One theme in Kate and Joe’s story, which recurs in many accounts of trans children attempting to express a variant identity, is the initial reluctance of most parents to fully affirm that their child is another gender. This reluctance is in stark contrast to a widespread misconception that parents of young trans children might have helped them affirm too quickly in what might have otherwise been ‘a phase’. In reality, many supportive parents acknowledge that, if anything, they tried to resist their child’s happiness for too long because of their own ignorance or fear.
