Being transgender is not an easy thing. No one wakes up one day and decides they want to try on the opposite gender and by the next week they’ve completely transitioned. Trans people often explain that they realized they were assigned the wrong gender in early childhood but didn’t have the language for what was happening until they were older.
Once they’ve come to terms with who they are and share it with others, they can lose friends, become isolated from family members, and sometimes lose their livelihood. Coming out as transgender even in today’s more culturally aware world is not for the weak because it may suddenly feel like the weight of the world is upon you while you simultaneously have dwindling support.
In one man’s story, he explains that one of his biggest fears was losing his mom’s love, but instead she turned into his most supportive advocate.
Tiq Milan recently shared the beautiful story of his late mother’s evolving and unwavering support with Moth Stories on Instagram. He opens the video by explaining that he was his mother’s fourth daughter.
“When I was 15, I sat my mother down and I said, ‘Mommy, I got something to tell you,’ and she said, ‘Aww sh*t.’ And I said, ‘Ma, I’m gay,” Milan reveals.
He says his mom quickly became his fiercest ally but wanted to know why he dressed so “mannish,” inquiring why Milan, (who still hadn’t come out as trans at the time) couldn’t be softer like Ellen DeGeneres.
“Now as a transgender person, what we know is that we may lose everybody that we thought loved us and I was scared that I was going to lose her,” Milan says before revealing that he eventually told his mom he was a man.
The day of his top surgery his mom showed up. There was no anger or disappointment in her child, just love and grief. Milan explains that his mother felt as if her daughter died in that moment, acknowledging that he wasn’t the only one experiencing a transition. The story continues to unfold with deep joy and gratitude that causes commenters to cry.
Milan’s story will be featured in Moth Stories anthology “A Point of Beauty,” which can be pre-ordered here. But you can watch Milan’s heartwarming video below (brief profanity heads-up):