My heart is racing
My mouth is dry,
I bite my lip, I try not to cry
The pressure is sinking me,
My head will soon pop,
The criticism, the hate,
When will it stop
A headline, opinion, radio debate,
Another scare story, platform of hate
Day after day another attack
The mindless celebrity, the scientist quack
All spouting distortion, spitting out lies
They don’t know the facts, yet pretend to be wise
About surgery, hormones, desistance, trends
They couldn’t care less about my child and their friends
“There is a durable biological underpinning to gender identity”
This isn’t a choice
But I feel so alone
I can’t find my voice
I see how you stare on the playground each day
Eyeing the dress, judging the way
That I raise my family
It couldn’t happen to you
With your conforming children
You’d know what to do
If your child cried about gender in bed every night
If your child was depressed, saw no hope in sight
If you held them as they sobbed in your arms
Asking you to love them just as they are
The hate almost breaks me, it makes me despair
So many lies, so much distortion, it is all so unfair
I’m so close to crumbling, my head is a spin
I can’t let myself sink under, can’t let them win
I feel so hopeless, so alone, fragile and weak
If no one will stand up, I need to speak
I need to find courage
It must be somewhere deep
If I don’t come up fighting
I’ll lie here and weep
But the thing is
Now
they are happy
I wish you could see
They know who they are
They just want to be
Left alone to live their life
without fears
Without pointing fingers,
and whispers and jeers
You want me to squash them,
make them feel small
Tell them there’s no space for them
in this world at all
But the world is bigger than you can know
There’s room for trans children to grow
Up into adults who will succeed and thrive
Who will be happy
Thankful to be alive
I see their spirit, their courage, their heart
They need vocal allies, me for a start
They need sturdy defenders,
stood by their side
Telling the world they are perfect,
they don’t need to hide.
So I will stick up for them,
fight the battles to come
I will find my fierce,
my strength,
be a mum
Growing Up Transgender 
Beautiful, utterly and awesomely beautiful x
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No need to weep
There are others you know
Who have been there before
who were determined to grow
into the brave warriors
who will fight for your child
and their right to be
the person they are –
like you and me
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Reblogged this on peterclayton10.
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You are an amazing parent! Thank you for sharing!!!
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Pingback: Finding My Fierce - Transfigurations Blog
stunning, so much emotion. Thank you for sharing, you are an inspiration to everyone.
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Can I share your incredible poem with others? I’d like to give you the credit, can I use your name please? Many thanks and kindest regards, Steph xx
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Thank you! Please do share. Credit to Growing up Transgender, @Fiercemum
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As a parent these heartfelt words brought stinging tears to my eyes. As a transperson I know just how cruel the tabloids and even the BBC have been in spreading spiteful misinformation. Sending love from the depths of my heart xxx
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Wow! Beautifully written by a mum being what all true mothers are when protecting their children, a Sherni (a Lioness to the non-Punjabis)
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As I read your poem, I felt it through to my very core! Thank you so much!
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I love this, with tears in my eyes, you have written all the words of all the feelings, i have been unable to verbalise, thank you X
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Pingback: New supportive guidance from Church of England on transphobic bullying gives voice to a bullying transphobic commentary | Growing Up Transgender
Wow! I could barely read this for the tears in my eyes. I can’t believe how reading this made me feel. It’s good to know that there are understanding people out there who love and respect their children for who they are. I send you my love and best wishes,I wish everyone was like you!
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Thank you so much for sharing, I so much needed to hear that!
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