Fairytale featuring trans princess aims to ‘encourage love and acceptance’
A new fairy tale aims to transform how young trans children view themselves.
“A Royal Heart” – which promotes a message of love, family and acceptance – tells the tale of a young prince, Lyric, who feels like a princess on the inside.
After realising she doesn’t feel able to be a King, the teenage prince transforms into a princess on her 16th birthday – with the help of her loving grandmother.
“Now Lyric stood as a beautiful girl dressed in a royal gown,” the story explains.
“Lyric finally felt free. Tears trickled down her cheeks. ‘This is who I am. This is who I’ve always been. In my heart I knew I was not meant to be King. But maybe I can still be a leader.’”
‘The Royal Heart’ is the first book in author Greg McGoon’s series of children’s stories celebrating LGBT characters.
The response to the book – which debuted in September – has been “fantastic and overwhelming”.
The author has since received countless messages from transgender women – thanking him for creating a story focused on love and acceptance.
However, the writer says he does not want his book “to be known as the ‘Transgender Fairytale’”.
“It is a traditionally styled fairytale featuring a transgender character,” he told Refinery 29.
McGoon also said that he hopes that ‘The Royal Heart’ will inspire other writers to pen more diverse characters – so LGBT children will never feel like they are “not normal.”
“I want everyone to feel like they can have their own ‘once upon a time’ that can sit alongside the classic fairytales that have been around for many years,” he said.
The author also revealed that he plans to release a longer story – featuring a gay prince as the protagonist.
“It is personal, and the fact that the prince is gay is not central to the story. That was important,” he told Metro.
“The main focus of the story is understanding what it means to be a leader, be responsible, and believe in oneself.”
