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 decision to cut family members out of their life after their gender-fluid teenager won a prestigious award.
A Transgender 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 his teen’s new name and gender fluidity.
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.
A Chance to Come Out
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.
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.
The Family Made No Public Comments
Given the religion they follow, OP wasn’t shocked.
A week later, while OP was speaking to his sister, she told him that their father had called the post “disturbing,” among other things.
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.
OP informed him that this would be his last chance to answer and that if he wanted to talk badly about OP’s child, he should be entitled to do so regardless of who was present.
His Father Wasn’t Talking
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 Made a Public Facebook Comment, It Was Removed
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 racist beliefs.
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.
He Won’t Have Bigotry in His Life
OP asked Reddit whether he was wrong, and many Redditors sided with OP.
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.
Another Redditor wrote, “You’re doing yourself and your child a favor by cutting these people off. Unless they can accept your child for who they are, they ain’t worth your time.”
A third Reddit user commented, “If this is what is trickling back to you now, you know what was actually said was ten times worse. And what they’re saying privately amongst themselves? I bet you anything your sister didn’t tell you half of what they really said, hoping she could “talk them down”. Nope. Protect your kid.”
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 Overtly Religious Family Wouldn’t Accept His Trans Child So He Cut Them Out first appeared on Wealthy Living
Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / Luis Molinero. The people shown in the images are for illustrative purposes only, not the actual people featured in the story.
Source: Reddit