A transgender waitress posted the story of what she called a "stellar
parenting moment" to Facebook, and the Internet is loving the tale.With almost 3k "likes" since she posted it late Sunday afternoon, Liv Hnilicka, who is from Minneapolis according to her Facebook page, decided to make the post public so people would share it.
"Way to go, mom and dads out there making space for transfolks/gnc people like me," she wrote. The post was sparked by a little girl's seemingly simple question. She asked her dad whether Hnilicka was a boy or a girl. Hnilicka admitted she was "nervous" about answering the little girl's
question, but her explanation seemed to make perfect sense to the tot. Here's the full text of Hnilicka's post.
"Stellar parenting moment of the day: This afternoon I was at my waitressing job on a beautiful early fall
afternoon. Two parents and their young daughter came in; the tall burly
dad adorably scratching his back on the door as they walked in.
As I was
filling the water station, he came up to me and said, "My daughter just
asked if you were a boy or a girl. I didn't want to speak for you so
would you like to talk to her?
" I nervously said yes and walked to their
table. "Hi, I like your hair ribbon," I said. "I heard you asked if I
was a boy or girl. I think the important thing to remember is that
everyone can be anything they want to be in this world. And it's also
important to try to be the best selves we can be for our family and
friends. And even to strangers. So to answer your question, I was told
that I was a boy when I was little and now I live my adult life as a
girl. It sounds complicated but it's actually pretty simple. Do you have
any questions for me?" She looked at me smiling and simply said,
'Nope!'
I walked away from the table feeling really good about parents
intentionally engaging their children about possibly difficult topics.
And showing that giving people the power to voice their truths in this
complicated world is beautiful and healing.
Way to go, mom and dads out there making space for transfolks/gnc people like me. (Also I made this post public in case you want to share it with parents you may know.)" Hnilicka told ABC News that the feedback so far has been "really
positive. The response from parents has been something that excites me."But there's something she didn't put in her post that she does want to share.
"I do want to say in the wake of this viral post that I don't think it's
a good idea to ask every person you interact with in your life to
explain themselves but if you're wondering how someone identifies
themselves to say, 'I use she/her pronouns (or whatever pronouns you
prefer), what pronouns do you use?"' It's a good benchmark of honoring
someones identity."
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