An Open Letter to Caitlyn Jenner

Where do I begin? As the mother of gender non-conforming children, I just do not know where to begin.

Thank you just doesn't seem to be enough. But it's a start.

Thank you for having the courage to be who you have always felt you were meant to be. Thank you for breaking the gender norms that so many were too afraid to break.

Thank you for paving the way for my children to be who they truly feel they were meant to be. Because of you, my children will not have to live a lie. Because of you, my children will struggle less. Because of you, my children will be happier.

Thank you for showing the world that this is real. It really is possible to be born into the wrong body. It is possible to live an entire life too afraid to be who you feel you were really meant to be.

Thank you for being the world's most awesome athlete. Thank you for being a sex symbol. Thank you for being such a man's man. It just makes your transition all the more amazing.

Thank you for giving my children a voice. Thank you for putting my mind at ease. Before you, I was terrified at what the future held for my children. Now I know they will be okay.

Thank you for doing all of this so publicly. It had to be a difficult decision to make. But as I mother I can't thank you enough for making it.

Thank you to your family for being supportive. Thank you for showing the realness of it all. It's a very hard thing to come to terms with a family member struggling with gender issues. No matter who you are.

Thank you for starting this conversation.

I now have a person my children can look up to. I have a person my children can look at and think, I can be whoever it is I feel I was meant to be.

Thank you for single-handedly paving the way for my children and children everywhere. Thank you for being a new type of role model. Thank you for having the courage to do all of this.

A man transitioning into a woman is not the end of the world. It's just the beginning.

Thank you for being Caitlyn.

Eileen O'Connor is an amazingly talented woman, wife, and mother living on the mean streets of Chicago's south side with her equally adorable family.

Follow her blog No Wire Hangers, Ever
Check her out on Facebook

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1IdWhae
via IFTTT