Alisa or Ali as she likes to be called is a local Mom, Writer and parent of a transgender child. What does that mean??? We found out in her brave representation of her story last Thursday morning. Imagine having a child born a girl but never played with "girly" things. As Ali said when she was born I had all these thoughts of what my child and I were going to do through out life, her first boyfriend, her first dance, the prom and getting married. Ali said she noticed subtle differences as her child was growing up, at 2 she only played and dressed in boy things. She only played with boys. But she only saw this after her experience brought her where she is today. Ali said she has had lots of fights along the way from haircuts to what her son wants to wear. Ali fought a few but in the end after therapy and many years of trying to wrap her mind around it did she finally get it. Her child is a boy or what we would call a transgender individual. He has female anatomy but in all other respects he is a boy. Ali explained that is took her three years to grasp an understanding and being truthful it took her husband even longer. From the bullying in the girls bathroom where her son had to hold himself all day till he got home to today where he is mostly accepted by his peers has been a journey. It took a lot for Ali to come and tell her the story and if you were not there I am trying to upload the video of her talk with Steve Gould's help look for it very soon. Dig deep and put yourself in her position and wonder how you would deal with this. Ali is also running for school board in our district because as she says a lot of people told her she was qualified to do good job because of her education and experiences. A little about Alisa Bowman:
Alisa Bowman is a professional writer and editor who has co-written dozens of books, including Raising the Transgender Child, with Dr. Michele Angello. Before 2004, Bowman admits that she didn’t know much about what it meant to be transgender. Her knowledge started and stopped with news stories about Chaz Bono. But as her child grew older, it became increasingly clear that her child was living and presenting outside of society's gender norms. That sent the Bowman family on a journey that included consultations with many experts, along with much research and soul searching. In order to find the healthiest path for their child, they were forced to confront their own stereotypes and misperceptions about gender as well as grieve the daughter they’d never truly had. Bowman's transgender son is now an honor student at LMMS who is active in theatre, martial arts, and choir, among many other hobbies.
To watch this presentation on captured video, please click the link below: