Mum shares moving story of what happened when her 10-year-old daughter saw Christine and the Queens
Christine and the Queens performing at Glastonbury Festival on June 30, 2019 (Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage/Getty)
A mother whose 10-year-old daughter was rejected by the “cool group” at school has shared a moving conversation sparked by the genderqueer singer, Christine and the Queens.
Constance Hall, an Australian blogger, wrote on Facebook that her daughter Billie has always been “different”. She rejected skirts and dresses at a young age and prefers to draw rather than play sports.
When Billie saw her mother watching a live performance of Christine and the Queens, she had questions.
Heloise Letissier, aka Christine and the Queens, performs during Electric Picnic Music Festival 2019 in Ireland. (Photo by Debbie Hickey/Getty)
“[She] asked if the singer was turning into a boy like the trans kid that we know,” Hall wrote. “I said ‘No, to my knowledge she’s not. She just doesn’t seem to think she needs to look the way people expect women to look.'”
This was a revelation for the 10-year-old, who had recently been told she didn’t fit into the “cool group” because she wasn’t blonde.
“I watched my daughter in awe of this woman Chris performing on stage like a f**king boss, tiny woman, short hair, dominating the s**t out that stage,” Hall wrote.
“She asked, ‘Is she bisexual?’ I said, ‘No honey she’s pansexual which is kind of similar but she doesn’t look at gender at all, she doesn’t love someone for being a girl or a boy, just for being who they really are.'”
Billie said: “She’s so cool Mum.”
Christine and the Queens at the Christian Dior Womenswear Spring/Summer 2020 show as part of Paris Fashion Week (Stephane Cardinale/Corbis/Getty)
Her mother replied: “And you wanna know the coolest part? Everyone’s allowed to be in her cool group, as long as you aren’t an arsehole, if you just keep being your quirky and wonderful self, one day you could be as cool as Chris.
“But if you try your hardest to fit in to the exclusive groups, you might end up really boring and sad. Just stick to who you really are baby, that’s cool.”
With that, Hall’s daughter donned an oversized jumper, flicked her faded green hair out of it, looked at her mother and said: “I’m pretty cool too.”
And that’s why representation matters.
