Less Awkward Than Expected

After her mother watched her queer child move from an unsupportive school to a very supportive queer theatre community, coming out as trans (even in an unplanned setting) was much less awkward for parent and child than could have been expected. Having grown up in a very conservative town, it was difficult for her to even learn about the idea of being trans, as opposed to being just a “gay person."

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Transcript

music  0:00  

[Andy strumming guitar & Baylee's voice singing: "Oh let's build, let's build a place we can go”]

Narrator  0:09  

Thank you for tuning into kin•dom campfire chats, a podcast of kin•dom community. This podcast features the voices of LGBTQIA+ persons, both youth participants and adult staff, who attended kin•dom camp in Texas in the summer of 2024. We asked the camp participants to think of a question that they wished someone would ask them about their life journey. With a friend, and in their own words, the campers tell their stories of struggle, love, support, and a community found. We invite you to listen with an open mind and an open heart.

music  0:50  

[Andy strumming guitar & Baylee's voice singing: "This is the place”]

speaker 1  0:56  

Okay, what is it like coming out as a trans kid?

speaker 2  1:00  

So everybody's story is different. Of course, there are many different flavors of trans people, but me, being biologically male and transitioning to be a female, it came with a lot of struggles. Like, for example, whenever I first came out to my mom, which was totally, you know, it was very unplanned. It was very like spur of the moment. I need to say this now, it was on our way to dinner, which was a horrible moment. If you come out, don't do it on your way to dinner. But I said, "Hey, Mom, I'm trans." And her immediate response was, "No, you're not." Which, in her defense, is not as bad as one would think. 

So backstory, I come in that time of my life, I was in a theater school named I was in a theater school, a very small school predominantly gay people as one respect of theater of theater school. And a lot of my friends are trans and gender non-conforming and all that stuff. And before I went to the school, I went to a very red city school, and I had no queer friends, no anything like that. I was the queer person in the entire school, which is, you know, that on its own. So, you know my mom, you know, I've met new people in this school. It's cool to be trans in her perspective and her perspective, which was very wrong, but she was also very new to this type of thing. After that whole debacle of me saying, "Well, yes, I am, and here's why," a lot of things got better, and now she is the most supportive person ever, and I'm very lucky to have that. And a lot of people that I know don't. 

But before I came out, and before I knew I was trans, before all of that stuff, there are a lot of like, I want to say, hints to it. I know a lot of people that like, were born and were like, "You know what? I don't fit this gender," and that wasn't me. I never knew that being trans or wanting to be a different gender was a thing, was heard of, was possible. So I grew up, you know, watching Dora, like wanting to play volleyball, painting my nails, all that stuff, but I was just gay. And, you know, even though I wanted to be a girl, I just thought, "Well, every gay guy wants to be a girl." That's what it means. Because in my very red, very small town, if you're gay, you like that stuff, and that is the only image of gay there is. So you know, there comes. It comes with its challenges. It comes with its stories. But you know, everything will be okay, and everything will happen as it should be, because without all those stories, I would not be who I am today.

music  4:40  

[Andy strumming guitar & Baylee's voice singing: "Oh let's build”] 

Baylee  4:47  

Hi y'all, it's Baylee. I'm the Creative Director of kin•dom community. I’d like to talk a little bit more about kin•dom camp and how you can get involved. kin•dom camp is an opportunity for LGBTQIA+ youth ages 12 to 17 to feel safe and free to show up as their full selves. Campers will have the chance to experience traditional camp activities and recreation, plus some specialized programming to incorporate LGBTQIA+ history and culture. More information can be found on our website kindomcommunity.org/camp. If you have any questions you can't find the answers to, you can email us at kindomcamp@gmail.com. 

Thanks for listening to kin•dom campfire chats. We are proud to be a safe space for these campers, and we are even more proud of them for sharing their stories. We hope you'll keep gathering around the campfire with us as we celebrate all of the stories that make us this kin•dom community.