I recently tried to have The Talk. As a lifelong liberal Democrat, most people in my social circle are also liberal Democrats. Most of them don’t know my son is trans identifying. That is, I haven’t made any mention of it. I. Do. Not. Talk. About. It.

[...]

The first time was a few years ago, when my friend L. was reminiscing about our shared love for Harry Potter. She brought it up, and she had previously in the evening mentioned that she thought perhaps COVID did come from a lab leak after all. “Aha!” I thought. “A crack! Maybe she’s open to hearing about my perspective as the parent of an ROGD autistic boy. Maybe she even already agrees with me!” I became cautiously excited. My adrenalin started to race. She asked me; what did I think about J. K. Rowling now, given her recent comments? I took a breath. I contemplated lying. I decided I was sick and tired of not speaking up. I said: “I agree with her.”

It was like all the air was sucked out of the room. I instantly knew she did not agree with J. K., or with me. I felt the portcullis crash down. It was like I could hear her thoughts - “Oh, she’s just not informed on the subject. I must educate her. Poor lost soul.” I wanted to say - oh honey. I know you think you are ahead of me. But you are not.

[...]

I did not vote for Trump, but I was relieved when he won. I am so happy about the Executive Orders to stop the dangerous gender non-sense. But my Trump-euphoria is beginning to wane, because people like my friends, smart, compassionate people, think anything he says must be wrong because he said it. They cannot evaluate anything he does on its own merits. We’re in for a long four years.