it was simultaneously totally fine and completely awful

I’m a liberal GenX delightful weirdo with a history of youthful gender nonconformity. My 30 years of knowing and being supportive of trans people kept me grounded when my 11-year-old daughter claimed a trans identity out of the blue one year into the pandemic. Her sudden claim coincided with her close friend’s same claim (and a similar claim by two other friends of theirs).

We knew our daughter would desist — long before we had heard that term — but we were curious about what caused our child to suddenly think she was trans. That curiosity helped us help her.

That was over two years ago. We’re in the clear now. My daughter, now 13, is angry that she, as an autistic kid who suffered trauma at school, was sucked in. She desisted this past summer and it’s time for me to speak.