You are FABULOUS....

The journey of our gender non conforming son....where to start? Well...it began even before he was born, when his brother was a preschooler who had very well rounded preferences in toys...he enjoyed playing with stereotypical boy toys, however, he often times gravitated towards more stereotypical girl toys...did this bother us? Not in the least, toys are meant for playing, for imagination, for fun...why they need to be genderized is a concept we did not agree with. We decided it was much more important to embrace our son for his uniqueness, that his spirit was much more important than restricting what toys he selected for his play! Eventually as happens to all children as they grow, his interests changed and his Littlest P*t Shop toys and Do*a toys were left to collect dust in the back of the closet. Toys that now at almost 10 years old he would never admit to playing with!

In life there are underlying forces that help to steer us toward the right paths...this small piece of our son's life was just that...an underlying force set to educate us to follow our hearts...to embrace uniqueness...to prepare us for the battles we would encounter with our second son....the battle to educate others to be accepting, to put away their insecurities, to stop judging our son, our family, simply because he does not fit the preconceived molds of society!

From the moment Z could express his interests, before he could even speak consistently...he showed an increasingly obsessive interest in dolls, pink, sparkles, and princesses. When he was a year old he became completely and utterly devoted to The Little Merm*id! He worshiped Ariel and anything associated with her was coveted! So much so, that at 20 months old on a trip to Disney he eagerly and patiently stood in a very long line to meet his beloved princess! He was so excited when we reached the end of the line...but also so very shy. It took some coaxing to get him to take a picture with her, but then the most magical thing happened...Ariel gave Z a huge lipstick marking kiss right on his cheek! Oh...how he was so proud of that kiss...how he smiled for hours after that kiss...how he touched his cheek every so often to reclaim the memory!! To some this is just a boy in love with a princess, but oh how this goes so much further...you see he not only worships that princess but he wanted to be that princess too! How can we claim to know that...he was only a few months shy of being two...but he was an extremely verbal and bright little guy and was never afraid to speak his mind, never afraid to tell us he wanted to be a princess! Imaginative play? Maybe...but as our journey continues and we move forward Z's collection of Barbi*s increases, his affinity for all things sparkly and pink continues, his book and game selections are piled with Pinkalicious and Fairies, he asks to have his toe nails painted, he loves to dress up in crowns and jewels and dresses that twirl! He has piles of toys in his closet that appeal to both genders...he can play Leg*os with the best of them, he has amassed quite a collection of Batma*n sets...but in all honesty those toys don't often get much playtime...they are not coveted, they are not the first thing pulled from the shelf! What does this mean? Do we think our son is gay, gender confused, transgender?? Does it matter? No! What matters is that our son feels safe, accepted, and loved! What matters is that he is free to express himself without judgement, that above all he is HAPPY!! We do not have all the answers, we do not know what the future holds...he is after all only 6 years old! No matter what path his life takes we will love and accept him with all our hearts and we will continue to fight for his right to be respected, to never allow anyone to break his spirit through their bigoted judgements, and NEVER allow anyone to cloud his mind with doubt about his FABULOUSNESS!!