This mother wrote a moving letter to Ivanka Trump on behalf of her trans daughter
The mother of an 8-year-old transgender girl has written a moving letter to Ivanka Trump asking her to protect trans people.
Isabel Rose decided to write the open letter after her daughter, Sadie, was frightened about the future after Trump’s administration announced that federal protections for trans students would be rescinded.
Rose told BuzzFeed that her daughter asked her “Mommy, what if Trump comes to my school and makes me use the boy’s room? Do I get the principal?”
Rose took to writing to Ivanka Trump, who has been tipped to preventing some of the president’s roll backs of LGBT rights.
The mother began the letter by setting out her daughter’s gender identity, and spoke about how she used to dress up from the age of two.
“Samuel liked to play dress up from a very young age. When he was two, his camp counselor sent us photos of him dressed up in princess costumes and a pink bonnet.
“At three, Samuel’s preschool teacher informed us that he chose a tutu from the dress up bin instead of the doctor’s lab coat or fireman jacket that the other boys favoured.
“By four, Samuel broke out in hives when we tried to cut his hair, and at five he told us, through tears, that he wanted to burn his face off because it wasn’t a girl face.
“He also tore at his genitalia with such hatred, I had to pin his arms down at his sides. “I’m not supposed to have a penis!” he sobbed night after night. “I’m supposed to have what you have, mommy.”
Rose went on to ask about Ivanka’s own children, and what their future looks like.
“What about your children, Ivanka? What do they want to be when they grow up? What do they do after school? What is their favourite flavour ice cream? Who are they beneath the trappings of their anatomy? Are they, like my child, a pure vessel of wonder and potential and love?
“I bet they are. And I bet that if you were me, you would be as proud as I am of my brave Little Miss!
“And I also bet if you were me, you would be greatly dismayed if you found out that the government chose to rescind protections for transgender students that allow them to use the bathroom corresponding to their gender identity instead of their anatomy.
“Like me, you would look at your ultra-feminine 8-year-old, standing on the street corner waiting for the school bus, her already-elegant head held high, pink bow quivering in the wind, and you would say to yourself, “What on earth will my little princess do if someone forces her to go to the bathroom with the boys? She’ll be mortified! She’ll be bullied! She’ll be scared.”
Rose finished the passionate letter off by calling the fight against trans students an “act of bullying”
“I would take my father aside and explain that failing to protect innocent children’s rights to use the bathroom of their choice is wrong and unfair and un-American. I would point out that removing protections for transgender kids is a distraction from the myriad of other super-pressing issues facing our country.
“I would also point out that picking a fight with school kids is an act of bullying and gently mention that bullying is uncool, especially when unprovoked, which is this case right now.
The mother invited Ivanka Trump to meet with her and her family so they could discuss the future for trans people in America.
“In the meantime, I truly thank you for taking the time to consider this matter from my perspective,” she concluded.
