The heartwarming reaction of a mother to her 13-year-old son coming out as trans is the kind of story that has been sorely lacking on the internet in these dismal times.
Amanda Mancino-Williams—a writer—left her son a note under her door explaining his gender identity in an artistic and clever way.
Mancino-Williams tweeted:
"Got a note from my 13 yo tonight, under the door, like they always did when there was something important to say."
Her son began his message with:
"Dear Mum, I have created an extremely cringe little book to tell you something."
@Manda_like_wine/Twitter
@Manda_like_wine/Twitter
The next page was an illustration of a girl painting a picture and employing the technique of pointillism—the artistic style developed by artists, Georges Seurat and Paul Signac, in which a painting is composed of a series of dots to create an image.
He said of the girl:
"This is a daughter (dot-er)."
Underneath was a drawing of a boy with rays of light emanating from his face.
"This is a son (sun)."
@Manda_like_wine/Twitter
He continued on the next page:
"I was originally expected to be an artist who specialised in pointillism, but I have discovered that being a ball of gas suits me better."
@Manda_like_wine/Twitter
Next, he explained the differences between himself and the sun accompanied by two juxtaposed drawings of both.
In addition to saying he is composed of "99% oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorous"; and is "0.85% potassium, sulfur, sodium, chlorine, and magnesium," he said of himself, "is a boy, does have a gender."
In contrast, he said the sun was "not a boy, the sun doesn't have a gender."
@Manda_like_wine/Twitter
He added:
"Things the sun and I have in common: Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and being your son (sun)."
@Manda_like_wine/Twitter
The creative teen ended the note with:
"Conclusion: one—I am a trans boy. Two—I am very cringey."
@Manda_like_wine/Twitter
Mancino-William received her son's permission to share his special note with others online.
Many on social media were moved by her not-so-"cringy" son's note and praised the relationship he has with his mom.
She followed up her series of tweets with:
"This is a fantastic gift for all of us. And, he wanted me to share to inspire others to be themselves."
She added:
"Just wanted to say thank you to all of you who have reached out with words of delight and support and kindness."
"We've been reading through them together and it's been a morning of a thousand smiles. Love to you all."
With so much heartache and despair that plagued 2020, this poignant example of a mother's unconditional love and acceptance of her queer child is closing the year out with a positive ray of hope for the future.
@thetnholler/Bluesky
@wensilver/Bluesky