Tug of War 72.2

It was no secret that Charles Lambert, Tiffany's school principal, wasn't exactly a progressive man. Like most of the town, he took a very dim view of any and all movements that distorted his idea of an ideal society, based on the traditional family model and respect for conservative values. However, even someone like Lambert couldn't ignore the money a student like Timothy Foster could bring to his school.

Therefore, he was forced to make certain concessions throughout the year, like allowing Tiffany to participate in all school activities as a female student, which certainly displeased the parents of many students. Yes, despite all the money, Lambert was happy to see Timothy go. It would certainly make his life much easier. He just hoped he wouldn't have to deal with another trans student any time soon. In his opinion, things were so much simpler in the past...

Before that nightmare would come to an end, though, Lambert had to make one last concession, and that was to allow Timothy's stepmother to give a brief speech during her stepson's graduation. Lambert didn't know why this was so important to the woman, but he hoped she wouldn't say anything that would make his life even harder.

Susan took the stage getting little to any encouragement from the audience. The half dozen people who applauded her did so with the enthusiasm of someone who is about to sit in the dentist's chair. That didn't seem to put Susan down, however, and the woman smiled radiantly at everyone.

"Thank you... thank you very much all of you" she started saying. "All I want to do today is to say thank you to this amazing community for accepting and embracing my daughter at such an important and defining moment in her life."

The people in the audience looked at each other, confused. They didn't know who Susan was talking about, but it definitely didn't seem to be about them. What they didn't know, of course, was that the woman had a very good reason to start her speech that way, even if what she was saying wasn't necessarily true.

"It's never easy to accept what's different" she continued. "The first impulse of many people is to judge, segregate, attack, and this can be especially hard on trans people. To illustrate what I'm saying, I'd like to tell you all a little story. Don't worry, this won't take more than a few minutes."

"Many, many years ago, there was a young woman living in constant pain. She was a high school student, and the main cause of her suffering was that, even though she had always knew she was female inside, the girl had been born a boy, and until that day she was being forced to live like one. But that wasn't just it. Being different and unable to adjust to what society expected of her, the girl was ostracized and humiliated by her peers over and over again.

"One young man, in particular, seemed to take special delight in turning the girl's life into a living hell. She was beaten several times, literally thrown in the trash almost daily, not to mention countless other forms of public humiliation and abuse. The situation was so serious that the young woman even considered taking her own life on several occasions."

"But rest assured, all of you, this story has a happy ending. Eventually, the young woman was able to rebuild her life. She moved to another town, and finally started living as her true self. And then, many years later, she met her high school bully again. I'm well aware how unlikely this sounds, but the truth was that the woman found that that boy, once so nasty and cruel, had turned into a good, loving man. When he discovered who the woman really was, he asked for forgiveness for all the harm he had done to her, and the two of them eventually fell in love."

"And here's the big surprise, my friends. The story I just told you is my real life story. I am the trans woman who once was a bullied teenager, and Richard Foster, who you all know very well, is the loving husband who used to be a transphobic young man."

Susan took a moment to savor the astonishment that such a revelation had caused in the audience. All those people had known Richard for two decades, ever since he had been transferred to the military base there. The fact that he not only had a trans daughter but was also married to a trans woman certainly came as a shock to everyone.

Most of Susan's story was real. She had indeed been persecuted and humiliated by Richard in her teens, something that had left deep marks on her soul. The part that Richard knew the truth about her and had accepted her, though, was obviously a lie – a lie that would be very useful for her plans...

In the middle of the audience, Tiffany was as shocked as everyone around her. Then Susan was trans herself? Now that she was thinking about it, Tiffany thought that explained a lot, like the fact that Susan always said she had never been able to get pregnant. But the girl knew that the story of her father being a loving husband was bullshit. Why was Susan saying that? What did she intend to do?

But the truth was that no one was more dumbfounded than Richard himself. This can't be true, he thought, on the verge of collapse. I can't believe I got married and have been sleeping with a sissy... The same fucking sissy I used to torment in high school!

What Richard didn't know, however, was that things would still get much, much worse for him...

"In any case" Susan continued, when the buzz through the auditorium finally started to die off. "I shared my story with you tonight to prove that love and tolerance is always the best way. I know a lot of trans people still suffer pretty much nowadays, but I'm happy to know that the change has already started. The fact the Richard and I are together shows that this is possible. Unfortunately, though, we are not going to be a couple for much longer. No, we didn't have a fight or anything. It's just that Richard... he... or should I say she? Also discovered something important about herself...