Md. Mom = Hero to Trans Kids

The mother of a Maryland transgender girl is embracing the role of PFLAG mom and working to educate teachers and police officers on what it means to be gender-variant.

Catherine Hyde is the mother of Will Gullucci, a 17-year-old transgender girl who attends high school at Marriotts Ridge High School in Howard County. After a police-sponsored video on drunk driving featured a gratuitous shot of Gullucci dressed in women's clothes -- which elicited laughter from students -- Hyde complained to the police department. Hyde followed up the complaint with discussions on transgender empathy, which "led to the department's decision to incorporate transgender issues into training for the entire police force," according to The Baltimore Sun.

Hyde, an active member of Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, has worked alongside her daughter to change things at Gullucci's school.

"As part of the Howard school system's professional development day on Friday, Gullucci is working with her mother to give a workshop on 'Protecting Transgender and Gender-Variant Children from Bullying,'" reports the Sun. "The session will be offered to school counselors, student services personnel, and health and physical-education teachers."

Read the full story here.