I was watching this father [proud and supportive of his trans child], and it just hurt, because I had to be okay with my mom saying âI will never call you Jen, because Jen murdered my sonâ. I had to be okay with that in order to survive myself. In order to deal with not being able to see my grandma before she died, because I could only come home if I dressed as a boy. I had to deal with the fact that one of my best friends, who, like, I stood up at his wedding, wonât let me meet his children. I have to deal with those things. Like, I have to live with those things. I have to make that okay. I have to understand their position and be okay with it. And when I saw that father go so much further than I thought it was even possible, it hurt, I couldnât bear it, because then, all of a sudden, all those people who couldnât accept me, when I knew it was possible to go beyond acceptance? Why couldnât my mom have been like him? Thatâs the question I never asked until that moment. Why couldnât my mom have been like him? Why couldnât my friends have been like him and seend the value in my experience? But the person whoâs most responsible for failing to have that kind of vision is me.
â Jen Richards in Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen (2020)