Dove has a new ad campaign about how to be a mother.
The theme of the campaign is:
There's no right or wrong way to be a mom -- only your way.
A hell of a lot of people disagree with that statement.
The advertisement displays mothers break dancing, rock climbing, farming, raising a child alone, even being transgender.
Shea is a graduate student. She has a woman partner.
Cameron Russo, Hunter Klugkist, Christopher Rhodes, Sam Collins and Jett Taylor have collaborated to make this video: A Letter To The Parents of Transgender Kids.
Louis Porter has an Ed. D., has been a teacher for a long time, and is executive director of the Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage.
He is also the parent of a transgender child. And he fears for his black transgender child's life.
Even when my child was an infant, I had a premonition that our precious baby girl was going to throw some curveballs our way. Something in this long-awaited baby’s spirit let me know that a wild ride was ahead for my wife and me.
So, several years ago when my then-middle school child came out as queer, I was caught off guard, but it was news I could handle. “Your daddy’s love comes with a lifetime guarantee,” I said, paraphrasing a song by Sade, a generation-bridging family favorite. Then, as a native of the South steeped in black-middle-class tradition, I said: “I wonder if they’ll still let you be a debutante.” We both immediately laughed that hearty, authentic family chuckle that eases tensions.
--Porter
Brittany Tovar works as a nurse practitioner for Essentia Health at Essentia's hospital in Ada, MN. As such, she and her family are supposedly insured under Essentia's medical insurance provider, HealthPartners.
At least that's what she thought until she sought medical care for her transgender son, Reid Tovar Olson.
I was really disappointed with my employer. It's hard coming to work, and my employer considers my son a second-class citizen.
