Greg Fuqua is a counselor and Michelle is a middle school associate principal.
You'd think they'd be well-equipped to navigate parenting a transgender child. But they've found it incredibly challenging in a society that still doesn't understand transgender children and doesn't think that these kids—or their counselors, doctors, and parents—know what is best for them.
Jaiden has known ever since he was a young child that he wasn't cisgender "but I didn't have a vocabulary for it."
Now 18, he is transitioning physically, which has "made me feel less lost. I feel like there’s a future for me. My depression is no longer an issue... I can be who I am."
"There is a misconception that transgender kids don't know what they want, that it's a stage," said Greg.
But not being heard and having to suppress their true selves is what leads to high depression and suicide risk among trans kids, including his own.
"You have to listen to your child," Michelle says, tearing up. "It has been a big adjustment process. But Jaiden has taught me a lot."
