I had my first interaction with a transexual during the early 80’s. I was the middle school principal in Addison and a mom made an appointment with me to discuss transferring her son to our school. She came into my office and took a seat. She explained she wanted to transfer her son to Addison because he was being bullied by his classmates in a neighboring school. She couldn’t understand why the district would allow this to happen. She shared what happened to her son and wanted assurances that if he transferred, he wouldn’t experience such treatment.
When she was done explaining her son’s predicament, I shared my personal philosophy and told her of the excellent staff we had. “Everyone works to provide a safe environment for all our students.” Then I offered up, “I don’t think kids can do well in school if they don’t feel safe. We do everything in our power to make sure our students feel that way. While we can’t control the behavior of everyone, we do our best to make sure our students have a positive experience.”
She offered up a couple of questions and then I asked, “Is John’s father in the picture?”
I’ll never forget her response. “I’m John’s father.”
I’m not sure what I said next. I was shocked. I imagine the look on my face said it all.
She reached into her purse, and said, “I’m John’s biological father. I had an operation in Sweden two years ago, and now I’m his mom.” She presented me with an envelope and said, “This is a copy of my birth certificate stating I’m a female.”
That’s when I said, “That won’t be necessary. I don’t need to read it. I believe you.”
We sometimes make fun of things we don’t understand, and even as enlightened as I thought I was, I didn’t understand why someone would undergo an operation to change his sex. It was the early 80’s and a new occurrence for me. When I retold the story of my encounter, I made light of it.
Things are much different since my awakening forty years ago. As the years have passed, I’ve become more accepting. I realize what may seem unusual to me is the norm for others. Accepting individuals for who they are is sometimes a personal challenge, but it’s the correct path to take.
Thank you for sharing that. I have recently changed roles and am in Human Resources. My eyes have been open to those changes and it has made me understand the importance of individualism and accepting people for who they are.