A Christian mother has shared the story of her family's acceptance of their transgender son in a controversial piece for Woman's Day magazine.
The article, "The Son God Gave Me," tells the story of Gina Kentopp and how she used her faith to learn how to love and accept her son, Kyle. When Kyle, assigned female at birth, first came out to her as lesbian, Kentopp struggled to deal with the information.
Kentopp began soul-searching and reading memoirs written by gay Christians, and one author changed her path of acceptance.
"One day, I was reading one of the memoirs in the bathtub," Kentopp said. "Instead of asking God to change your child, the author suggested, why don't you ask Him to change your heart? It was a revelation: I had never even considered that idea."
As time went on, Kentopp encouraged openness within the family. Kentopp said nurturing a strong bond with Kyle was the most important thing she could do for her child.
"My baby was going to face so much hostility in the world that he needed a soft place to crash," Kentopp said. "He had to be able to count on us." Kyle eventually felt comfortable enough with his mother to confide that he identifed as male, not female. He is now a sophomore in college.
Kentopp said she was moved to share her family's story after learning about the disproportionate rate of suicide attempts among transgender people.
Woman's Day has received some negative attention for publishing the story, but the positive outweighs the negative, editor in chief Susan Spencer told The Huffington Post. The positive feedback, she said, confirms that publishing the story was the right decision. It was featured in this month's issue and is available online.
"We've wanted to touch on this subject for some time, and when we found Gina, we were so moved by her story that we knew the time was right," Spencer told HuffPo. "A devout Christian, Gina came to believe that loving your child and putting him or her first is the most important thing, regardless of one's preconceived notions or personal beliefs."