The lasting wounds of being made to feel like a mistake.
𝑁𝑜 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑦 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑦𝑒𝑡 𝑓𝑎𝑟 𝑡𝑜𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑔𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑤 𝑢𝑝 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑝𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚, 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑.
As a child at the age of six, I tried to end my life, by hanging myself from the front porch railing. I can still remember asking God why someone like me was allowed to be born. Even at that young age, I had already learned that who I was—something I had no control over—was seen as wrong.
Being chastised and made to feel ashamed for simply existing filled me with a sense of isolation so deep that I believed there was no place for me in the world. I didn’t have the words to explain my pain, only the overwhelming feeling that I was a mistake.
No child should ever feel that way. The damage of being rejected and shamed for who you are doesn’t just fade with time—it lingers, shaping the way you see yourself and the world around you.
This is why love, understanding, and acceptance are not just important but necessary. A child’s life should never be weighed down by the unbearable burden of believing they do not belong.
Parents who chastise their gay or transgender children seem to believe that shame and rejection will somehow "fix" what was never broken—when all they’re really doing is proving how unfit they are to offer the love and support a child deserves.
A child so small, yet lost in despair,
Burdened with shame too heavy to bear.
A question to God, a plea in the night—
Why was I born if I wasn’t right?
𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕—𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅'𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉?
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