....apart from a handful of folks who were public in their transition, our generation was left with little if any support. Some with well-meaning but ignorant parents. Some with angry families and friends. And some in abusive places even before we ever dreamed of telling anyone who we were. What you were thinking? Maybe this will help, given the abusive situations many of us, including you and me, were in? My therapist asked me this once:

"If your Dad was willing to beat you with a leather belt to the point of raising welts on your legs just for throwing eggs at a shed, what do you suppose he would have done if you came out to him?"

I might not see the light of day, so to speak, but I am very glad to rejoice with girls like Jazz, who live and breathe and have a future that includes exactly who they know themselves to be!