This baby sitting winter saga has inspired me to write a little story. I was going to make it to a comic but trying to replicate Labelle’s unnatural dialogue style put me off. So enjoy the script instead:
At a park. Stephie, a kid Stephie is babysitting and a girl they met go to talk to the girl’s mother.
Girl: Mommy, can we have a play date? Stephie promised to babysit if you are too buzy.
Mom: Sorry but no, sweetie.
Girl: Why not?
Mom: Because they are transphobic.
Stephie: What? We aren’t transphobic! I actually am a transgirl.
Mom: I’m sorry to hear that you have internalized oppression but it doesn’t change my mind. I don’t want your bigotry around my daughter.
Stephie: What bigotry?
Mom: Transgender is someone who identify with gender other than they were assigned, right?
Stephie: Right.
Mom: I noticed that you refuse to gender the kid because they haven’t figured out their gender yet. But transgenders make less than 1% of population.
Stephie: So?
Mom: You are so terrified of the small change that they go against their gender assignment, that you refuse to give the kid their birth gender. If they don’t have an assigned gender they can’t be trans.
Stephie: No, we just want to give them the freedom to figure their gender without presure. It’s for their benefit.
Mom: By denying them the overwhelmingly more likely short cut to their gender identity and settings up socially awkward situations? That’s not the best interest of any kid. It’s just transphobic.
Good day and come along darling.