Family relationships can be complicated, especially when faced with issues that challenge deeply ingrained beliefs and values. In a Reddit post, a parent shared their dilemma about cutting family members out of their life after their gender-fluid teenager won a prestigious award.
His Child Is a Trans Teen
The Original Poster’s (OP) eldest child is a transgender teen.
Only a small number of OP’s family members, up until recently, were aware of her teen’s new name and gender fluidity.
A Joyous Occasion
Recently OP’s child received a much-esteemed prize and as much as OP’s wife and he wanted to celebrate them, they couldn’t agree on how.
They Decided to Come Out to Everyone
OP’s child decided to use this occasion to publicize their name.
So OP and his wife congratulated their child on Facebook and included a photo of them receiving the award along with the new name and pronouns.
They got a lot of encouragement and congrats.
Only His Sister Congratulated His Kid
However, OP’s sister and her children were the only members of either his mother’s or his father’s families to respond to the post.
Given the religion they follow, OP wasn’t shocked.
His Father Called It Disturbing
A week later, while OP was speaking to his sister, she told him that their father had called the post “disturbing” among other things.
He Was Furious
OP got angry and called his father and demanded an explanation for his remarks regarding his child.
But his father said there are people around and he didn’t like to talk about it.
He Tried to Confront His Father
OP informed him that this would be his last chance to answer and that if he wanted to talk badly about his child, he should be entitled to do so regardless of who was present.
But his father hung up. OP called him again and again, but he never picked up. OP even texted him but got no reply.
Since he had hung up on OP and would not return his calls, OP wrote a message on his Facebook wall which his father shares with his stepmother asking him to call and apologize for his prejudiced remarks about OP’s child.
But they quickly removed the post.
He Contacted His Stepmother
Then OP texted his stepmother to let her know that even though OP would no longer be in contact with his father, she might still be a part of their lives if she didn’t hold the same biased views.
He Won’t Speak With His Prejudiced Family
She retorted that their refusal to accept OP’s child’s decisions was not based on bigotry but rather on their values and beliefs.
As a result, OP told them that while he loves them and wants them well, their bigotry and hatred are not allowed in their lives, and therefore OP won’t be interacting with them anymore.
OP says that he is aware he was quite harsh but he also believes that he did what he had to in order to help and safeguard his child.
Readers Were on His Side
OP asked the Reddit community whether he was wrong and many Redditors sided with him. One Reddit user said that if OP’s parents can’t accept his kid for who they are and love them anyway, they don’t need to be around at all.
OP chose to sever ties with his family members and prioritized his child’s mental and emotional health above maintaining relationships rooted in bigotry.
So what do you think? Is OP in the wrong here?
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The post He Cut His Religious Family’s Bigotry Out After His Life After They Wouldn’t Accept His Trans Child first appeared on Mama Say What?!
Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / Ollyy. The people shown in the images are for illustrative purposes only, not the actual people featured in the story.
Source: Reddit