November 23 2025, 08:15 
The trans community is under attack like never before, and trans kids, in particular, have been hit hard by the culture of fear and loathing stoked by the current administration.
Enter their parents, who are standing up to the bullies in state capitals, city council chambers, school board meetings, and online.
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This supportive dad wanted to stand up for his trans kids. So he did something truly surprising.
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Here are 7 speeches by heroic parents that should make us all feel proud.
“I will do anything to save him”
This Florida dad stood up for his young trans son this week, telling officials who were considering a trans health care ban, “Look inside yourselves. What if it was your child?”
“He is the most incredible person I know,” the proud dad says of his kid. “He makes me a better man.”
“You have a son, so raise him”
In 2017, a nervous Texas dad, hands in pockets, stood up at a committee hearing in the state capital to give testimony about a proposed discriminatory bathroom bill.
“I was asked to talk today because I have a son,” the dad says of his 15-year-old, a transgender boy. “The thing is, I only knew I had a son for the past two years. Twelve years prior to that, I kept calling him my daughter.”
“I have a million better things to do than be here today”
This mom of a transgender boy testified in tears before the 2021 Texas legislature as Republicans tried to pass a bill to criminalize parents who support their transgender children.
The draconian legislation would have redefined child abuse to include parents consenting to gender-affirming healthcare.
“I’m afraid that by speaking here today that my words will be used against me,” she says, “and my sweet son, whom I love more than life itself, will be taken from me.”
“You are never going to find a right way to do the wrong thing”
This Virginia Beach dad went viral in 2021 when he stood up for his trans teen at a school board meeting considering policies banning trans student-athletes from school sports and barring them from restrooms that match their gender.
The policies were pushed by members of Moms for Liberty and other right-wing groups.
“News flash: They’re the bad guys,” the passionate dad tells board members. “And if you support the same bad policy, guess what? You’re one of the bad guys, too.”
“I wish I knew sooner”
A Florida state representative wiped back tears as she stood before colleagues in the legislature in 2020 to protest a bill banning gender-affirming care for trans youth.
The supportive mom mourned the loss of years with her daughter when she wasn’t her true self.
“These are real people, with real parents,” she tells lawmakers in her kid’s defense, “and one of the first things I felt when my daughter came out was grief. Because I felt like a failed parent.”
“The one thing we cannot do is silence our child’s spirit”
This Christian dad of “a wonderful and beautiful transgender daughter” gave testimony before the Missouri state legislature in 2021 about a bill that would ban trans student-athletes from school sports in the state. He told lawmakers he regretted he once taught her to “deny who she is.”
He’ll move you to tears from the start when he shares, “Today it happens to be her birthday. And I chose to be here. She doesn’t know that.”
“I am begging you”
This impassioned mom to a trans nonbinary teenager in California took to Instagram earlier this year to share her kid’s fear that even the Golden State wasn’t safe to live in anymore. She excoriated those responsible online and IRL for threatening them.
“They’re just living their life,” she says of her child, before tearing up at the thought that they’re scared.
“You guys, do you know how hard that is to hear?”
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