Against The Wind

It is an uphill battle when you are fighting for your child right to exist and when you do stand up you become a target for the right wingers.

The Story of My Transgender Daughter Went Viral. Here's How Life Has Been for Us Since.
I used to say, "After this fight is won I'll go back to my 'normal' life." But I can't.
Good Housekeeping
By Kimberly Shappley, As Told To Breanne Randall

It’s been more than a year since I first shared the story about my transgender daughter, Kai, but the ball started rolling long before it published in April 2017.

Kai transitioned publicly right before she entered kindergarten. Around that same time, the superintendent of our former school district in Pearland, Texas, gave an interview to the Houston Chronicle in which he compared bathroom use by transgender students to pedophilia and polygamy. That’s when the momma bear in me came out and an active political role became a necessity.

I started by attending school board meetings and giving speeches. As a Christian mom to a transgender kid, I couldn’t stand by and let this far right, ultra conservative, Christian man be the mouthpiece for my faith.

That is the thing, there is no one Christian value each facet of Christianity has its own values and we cannot allow the evangelicals to dominate the conversation. It also why religion should be keep out of politics something the Republicans do understand, that is why the Constitution has as its first amendment the separation of church and state which is something that the Republicans and their evangelical allies don’t understand.

She gave up the fight against the religious zealots and moved.

So, over spring break of that school year, I felt it was necessary to move my family to Austin, Texas. On Kai's first day, one of the first things I noticed was a rainbow poster stating, “We’re an LGBT affirming school district.” Suddenly, Kai was just a kid with normal childhood issues. But the reality continued to hit that our battle wasn’t over.

They should not to have to move to be safe, to be able to live without being hated.

I want to know that if I order a cake for my daughter, I won’t be denied because it’s against his or her religion. I want Kai to be safe going into restrooms. I want her to be able to get legally married. So when Equality Texas, the oldest and largest Texas state LGBT organization asked me to be their Faith Outreach Coordinator, I couldn’t pass it up. They saw that my outreach in the faith community was an important part of the solution and it’s been a blessing to continually share God’s love for the LGBT community.

I think everyone who has stepped forward in this battle has done so because they wanted to right a wrong.

We are in it for the long battle.