5756. A listening ear in our schools can be the lifeline for those kids who would be otherwise suffering in total isolation, like how Grace spent her whole teenage years. Thinking of our daughter’s long painful years still brings tears to us. There are still many of those currently in and out of our community, judging from the calls and texts we got from Chinese parents we never met, and the chats we got from Trevor suicide prevention hotlines. 3) We understand that people may have fears about things they don’t understand. They may fear that when schools have protective policies for transgender kids, more kids may become transgender. And they want the schools to be safe for every student. We get that. But based on our experience and our understanding as parents of a transgender child and our experiences with tens of other LGBTQ youth, it doesn’t work that way. Our daughter tried to be “normal” so badly. They all do. They don’t want to follow anybody because inherently they know what a terribly hard path they have to walk through. They didn’t choose the path. They had no other ways to live. Our daughter didn’t get this “idea” from anybody, or any media outlet. If the society were not accepting enough, we guess we would find a lot more people committing suicide without clear reasons, or a lot of people going through life without truly being able to be engaged, or simply depressed and anxious throughout their lives. An LGBTQ person is just like any of us; We believe no matter how we fear the unknown, we need to go through it, examine it, and accept it as part of our humanity. And our schools can serve as the place where children find safety and comfort, where fear of the unknown is addressed instead of avoided. After we reached the light at the end of the tunnel, we have been building beautiful memories as a new family. We would love to show you our family photos if we get a chance to meet in person. With love shining as light in our lives, fear has no place to hide anymore. 4)Latest data shows that our LGBTQ population, especially transgender people, is still a very marginalized and vulnerable group. Quoting from GLAAD website: “Growing up is hard enough without being targeted, harassed, called names, or physically harmed — and LGBTQ youth are at extremely high risk of all of the above. 76% have experienced verbal harassment at school, and 50% didn’t report bullying because they didn’t think anyone would intervene”. According to a reseach paper published on NIH’s National Library of Medicine (Suicidality Among Transgender Youth: Elucidating the Role of Interpersonal Risk Factors), 82% of transgender individuals have considered suicide, and 40% have attempted one, with suicidality highest among transgender youth. Reading those shockingly high percentage numbers and imagining so many suffering children’s faces behind those numbers can break any parent’s heart. From Grace’s case, we know exactly how vulnerable and sensitive those kids are. If Policy 5756 is repealed, for some kids it could mean a door being thrown shut in their face, and keeping the policy could mean lighting a candle in darkness to lead their way. In extreme cases, it can literally mean life or death of a beloved child. How would we feel in our heart if God forbid one of our trans students did something to hurt themselves because of our vote today? To conclude this heart to heart sharing, we would like to emphasize that it’s our belief that our LGBTQ policy profoundly impacts us all. Although LGTBQ students are a minority, we never know if our children or their best friends are one of them — I never thought my daughter would be one until she told us. As Mahatma Gandhi is credited with saying, “The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.” The way we treat LGBTQ youth serves as both a reflection and determinant of our community’s moral fabric. And repealing policy 5756 would send a strong message against the very values our xxxxx community prides itself on. We strongly urge the Board to recognize the gravity of your decisions with the message it sends, and to actively engage with the narratives of our LGBTQ students and their families before casting your votes. Let’s send the message of love, and fear will have no place to hide. Thank you for your attention and we look forward to hearing from you! 来源：加美财经lg...
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