On Tuesday, November 22nd, our LGBTQ Social Justice group went to a lecture from a mother of a transgender child. Jodie Patterson is the mother of five children, one of them being transgender. Penelope, who is nine years old was born in the body of a girl, but with the mind of a boy. Jodie came to LREI to talk about her experiences as a mother with a transgender child. She talked about her family and their reaction when they realized that Penelope did not want to be a girl. Jodie mentioned the struggles Penelope has gone through at school and at home, but mentioned how much happier he is now to be accepted as a boy. Our group has learned a lot about trans kids in the past, but meeting a parent of a transgender child was a step forward to learning more about the LGBTQ community. I think one of the main things I learned from this experience was about the struggles that trans kids and their parents go through on a day-to-day basis. I also learned that you do not have to identify as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, etc. to be a part of the LGBTQ community. Everyone is a part of the community, because it is a group meant for everyone, regardless of who you love or what you identify as.
