DWejttwN6Z- Spaceishometome April 6, 2022 Some nice news: today I saw copies of Melissa, the book for 9-12yrs about a trans girl! It was previously published as George, and the publisher agreed to change it despite it already being quite an established book. Not only by the teacher, but by the school for having age-appropriate books accessible on the shelves: both in the teacher’s classroom and in the school’s public library. We appreciated the visibility that this provided to Lily, as well as the support. Although Lily’s gender discovery began much earlier on, this is where our family’s learning journey began.īecause we shared with Lily’s fifth grade teacher what Lily was going through, her teacher brought our attention to Alex Gino’s book George (now Melissa), an award- winning children’s novel about a trans fourth grader, and said that Lily had the option to read it. We told Lily that she did not need to put a label on herself. We did not have the knowledge of everything LGBTQ (especially trans-related), but what we did know … is we loved our child and that we would support Lily no matter what. After sharing her feelings with my older two daughters, she came to my spouse and me. In the fourth grade, when boys and girls were separated to learn about what will happen to their own bodies during puberty, Lily began to panic. As school activities began to separate boys from girls, this only confused and frustrated her. In early elementary school, Lily lacked the words, insight, and confidence to describe what she was feeling. As someone that had never known a transgender person, while this “out of the gender norm behavior” made my spouse and I question what was “going on” with Lily, we did not discourage her from enjoying the things she loved. All her friends were girls, and she liked playing with Barbie dolls, Polly Pockets, and princess dress-up: things considered to be “girl” toys. As Lily was growing up during her younger years, she presented in what would be considered a more feminine way. The ‘male presenting person’ reflecting back at her didn’t align correctly with her being. Lily will tell you that as soon as she could recognize herself in the mirror, the person looking back at her was not the person she was. Let me tell you a little about Lily’s journey. I want to be clear – if there is one soundbyte to arise from my appearance here today, let it be this one: No book made my child become transgender any more than a book could have turned her eyes from brown to blue.Ī group of right-wing parents cherry-picked passages from books written by Black and LGBTQ authors Tuesday night at a Central Bucks School District board meeting in order to fan the flames of ignorance, fear, and rage to fuel local book banning efforts. She is proud to be trans and we are proud of her! Being able to be visible for others and seeing herself in the books she reads, in the movies she’s watching, and in other media – is so very important. You know … kid stuff! Lily also happens to be a female of trans-experience. She loves to hang out with her friends, ride her bike with her dad, spend time with her grandparents, and binge watch shows with me. She acts, sings, dances, and draws beautifully. My youngest child, Lily, is a 15 year-old sophomore and honor student at our local public high school. This is neither an episode of The Twilight Zone nor a replay of the movie Footloose this is a real life attack on public education, diversity of thought, inclusion of people, and the ability of citizens to consume real authentic stories of who we are: ALL of us! Books have a critical role in people’s lives. This is 2022 and despite all of the major issues needing our nation’s highest prioritization, resources, attention and solutions – “Free Speech Under Attack: Book Bans and Academic Censorship” is a subject that we are now forced to be tackling. And yet I’m here, in the most political place on Earth. I didn’t even know what the House Oversight Subcommittee was until last week. I’ve been a registered Republican, and I’ve been a registered Democrat. I’m speaking from the heart as a person who loves their children, as a former elementary school teacher for nine years, and as someone that cares deeply about the public K-12 education of our youth. I’m a parent from Bucks County, PA, where I’ve lived with my spouse since we married 25 years ago. My name is Mindy Freeman and my pronouns are She/Her. The following is a transcript of Mindy’s testimony at Thursday’s Congressional hearing, Free Speech Under Attack: Book Bans and Academic Censorship.
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