For far too long, society has ignorantly pigeon holed people into a rigid binary malefemale? system with no room for variance. I truly believe that there is a growing momentum, a sea change if you will, that has recently begun, that will serve to expand our awareness and lead to a day in the future when society includes and appreciates all gender types. Perhaps the image of a ?gender spectrum? will become clearer, with the feminine female on one end and the masculine male on the other end, and everyone else falling out somewhere along that spectrum. Bigender and intersexed individuals falling out in the middle range. Like flowers, we humans come in an assortment of varieties, each with unique and individual talents, skills and qualities. A science continues to study the gender issue, I believe we will be able to break out of our current and limited social construct which only serves to separate and exclude.

Right now picturing that day in the future seems so far off from where we are at. People fear what they don?t understand, so as a mother, I will do my part to pave the way to a better world for my daughter and all of the others who share her condition. This means talking openly with others, and not trying to hide our kid. For if I deal with this with an attitude of shame or embarrassment, I remain part of, and therefore perpetuate the problem. It means becoming politically active in trying to push through legislation here in my own state, where there is an actual bill that will be voted on in the near future that seeks to end gender base discrimination. It means trying to find speaking venues where education can take place, perhaps in school systems. Of course there are days still when I wake up and tell myself that I am not strong enough to take on this battle, but then I think, ?If it?s hard for me, how difficult must it have been and still is for them?? I think of her and her future, and then I find the courage.

It could have been radically different for our child. Perhaps she could have been born into a family that would be unsupportive, unloving. She could have gone down a different road when deciding upon which of those three lousy options that she had to choose from. People I have met and told our story to all say one thing, ?Thank God you are the mother.? That always strikes me as odd, because I cannot imagine any mother who would disown or reject her own child for any reason. So I am just doing what I vowed to do as both of my kids were put in my physical charge: love them unconditionally. My daughter knows she can count on her mother to shed light on the truth, educate others and work to make the world a better place, one person at a time. I see this now very clearly.