TransKids Purple Rainbow Foundation

4 weeks ago

****A message from Jazz's mom****

I am reposting this drawing that Jazz created when she was six years old, approximately 20 years ago.

I saw the comments on the original post, and I was disgusted (but not surprised) by how hateful and cruel some of them were. People mocked the drawing, questioned its authenticity, and even suggested that I had somehow created the artwork myself. All lies. So, for clarity: the drawing is real, and it is Jazz’s original artwork. It is not recent, it is not a joke, and it is not AI.

The words at the top were added by me after I scanned the drawing, but they are Jazz’s exact words, which she verbally told me at the time:

“This is me in Pre-K when I had to dress like a boy.”

“This is me in Kindergarten, I look like a girl now.”

I added those words to give context to what she was expressing in her drawing. I was there. I heard her say them. And I witnessed the sadness she felt when she was expected to present as a boy and the happiness she felt when she was able to express herself as a girl.

This is one small piece of Jazz’s childhood, but it is an incredibly meaningful one. She was expressing her gender identity long before she was on television, had social media, or had any public reason to tell her story.

Jazz is transgender. She has always known herself to be a girl, and she expressed that from a very young age.

The cruelty in the original comments was deeply disturbing (but not surprising or new), which is why I am disabling comments on this post. I am sharing this because it is part of Jazz’s story, and because her childhood deserves to be remembered with honesty and respect. ... See MoreSee Less