LAST WEEK, DEVON Berryann posted a Facebook status about her six-year-old son who, among other things, happens to enjoy wearing nail polish.
“My six year old son likes to wear nail polish,” she wrote. “He likes to wear girls’ clothes and tutus. He tells me about the boys he likes at school. He says he will marry them and adopt babies.”
Maybe he will outgrow it. Maybe not. I love and accept him for who he is. I always thought that doing that would protect him from the pain of hurtful words and bullies, and I didn’t worry.
But one day her son arrived home from school and told her that he had been teased by classmates for wearing nail polish. Berryann stated that, for the first time, she considered getting him to take it off and “hiding that part of himself”.
Why? Because following the Orlando shooting, she was “scared that he would be gunned down one night when he was out having a good time with his friends”.
In that moment I was so terrified that I wondered if it would be better to stop appeasing him.
But then she reconsidered and recounted the reasons why she allows her son to express himself.
Because it makes him happy. Because nothing hurts more than seeing your child truly sad. Because pretending to be someone you’re not to please other people only leads to self-loathing.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154232144747930&set=a.10152032573122930.1073741833.681297929&type=3&theater
And instead of bowing to the bullies, she came up with a much better solution: she bought him nail polish and let him wear a tutu.
So here he is world. See my boy for the amazing person he is. Show him love. Show him acceptance. Help us change the world into one that deserves him.
The message of tolerance and acceptance has clearly resonated with many as it has racked up over 20,000 shares on Facebook since it was posted.
Berryann told ABC News that she was heartened by the outpouring of support.
It’s made me nervous having this attention on us, but otherwise, it made me happy. If he grows up to deciding he’s gay, or transgender or whatever, it makes me happy to know that he’ll have so much support.
Wonderful.
