Recently, I have been disturbed to see some of the things which people are willing to support, especially in the Odyssey Online community. Most notably has been Moriah Dufrin's article, "My Child Will Not Be Allowed To Be Transgender." Moriah says that being transgender is "not how God created us to be" and goes on to way that she will never "accept a psychological illness as a 'normal' part of this world."

So allow me, Moriah, to take advantage of the same free speech you have used to spread your odious perspective to say that quite frankly if you will not support your child if they turn out to be transgender, then you should not have children. When you have a child, you are making a lifetime commitment to them, for better or for worse. You are making a commitment to protect them from others and from themselves, so do not insult me: if you would reject your child because they are LGBTQIA, because they are disabled, if they are mentally ill, if they don't follow your precious God, you are a bad parent. If you are content to damn your child to hell for this, you are a bad parent.

First, take a moment to educate yourself on what being transgender is before you say such ignorant things. It's not a psychological illness as you put it, and hasn't been considered by licensed experts to be one since 2012. Furthermore, the American Psychological Association even suggests to all its members that in order to decrease risk of depression, anxiety, and suicide, doctors should encourage trans people and YES, even trans kids, to transition.

But what if they do irreparable damage to their bodies transitioning? LGBT kids with families who reject them are already almost 9 times more likely to attempt suicide, so are you really going to let easily reversible hormone treatments increase the risk that your kid makes the much more permanent decision to end their own life because of your poor attempt at parenting?

Because I can tell you, there are a lot of parents who have suffered that exact same fate. Among them is Mary Griffith, a woman who raised her children according to her evangelical faith. One of her sons, Bobby, confided to his parents following a suicide attempt that he was gay. Mary believed that prayer and faith could cure Bobby of his "disease" and told him constantly that if he could not save himself, he would go to Hell. This went on for years before Bobby threw himself from a bridge onto a freeway. He died instantly. Following her son's tragic death, Mary struggled with her faith and its role in his suicide, and through groups like PFLAG was connected to a new Church community that accepts LGBT people. She went on to be a noted LGBT rights activist. She reflected on how she and so many others felt the need to censor gay culture around children as if they would be infected by it and famously said on Bobby's death: "Before you echo 'Amen' in your home or place of worship, think and remember...a child is listening.”

So perhaps don't make an irrevocable mistake by bringing a child into the world and then push them to take themselves out of it. You say that God would never condone being transgender, but at last I check, God doesn't currently attend Michigan State and you aren't him. You cannot speak for an omniscient, almighty being and it is frankly appalling to me as a person of faith myself for you to try and use someone who gives so many hope to justify your hateful bigotry, especially against innocent children who have done nothing to insult you but merely existing.