Jackie’s Grandparents’ Unconditional Love

Transgender School

Today’s episode is very special; we have the pleasure of welcoming my parents and Jackie's grandparents, Kath and Bill, to the podcast. As the holiday season is drawing near, we thought it made sense to talk about our experience navigating Jackie's transition as a family, and more specifically, from my parents' standpoint. Although my parents were young in the '60s, and they were, as they call themselves, “weekend hippies,” they weren’t exposed to much information about transgender people until recently. So we thought it would be fascinating to hear about what it was like for them when their granddaughter Jackie, who they’ve always been very close to, came out as a transgender woman at 19.

In this episode, we get to hear about the experiences my mother, a retired nurse, and my father, a successful business owner, had throughout Jackie's transition. We reflect back on what they thought and felt on the day Jackie came out and explore what they’ve learned since then.

We also discuss the difficulties that people, especially from older generations, often have as they try to understand a family member's transition. We talk about the power of acceptance as a first step and the importance of committing to a deeper level of support by becoming a true ally over time.

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• Kath and Bill's reaction when they found out what Jackie was going through (4:29)
• Jackie's transition united the family. Bill and Kath evolving from being accepting grandparents to becoming allies (10:15)
• Avoiding the use of the word "grief" when referring to dealing with a person's transition (17:38)
• At some point, people have to choose between losing a relative or coming around to fully support that relative's transition (22:49)
• Don't f*ck it up! Transgender people are not obligated to bring relatives who hurt them back into their lives (31:28)
• The hardest part for transgender people is to accept that they are trans, which is known as “coming in” (32:50)

Connect with Jackie and Bridget:

• Transgender Support: Becoming a True Ally Video Course on Vimeo
• Transgender School Patreon Membership with all exclusive content
• Transgender School on Medium
• Instagram
• Website
• Facebook
• Community Facebook Group
• YouTube

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