We are the parents of an amazing five-year-old. For the past year and a half, he has been kept from us by my partner's family because I am transgender. When my fiancee has tried to get him back and begged to know why they weren't letting her see her son, they said, "because you've got him hanging around that fruitfly."



They were welcoming and supportive of our relationship until they found out I was trans. Then it bothered them that this little boy started calling me "daddy." This was a point made when they took us to court for emergency custody two weeks after we finally got him back from them. I was outed in that courtroom - personal details (and several untruths) about my life on display for everyone in the courtroom who already gathered because they believed (thanks to church, the news, and the bathroom bills) that trans people are pedophiles.

The aunt and uncle won emergency custody despite our affidavits detailing their abuse - us witnessing them pointing a gun at my partner and at her son on Christmas, them admitting to us that they told him we were dead, his own testimonies to us that they told him we "left because [he] was bad" and that they made him hide in the bathroom when my partner showed up with law enforcement and her lawyer to pick him up "so we wouldn't go to jail."



This was five months ago, and we are still awaiting an investigation. In the meantime, they will not allow any visitation through any means to my partner. They forbade his school from allowing her to eat lunch with him or even buy a yearbook with his picture in it. They refuse to answer emails, calls, or texts. My partner didn't lose parental rights to her child, but she isn't being allowed visitation or so much as an update on his well-being. I have held her every single day for five months while she sobbed and grieved her child who is still alive. I helped her redecorate his room to surprise him when he gets to come home, and I find her in there often just looking at his things and writing letters to him. I have watched her heart break on Halloween when she saw dozens of kids in costumes but didn't get a picture of him (which she had at least gotten from her uncle last year), on Thanksgiving when she had no family to be thankful for because they all betrayed her to take her son, and crying into the phone on Christmas when she called and got no answer (because this was her first Christmas without her son - we drove down to SC last year to try to bring him home and were threatened with legal action, but at least we were together).



There are so many details that I can't share because this is such a controversial legal case and I want to protect my partner and our son at all costs, but I can say this: my fiancee is an incredible mother. She is selfless, and her only flaw was trusting the people who she believed had her and her son's best interest at heart. She is the strongest person I've ever met. I love him like he were my own, and I am so honored that he considers me his other parent. I have worked with kids since I was 16, and I mean him no harm. We adore this little boy. Our family, our friends, our church, our coworkers all know it. We have a 2 bedroom home with everything he needs. We have no violent or criminal pasts hindering us from giving him a good life. We are sober, professional, and have passed numerous background checks to work with other children. It isn't fair that we don't have our own.



As for our son, he is our superhero. He loves us both so immensely that it makes all this nightmare worthwhile to know that we have someone counting on us so much. He is so open minded and curious about the world. He is tolerant of all kinds of people, wise beyond his years, kind and good in every way. He is our greatest blessing, and we will keep fighting for him and for our family. Will you stand with us and sign and share our petition?