This father and daughter transitioned together from mother and son
A father and daughter have transitioned together from mother and son.
The couple shared their journey over two years, going through the process together.
Eric Maison, 39, started his transition to male in Autumn 2015.
His daughter Corey, 15, also started her transition with hormone treatment in 2015.
“Corey’s bravery definitely inspired me to come out as transgender,” said Maison.
“To see how courageous she is, despite all of the cruelty the world shows her at times, makes me so proud. I thought, ‘If she can do this, so can I.’”
The pair shared photos pre and post transition with ABC News.
Speaking to the news outlet last year, Corey said: “We’re not a threat… We are just like any other kids. We only want people to accept and love us for who we are.”
Corey identified as female since being two-years-old, says Maison.
She says she was inspired by activist Jazz Jennings, and decided to come out despite being bullied when she was younger.
Maison says he goes by ‘mom’ despite having transitioned to male. He told ABC that he had always known that he was male.
One of five children, Corey shares their home with father Les Maison and her four siblings Chelsea, Kailee, Ellen and Willow.
Les said that Eric came out as transgender a year and a half ago.
“My reaction a first was a little bit of surprise,” Les Maison said.
“I was happy on one hand that, ‘Here we go, somebody gets to live their life as who they are.’ On the other side was, ‘How does this impact myself, our relationship and my family?”
He says that Eric hated having large breasts, and joked that if he got breast cancer he could have a double mastectomy.
“I am very happy I had breast removal surgery and am taking hormones,” Eric said.
“I feel like a huge weight has been lifted, like I was carrying the weight of the world, and now I am free.”
“If nothing else, it’s made our relationship stronger, it’s made it better,” Les says.
“The biggest misconception in terms of the question [is], ‘Does this now make me gay?’ No, it doesn’t. Gender is who you go to bed as. Sexual preference, which is completely different, is who you go to bed with. He’s had top surgery. He doesn’t plan to have bottom surgery.”
Since taking office less than two months ago, President Trump and his team have acted to dismantle civil rights protections for transgender kids in education that had been extended under the Obama government. Under Trump, the Department of Justice has also quietly shelved an Obama-era legal challenge against North Carolina’s state-level anti-LGBT law.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court announced that it will not go ahead with a planned hearing on transgender rights, in light of the Trump administration’s removal of key protections.
