My brother’s oldest is gender dysphoric, and their experience has expanded my understanding of the dynamic. Not the causation, but the individual experience and their choices. Previously, I was aware of kids who, from their earliest age, were consistent, persistent, and emphatic about being a gender different from their biological one. And it makes sense to me that those parents sought to do whatever they could to support their child’s perceived gender, including hormone therapy. So, the low key conversations and pronoun adjustments going on in our extended family, which came out of the blue and which continue to evolve, are educational, and I often fail to internalize the nuances of what is happening.
My brother’s kid is not an online social media type. They are a bookworm, a model maker, a computer builder, and a sports enthusiast, mostly quiet, reserved and aware. Brother and SiL watch and support, but stay out of their child’s decision making process.
Brother felt gut punched by the identity, however troubled, of the shooter. Said it is more gasoline to the fire that threaten’s has child’s well being. He is right.