Today’s episode is part two of a new segment on the show, “Personal Days”, where I talk with friends and family about issues we are currently dealing with or have in the past. The subject of for this personal day is transgender issues, because my brother Carl has decided to transition into my sister, Valouria or Val for short.
If you haven’t heard part one yet, I highly recommend you go back and listen to that episode where I interview trans-advocate and mother of two trans children, Sara Kaplan. I shared that discussion with Val before we spoke to serve as a primer for our interview.
This is the most important episode of the show that I’ve produced thus far, because until now, none of my family have really been talking about it. I know mom is very interested in hearing this conversation because Val has always been pretty terrible at keeping in touch, or opening up about herself without a nudge, or sometimes a very aggressive shove.
This discussion made me so damn grateful for my family. Mom, I love you, and I love that you are probably already looking into ways to support your daughter in her new journey. I also need to give a big love shoutout to Val’s wife N’Lou, who was immediately on board and ready to help dole out makeup tips.
My heart truly sinks when I think of the transgender people who have had to walk this road without support from their families. My hope is that anyone who’s listening this and has less than friendly feelings towards transgender people, especially within your family, you’ll think a bit about all of the difficulties they have to endure and the persecution that the world heaps upon them, and realize you can do a lot to make their life better. I love you all, and thank you for listening.
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