By Chris Crass (August 20, 2015)
“What shoes do you want to wear to school?”
River responded, “The kids at school said I can’t wear my Elsa (Frozen) shoes, because I’m a boy and they said they are girl shoes.”
“We can wear lots of different shoes and clothes that make us happy. What do you want to wear?” I asked.
It was sweet to experience him saying, “My Elsa shoes.”
We practiced what he can say if kids question him or tease him. “We can all wear the shoes we love,” he practiced. “If you want to wear Darth Vader shoes or Elsa shoes, if they make you happy, that’s great. It’s a boring world thinking boys and girls can only do and wear certain things”.
We got his shoes on, he grabbed his little stuffed Elmo and his two little stuffed people, Elliott and James, and off he went. I let his teacher know and asked if they could say something about kids being able to express themselves and the beauty of who we all are.
Love to leaders like Miss Major Griffin-gracy – who was part of the Stonewall uprising and has been on the front lines of Trans liberation ever since – and so many other trans, genderqueer, and gender non-conforming leaders and every day people in our family, our beloved community, our movements, and throughout society, who have and are making this a more liberatory world for everyone.
I watched the love, joy, and confidence ballet gave my son turn in to shame as he was continually teased by other young boys. We tried to confront it, but we didn’t win. He likes soccer now, which is fine, but nothing has ever ignited the joy in him the way ballet did initially.