What Life Is Like for Me & My Transgender Daughter – Kimberly and Kai Shappley

Source: The Story of My Transgender Daughter Went Viral.

I used to say, “After this fight is won I’ll go back to my ‘normal’ life.” But I can’t.

It’s been more than a year since I first shared the story about my transgender daughter, Kai, but the ball started rolling long before it published in April 2017.

Kai transitioned publicly right before she entered kindergarten. Around that same time, the superintendent of our former school district in Pearland, Texas, gave an interview to the Houston Chronicle in which he compared bathroom use by transgender students to pedophilia and polygamy. That’s when the momma bear in me came out and an active political role became a necessity.

I started by attending school board meetings and giving speeches. As a Christian mom to a transgender kid, I couldn’t stand by and let this far right, ultra conservative, Christian man be the mouthpiece for my faith.

I couldn’t stand by and let this ultra conservative man be the mouthpiece for my faith.

We struggled with the school district all the way into Kai’s first grade year. Despite multiple requests to do otherwise, they continuously used her birth name (Joseph) and wouldn’t let her use the appropriate bathroom. My daughter, who loves school and wants to be an astrophysicist when she grows up, would come home crying.

So, over spring break of that school year, I felt it was necessary to move my family to Austin, Texas. On Kai’s first day, one of the first things I noticed was a rainbow poster stating, “We’re an LGBT affirming school district.” Suddenly, Kai was just a kid with normal childhood issues. But the reality continued to hit that our battle wasn’t over.

Source: Read More