Indiana is among at least 10 states that have enacted laws prohibiting or restricting students from using pronouns or names that don’t match their sex assigned at birth, a restriction that opponents say further marginalizes transgender and nonbinary students. Most of the laws were enacted this year and are part of a historic wave of new restrictions on transgender youth approved by Republican states.
The measures are creating fear for transgender students and sowing confusion for teachers on how to comply but still offer a welcoming environment for everyone in their classes.
If you want to, making your place and time available and showing some interest is awesome. It is definitely above and beyond parenting to offer to be there for your kid’s crew. Just having spaces you know your presence isn’t just tolerated but actually welcome is in short supply when you are a kid and sometimes regular kids, not even trans ones, learn to expect their presence to be a burden.
The first few times friends would have dinner with my parents they would be wary and have their guards up. They just didn’t know how to react to an adult who was not their parent showing interest in the stuff they were up to. It was in many ways their first brush with adults socially treating them like they would an adult and giving their interests and work a sense of weight. I know it’s not for everyone, sometimes parents just don’t have the resource of time or mental energy to be there that way… But if you are looking for a way to be a lighthouse in the storm it’s an option.
I try to be a friendly dad and I’m good at making my daughter and her friends laugh (my days doing standup finally paid off!), so that helps. Now if only I could get my daughter to invite him over again. It’s harder to convince her to do it now that they’re not in school together and she’s becoming more introverted, but I’m trying to change that.