Ziva Mann remembers how joyful and smiley her daughter was as a child — the family even gave her the nickname “Giggles.”
“She was just sunshine,” Mann said. That changed around second grade, when her joy began to fade. “She got sadder and sadder,” Mann recalled. “It was like watching someone disappear.”
Mann later realized that her child’s growing sadness was connected to a struggle to reckon with her gender identity.
Her daughter came out as transgender at home in Massachusetts four years ago. “Mom, I’m a girl,” Mann remembers hearing her say. Though she was surprised by the news, she quickly came to admire her daughter’s bravery.
Since then, the family has striven to find the best ways to support Ellie within their modern Orthodox community, where tradition and strict gender roles shape daily life. They’ve managed to find emotional and spiritual resources close to home at a time when transgender rights are under attack nationwide.
Read more at AP News
