That old adage that children can teach their parents a thing or two rings true for the Culpepper family in upstate South Carolina.
In a heartwarming new video, trans teen Chase Culpepper and her mother Teresa recall the conversations they've had together over the years as the two of them came to terms with who Chase really is.
“It hasn't been a straight line from ‘you are this to this,'” said Theresa. “But to finally get to a destination where your child can say ‘This is who I am' and say ‘Yes you are babe, you be the best that you can be'”
Chase, if you're not familiar with her story, led a successful legal fight this year against the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles after the DMV told her that her gender identity was a “disguise,” and that she would have to take the driver's license photo as a man. The DMV subsequently agreed to change their policies and now allows applicants to be photographed as they are regardless of officials' expectations of what they think applicants should look like.
“I'm just looking forward to the day where I can look in the mirror and be so happy with the person that I am, the woman that I am,” said Chase. “But for the world, I'm just looking forward to better days for everyone. Days where people don't have to struggle so hard to be themselves and to be happy.”
