Son of TransAction FL Advisory Council Member Speaks Out for Trans Rights
Written by: Jaison Hawkes
Jaison is the son of SueZie Hawkes who sits on our TransAction Florida Advisory Council
My name is Jaison Hawkes. I am the son of SueZie Hawkes and Cheryl Hawkes. I am 14, turning 15 in August. I am in JROTC at my school.
Some people think that transgender people are disturbing and they do not like them. But what I think they do not understand is that even though they may have transitioned, it does not mean they changed as a person. They are literally the same person.
I absolutely love my life. Everything about it, I wouldn’t change one thing. I think that is how SueZie feels too, because she loves her family and now she loves who she is. Things in our house have changed since SueZie transitioned. SueZie seems a lot happier, my mother seems a lot happier, and I am happier.
I think it is wrong to treat transgender men and women like trash. They are just like the rest of us. They have a family, friends, and feelings. I can understand that at first it is hard, but trust me, over time you will understand that it is an honor to live or even be friends with a transgender person.
People at my school and my friends in my neighborhood support SueZie. But there are people that say if that happened to their dad that they would straight up punch him in the face or they would never talk to him. People like that do not want things to change in their life. I personally think that we as a whole need to change and that at some point in time we will, eventually people will accept transgender men and women for who they are trying to be – authentically themselves.
Transgender men and women do not transition for attention. They do it; because that is the person, they have always felt that they should be. When SueZie first told me that she was going to transition, I really was not surprised, because she had told me before she was female inside, and I new, at some point, she was going to do something that would change her outside forever.