beautifulmind-bodyinprogress:

To the people who say kids won’t understand what transgender means

When my baby cousin Charlee maybe a year or two old, I presented myself as female and went by my birthname. Two years later, I am now Zachary and presenting as full male. My family members all either call me Z, Zach, or Zachary, and all use male pronouns.

My baby cousin Charlee was never once confused by this. She heard my Uncle (her dad) refer to me as Zach and “he” on the phone, so she has been doing it since.

This honestly took me by surprise because she never once asked any questions or was confused that I went from presenting as female to presenting as male. Hell, everyone was surprised. Charlee was from the south, afterall, and I rarely got to see her besides once every year or two.

Fast forward a couple weeks after their visit, I got a call from my Uncle. He told me about how they finally asked Charlee what she thought about me going from female to male and she said, and I quote, “Zach isn’t trans, he’s just Zach! He was a girl but now he’s a boy because he’s happier as a boy. So who cares what I think as long as he’s happy! Ooh, can we get ice cream for dinner?!”

Three years old, and she didn’t even need an explanation to understand why I’m transgender. Unlike most adults, who get an explanation and still treat me/us like shit.