Keywords:
advocacy, curriculum, transitioning, trans, clothing
advocacy, curriculum, transitioning, trans, clothing
Transcript
Jessica: The school asked me, like “Do you need literature? What do we do?” So I printed a bunch of stuff from Rainbow Health and brought it in. And discussions with any other teachers who were interested about how they were gonna uh, encourage a more inclusive experience. And um, we started advocating more. Like we’ve gone to Queen’s Park a couple of times.
Jonathon: I think there was also, there was that weird line of you can wear the really super girly stuff at home, but when we go out to a restaurant, maybe it’ll be you know, like pink, but not that extreme or whatever. So we had to step up our game about just being like “No it’s fine.”
Alex: We had to have a meeting like between us and be like, “Well, she came home from school today and she’s happier than ever. Why are we not just letting her do this? So, I think this is maybe something we should be doing.”
Jessica: Yes, like, just so many discussions like okay, she wants girl underpants. They do not hug her the way that they necessarily should, because she’s not built that way, but they make her feel good.
Tara: Yeah.
Alex: And there were questions like, okay well, um, Wolf wants to wear dresses. Okay, I guess Wolf is going to wear dresses. She wasn’t Stella at that point yet either. It was our little boy wanted to wear dresses and we had to be like “Okay sure, that’s something we can do.” But then it raised the question of well, is that it? Is there something we’re not seeing here, still, or?
Jessica: Understanding.
Alex: What does this mean?
Jessica: The various steps she could go through, she may not go that far, but she could. She could just be gender-neutral, or maybe. You know I never anticipated that she would become Stella. I just thought you know, she's a boy who wears pink. But I think upping the game is just questioning ourselves at all these little points that we are blocking her from being herself.
Alex: Not worrying about other people are saying
Jessica: Yes. Because that’s the fear, is like, if you wear a dress and you feel great in front of the mirror, and you feel different leaving, that’s like, that’s not okay. You know, you have to know you felt good in my safe place, and outside is safe too. And I can be who I want to be outside, and I don’t have to like, water myself down to please other people.
Jessica: The school asked me, like “Do you need literature? What do we do?” So I printed a bunch of stuff from Rainbow Health and brought it in. And discussions with any other teachers who were interested about how they were gonna uh, encourage a more inclusive experience. And um, we started advocating more. Like we’ve gone to Queen’s Park a couple of times.
Jonathon: I think there was also, there was that weird line of you can wear the really super girly stuff at home, but when we go out to a restaurant, maybe it’ll be you know, like pink, but not that extreme or whatever. So we had to step up our game about just being like “No it’s fine.”
Alex: We had to have a meeting like between us and be like, “Well, she came home from school today and she’s happier than ever. Why are we not just letting her do this? So, I think this is maybe something we should be doing.”
Jessica: Yes, like, just so many discussions like okay, she wants girl underpants. They do not hug her the way that they necessarily should, because she’s not built that way, but they make her feel good.
Tara: Yeah.
Alex: And there were questions like, okay well, um, Wolf wants to wear dresses. Okay, I guess Wolf is going to wear dresses. She wasn’t Stella at that point yet either. It was our little boy wanted to wear dresses and we had to be like “Okay sure, that’s something we can do.” But then it raised the question of well, is that it? Is there something we’re not seeing here, still, or?
Jessica: Understanding.
Alex: What does this mean?
Jessica: The various steps she could go through, she may not go that far, but she could. She could just be gender-neutral, or maybe. You know I never anticipated that she would become Stella. I just thought you know, she's a boy who wears pink. But I think upping the game is just questioning ourselves at all these little points that we are blocking her from being herself.
Alex: Not worrying about other people are saying
Jessica: Yes. Because that’s the fear, is like, if you wear a dress and you feel great in front of the mirror, and you feel different leaving, that’s like, that’s not okay. You know, you have to know you felt good in my safe place, and outside is safe too. And I can be who I want to be outside, and I don’t have to like, water myself down to please other people.