Out and Proud Parents Day - Rachel's story
July 30th is Out and Proud Parents Day where Proud Parents of LGBTQI+ children are asked to come out and be role models within their community.
The day recognises the importance of parental role models within communities helping other parents accept their LGBTQI+ children.
Rachel Morgan is a Training Development Officer with us here at Wrekin. This is here story.
"My name is Rachel and I am an Out and Proud Parent to my beautiful daughter Ella who is Trans.
"I’m incredibly proud of her for lots of reasons; she is strong, resilient and kind, and she has the courage to be her true self. We live in a world where individuals who are ‘different’ for one reason or another, can find themselves in scary situations.
"To be completely honest, I had a hard time when Ella told me she was Trans. It wasn’t anything to do with her actually being Trans though, I’m very much a ‘be you’ person and if that’s who she is then I was pleased she felt able to come and tell me. The reason I was struggling was knowing that she would likely become a target.
"As parents you worry about your children most of the time - we like to know where they are, what they are doing, who they are with. I was incredibly scared for her safety. I still am.
"Ella is nearly 18 now and she socially transitioned approximately 3 years ago, I must say our experience has been pretty good, we have been very lucky, although not so much in the beginning. Ella was discriminated against in high school, there were some teachers who would use Ella’s deadname (her birthname) and refuse to accept her as her. There were children who were openly transphobic who mentally and physically attacked her. This caused her mental health to decline.
"Ella has just completed her first year at college and it has been an incredible transformation. The other students have accepted her, she has a great group of friends and she has grown in confidence. She is happy with who she is, she works part-time with an amazing group of people who accept and value her as her!
"We have been blessed that the people around us - the people who matter most - accept Ella for who she is. I’m grateful she has a solid, caring and accepting support system in place and wish that all children were as fortunate."
27th July 2023