fine...
Tara: Yeah.
Karleen: ...because I’m going there to educate them. And, um, I like that kids are honest, particularly around gender, and I feel like we can get a lot of work done, a lot of learning done. You know, um interacting with kids. So I actually really enjoy that. Um, but, with my kids, I couldn’t, I couldn't, you know, when I left, I couldn't be there...
Tara: Right.
Karleen: ...to watch out for them. And you know, I don't mind fighting my own battle, but, you know, when you have somebody that you love, and they’re smaller and more vulnerable than you, and you can’t be there to defend them, it really sucks. You know, that hurts. So I, yeah, probably in all the things that I do, that was probably what was the hardest.