Carolyn Hays, a pseudonym used by the author of the new book, A Girlhood: Letter to My Transgender Daughter, divides her life into two distinct parts: before the knock at the door and after. The man knocking was an agent with the Department of Children and Families. An anonymous source had called to report Hays’ family simply because they supported their trans daughter.
In Hays’ book, she doesn’t specify which southern state her family was living in when the knock occurred—she wants first and foremost to protect her daughter’s privacy. But for Texas readers, the events of the story feel close to home, especially as the state’s political leaders continue to aim their battering rams at families with transgender children.
