Importance of Doors

By Margaret Griffiths

Please keep the doors open.

I know how hard it is. When my child came to us and told us who they really were, my world shifted. I grieved. I was angry. I was frightened. I did not understand.

But I kept the door open. And because of that, I watched my child blossom. I watched someone who had been quietly suffering for years finally begin to live. Living at close quarters through transition helped our family reach a place of acceptance that I do not believe we could have reached from a distance.

Trans people face extraordinarily high rates of depression and suicide, particularly before and during transition. Rejection by family is one of the greatest risk factors. Keeping the door open may, quite literally, save a life.

Children are more capable of understanding trans relatives than adults fear, provided things are explained kindly and honestly.

Please keep the doors open, both ways. Let the love flow through them freely.