How much of a threat would announcing our status to the representatives be, do you think? Is it crazy pants to think they'll keep track and flag us on some list? I'm just being paranoid... right?

Louisiana can be scary and hateful but I do what I can to protect her from the worst of it. Thankfully we have the UU and roller derby to offer us pockets of sanity here. And we've cut all the toxic adults out of her life. She's only ever around people who support and love her and happy to see her.

I just want to give my kids as much of a childhood they don't need to heal from as possible. I wish all trans people had parents that honored their autonomy, prioritized their mental health... I want to stand and fight, but paralyzed with fear. I've been focusing on protecting her joy.

I understand that, and it's hard to put in 300 characters what I mean... I want to advocate for my child without risking her *further*. Without purposefully damaging her relative stealth status. Without raising my hand and saying 'over here! My kid is trans and I'm being loud about it! Shut me up!'

I have a legit question... as a cis mom of a trans daughter, living in a hateful city/state, I live in constant fear that speaking up with put a target on my child. How do I set aside the fear that my attempts to advocate for her will end up flagging her for whatever hell they want to unleash next?

Terrifying. Frozen in fear makes us easy to shove down and bulldoze right over.

Trying to raise empathetic, emotionally intelligent little humans is hard. Helping them navigate the terrifying truths and hurts in this world while attempting to protect their innocence and joy is a seemingly impossible task.