How can parents support their transgender children in the world that we live in?
BY NIC CROSARA, IMAGE BY WILL AUSTIN
Earlier this week, Marlo Mack’s memoir How To Be A Girl released in the UK. Long time followers of her podcast of the same title will know that Marlo is a single mother raising her young transgender daughter. In the book, Marlo writes with unflinching honesty as she tells the story of how she grappled with her child’s transition over the years. With the current climate surrounding trans rights, especially in Texas, this book makes for essential reading.
This was my first time reading a book from the perspective of a parent whose child is transgender. I appreciated how Marlo didn’t shy away from discussing the mistakes she made along the way and the parts of the journey she found challenging. Though I didn’t come out to my family until I was almost 20, I found it cathartic to reflect on some of my relations responses to my gender identity after reading Marlo’s experiences.
The chapters are broken into the thirteen steps that Marlo had to go through when navigating parenting her daughter. I liked that whilst a lot of the book focuses on Marlo’s process over this journey, she gives her daughter a voice within the story through a range of methods. I particularly appreciated the way she included excerpts of their conversations when Marlo asks questions like “Do you have any advice for kids who are transgender?” and allows her daughter to answer.
The UK edition has a moving foreword from Mermaids CEO Susie Green who recounts her own experiences of raising her transgender daughter and the impact she felt from watching Marlo Mack’s videos.
How To Be A Girl addresses a lot of important questions. In a prejudiced world, how can you support and protect your child when they come out as transgender?
If you are a parent to a transgender child, if you are a trans ally, if you want to know more about the challenges trans people and trans youth face, you should grab your copy now.
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