Meet my son, 10-year-old Charlie. He self-identifies as gender creative, meaning, at this point in his life, he's happy with being a boy -- he just prefers all things stereo-typically marketed to girls. This includes clothing, costumes, toys, games, shoes, accessories, books, movies, activities, hobbies, and decor, and he tends to bond easier with girls than with boys. He wants to tell his story and connect with other kids like him who don't conform to gender stereotypes. But most of all, he wants to be accepted -- just as he is.
I've been blogging since 2008 about the questions and observations my husband and I have while supporting our gender creative young son and our older two cisgender children. HuffPost originally published When Your 4th Grade Son is Called 'Gay;'' Why I Refuse to Apologize for My Son Wearing a Dress, and My Rock Star Son Wears Twinkle Toe Sneakers in June, 2016.
With support from our local LGBT Center, we are starting a group called S.E.A.R.CH. (Safe Environment for the Acceptance of Rainbow CHildren) which is a dual-purpose, gender creative kids' playgroup and parent support group. We have been kicking the idea around for a while, but when our home state of North Carolina made the discriminatory House Bill 2 (HB2) into law, we felt compelled to make our idea a reality. Rather than flee from or turn our backs on N.C., we are staying put in the state that we love so much, and trying to be the change we want to see.
This isn't the North Carolina I grew up in. Of course, we can hope to make a difference with our votes during election time, but aside from that, we feel helpless against the massive tide of conservative power right now. S.E.A.R.CH. is one thing Matt and I felt we could actually do in response to HB2 that would support gender non-conforming kids and essentially imply, 'we won't stand for discrimination, in any form.'
Charlie's father started a GoFundMe campaign to help us offset the startup costs of S.E.A.R.CH. Then shortly after, the Orlando Massacre happened. After that, Charlie wanted to do something, so he went online to CustomInk and designed a t-shirt that will be available for purchase. He states it is a "gender creative shirt that anyone can wear," and promotes the S.E.A.R.CH. group. He dreams of maybe designing more gender creative clothes in the future. Charlie imagines that his first design would be "a shirt that would have 'Gender Creative' on the front, in rainbow colored letters against a sky blue background, and would be surrounded by puppies raining from the sky, and other happy things."
Video and news story courtesy AJ Janavel, CBS North Carolina, WNCN.