The Fords say that the debate about transgender children using the bathrooms of their choice isn’t really about bathrooms at all. They say it’s a debate about discrimination. This is their story.

— Emma Brown

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By Ron Ford Jr. and Vanessa Ford

We are fortunate to have two wonderful children, each with an intense zeal for life. Ronnie, our six-and-a-half-year-old son, is filled with empathy and a love for all things active. Ellie, our five-and-a-half-year-old daughter, can light up a room with her magnetic smile and loves to run, laughing, as mommy and daddy chase her to the park.

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Ellie is also transgender. She was born male, and we all thought she was a boy until, at age four, she let us know who she truly was.

When our children were born, our minds were filled with countless dreams for their futures. Like all parents, we hoped for lives in which our children were happy and fulfilled. We held our babies and pictured what those lives might be like: Making friends, discovering passions, pursuing happiness, finding love. As parents, we share common bonds with anyone else who has raised a child with love and care: We build safe environments for our children to learn and grow, we guide our children so they can stand strong as adults, and we hope that our children will bring joy and positive change to the world around them.

Having a transgender child doesn’t change any of that, though it does make it a little more complicated. And we have fears about Ellie’s safety and well-being that we never anticipated.

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In many ways, we are lucky.

Ellie’s school has been a model of inclusiveness. No matter a student’s ethnicity, race, physical challenge, or other identity, her school actively works to embrace and celebrate differences. When we first met with teachers and staff to discuss Ellie leaving as a boy and returning as a girl, we expected to have a fight about bathrooms, dress codes, names on attendance sheets. Instead, we were met with a warm welcome, clarity that “of course she can use the girls’ bathroom … she’s a girl!” and a letter to parents — signed by the administration –- explaining Ellie’s transition from boy to girl and expressing the school’s support. Her classroom teacher stocked the bookshelves with books that affirmed Ellie’s identity, and the teacher made a point to read those books during class in the first few weeks of school. Ellie’s fellow students, taking the clear cue from teachers and staff, treated Ellie like the girl she is and have embraced her as a member of the school community. Ellie has blossomed in her school. She feels safe, loved, empowered and, most importantly, just like every other kid there.

Sometimes we ask ourselves: “What if?” What if we lived in a place that wasn’t so supportive of transgender youth? What if we lived in one of the states suing the Department of Justice and protesting that transgender students shouldn’t be protected under Title IX? What if Ellie was forced to attend a school where adults were not only allowed, but empowered and encouraged, to discriminate against her? What if, because the adults were able to do this, the school transformed into a place where her peers could tease and bully our daughter without fearing consequences from teachers or staff?

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What if this caused so much pain for our Ellie, with her magnetic smile and love for life, that she felt she did not want to live?

For us, these questions are hypothetical. For many transgender students, and their parents, these questions are all too real.

The national conversation about transgender people — about my daughter Ellie — isn’t truly about bathrooms. It is about discrimination. It is about whether or not transgender people should be welcomed fully into our society. It is about whether or not our daughter should be welcomed fully into our society.

If Ellie were forced to use the boys’ bathroom or the nurse’s bathroom each time she had to go, we know what would happen to our dear daughter. We see it in her transgender friends who live in less-welcoming communities, and through the eyes of their parents. Ellie understands, even at her young age, what being treated differently means. She would cry. She would withdraw. She would retreat back to that place she lived inside herself, before she told us who she was. She would feel alone, shameful, and unwelcome by her teachers and her peers. She would feel separate, and she would not feel equal.

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We are an interracial couple. Fifty years ago, in many places across the country, it would have been legal to discriminate against us because, many people said, a fundamental part of who we are was somehow offensive and perverse. Our daughter is transgender. In many places across the country, it is legal to discriminate against her because, many people say, a fundamental part of who she is somehow offensive and perverse.

We are thankful that the Department of Education, the Department of Justice, and the Obama administration are standing with our daughter Ellie. They understand that our transgender daughter, our precious little transgender girl, is first and foremost our daughter and our little girl. But as a society, we must do more. We must refuse to give in to fear and misunderstanding. We must embrace transgender children and adults with love, not discrimination, and empathy, not hatred.

Our daughter, like thousands of transgender and gender non-conforming children, does not want special treatment. She wants to make friends, to learn, to participate in sports, to go trick-or-treating on Halloween and wear pretty dresses on her birthday.

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And, yes, she wants use the bathroom that matches her gender identity when she needs to pee. Not because that’s special treatment, but because that’s the same treatment everyone else receives. Our daughter wants to be included, just like everyone else.

We want that for her, too. We want that for all kids like her.

wp Request for Reader Submission Share your perspective: We may publish selected responses with your name, age and where you're from. Tell the Post Read our full submission guidelines here

Here are some of the reader responses:

“I am the father of a gender non-conforming daughter. At age 5 she refused to wear dresses.”

I am the father of a gender non-conforming daughter. At age 5 she refused to wear dresses. She sometimes said that she wanted to be a boy and periodically asked to be called by a boy’s name. She often refers to herself as “he” in her various imaginary games. At age 6, she started asking for “fancy” clothes, i.e., boys’ suits, which she loves wearing. That being said, she has never complained about using a girls’ bathroom, has never said she wished she had a penis and refers to herself as our daughter.

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Her teachers have been incredibly understanding and supportive, and her fellow elementary school students appear to treat her just like anyone else. I confess that I don’t understand all of her preferences but what I do understand is that she’s my child and deserving of my unconditional love, support and acceptance. My daughter is a remarkably happy, easy-going child and we attribute that, in part, to the casual acceptance of those around her. Of course I have no idea what path my daughter will take through life but I know that the objective of all parents is to help their children become the best versions of themselves that they can be. It baffles and infuriates me that some people might stand in my way to do that.

– Steve Snyder, 56, from Bethesda, Maryland

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“As a Christian this deeply disturbs me! It has gotten progressively worse.”

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I find it outrageous. As a Christian this deeply disturbs me! It has gotten progressively worse. My daughters are grown but I won’t subject my 3 yr old gbaby to such foolishness. She should never have to worry about who’s in the bathroom with her. The problem with this is it will open the door to perverts and that IS the problem. As far as the little boy wanting to be a little girl, I wont even comment but to say, Puhlease, God makes NO mistakes! – Sonja Wilson, 48, from Waldorf, Maryland

“I would have been so pleased and proud of us as Americans if we could have had a respectful dialogue on the issue…” I understand, appreciate, and respect the point of view expressed by these parents. On the other hand, most people (I am not one!) feel strongly that there should be separate bathrooms for males and females. Why? What are the emotion issues at stake, really – I reject the idea that there is a safety issue involved. I would have been so pleased and proud of us as Americans if we could have had a respectful dialogue on the issue instead of the two opposing camps looking for a fight to advance their own individual agendas without respect for the others’ point of view. But we didn’t do that. – Michael Weinstein, 57, from Raleigh, North Carolina

“Sometimes people fear other people who are different because they lack information.” This is a good article. I support people being who ever they are. I also believe that this is a civil rights issue. Bathrooms should be built that are unisex so this does not continue to be a real issue. However, I have a few questions as I am trying to learn more about transgender people. Is this a chromosome issue? What happens when this child starts to grow facial hair? Will she have some kind of surgery to deal with genitalia? What about here voice? Will she take hormones? Will these hormones stunt her growth? Does she get psychological counseling ? Sometimes people fear other people who are different because they lack information. Just like racism, sexism, ageism etc. – Stephanie Rones, 58, from Washington, D.C.