-
You can see it right
-
here. Thank you for being here. I
-
appreciate it.
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Tell me what you're thinking and feeling
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right now, Gary.
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I'm hurt
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bad. Really bad.
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What do you What do you have to say?
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Why?
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I just I just want you to know that you
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didn't do anything wrong.
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He didn't do anything wrong.
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What do you have to say about his
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reactions to this? I mean, you you can
-
see this is very raw for him. What are
-
your feelings about about the impact on
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on on your father, Gary? I'm I'm really
-
hurt and I I was kind of scared honestly
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just seeing his reaction how I don't
-
know if it was anger or if it was just
-
upset.
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What do you want from him?
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I just I I just want you to understand
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that this has nothing to do with how you
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raised me or anything like that. And I
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just want you to be okay
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with I just want you to be okay with me
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being transgender.
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Steph, he feels like he's failed as a
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father. He feels like he he let you
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down. He's gone back to the point of he
-
says one time for Halloween. Yeah. Uh
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talk about that.
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He dressed up
-
like a
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girl. I thought it was funny at first.
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Now I certainly don't.
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And what was the age? High school,
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maybe?
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It was It was during high school. Uhhuh.
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And your reaction at the time?
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I thought it was
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Halloween, you know. So I just went
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along with it. actually pinched him on
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his behind and said he made a
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good-looking girl. But I was only
-
joking. He's not a good-looking
-
girl. He's a very beautiful
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man.
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Right. He feels that he's failed you as
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a father. Do you feel that this is a a
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choice you've made?
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No. I I've always been like this.
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I just hid it from everyone.
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How do you feel about it? I just feel
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like this is me. This is this is who I
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am. And how long have you hidden this?
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As early as seven years old. I don't
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think he
-
understands the burden that that is, how
-
much energy that takes, how that affects
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you to live an inauthentic life.
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Just imagine waking up every day and
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seeing and being someone that you don't
-
want to be. What do what do you
-
hear in those words? What what do you
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hear? I hear confusion.
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So you hear someone that
-
is confused, mentally ill. Yes. What
-
if this is not a mental illness? What
-
if this
-
individual
-
is
-
pre-wired to be a
-
woman but in a man's body? Just I'm just
-
saying what if
-
that is the case? What could you imagine
-
that experience would be like for that
-
person?
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Pretty hard. Pretty hard.
