SAN JOSE — U.S. Rep. Mike Honda announced in a tweet Wednesday that he is “the proud grandpa of a transgender grandchild,” sparking an immediate outpouring of support for the Democratic congressman — who said he hopes she “can feel safe at school without fear of being bullied.”
Along with the tweet, Honda posted a photo of himself with his arm tightly around his grandchild, who has shoulder-length hair and a sweet smile.
His revelation comes in the midst of a national conversation about people who question their gender identity, which one news magazine has dubbed the “transgender moment.”
Honda’s comments were welcomed by gay and transgender activists, including many at San Jose’s Billy DeFrank LGBT Community Center.
“It’s surprising just to hear a congressperson tweet something like that, but that’s the beginning of something new, especially for transgender people who have been going through a lot of discrimination with their gender identity,” said Adriana Covarrubias, who was volunteering at the center Wednesday afternoon. “As a grandparent, he’s going to see the things the child is going to go through.”
Stories about violence against teens such as Sasha Fleischman — who identifies as neither male nor female and whose skirt was set afire on a bus in Oakland in late 2013 — have increased awareness of transgender issues.
Reality TV star Bruce Jenner, a former Olympian who once appeared on a Wheaties box, plans to begin living as a woman, family sources told several media outlets earlier this month. The 65-year-old Jenner reportedly has said he knew since he was 5 that his “true self” was female.
Honda’s tweet received many encouraging messages on Twitter.
Shannon Aber said the child is “lucky to have supportive people in her life!” Another person tweeted: “Thanks for publicly being an awesome grandpa to a wonderful kid.”
The age of Honda’s grandchild wasn’t immediately clear, and the congressman, through a spokesman, declined to comment further Wednesday. But the announcement also sparked online questions of how a child so young, who was born a boy, could be committed to life as a girl.
But Covarrubias, who was born a boy but identifies as a woman, said she knew she was female when she was 3.
“I felt misplaced. I was feeling very confused. I isolated myself from the world,” said Covarrubias, adding that she was bullied both at school and at home by conservative parents who didn’t understand her.
“When you have the support from your close family,” she said, “you transition better because you don’t have that fear of being neglected or avoided by people because you have the most important support … the family.”
Honda has represented Silicon Valley in Congress since 2001. He was re-elected last fall after a heated battle against fellow Democrat Ro Khanna, a former Obama administration official from Fremont. Honda is the founder and chairman of the Congressional Anti-Bullying Caucus and is a founding member of the LGBT Equality Caucus.
Honda’s Wikipedia page was changed Wednesday afternoon to say that his daughter Michelle, who works as a public health educator in San Jose, is the mother of Honda’s two grandsons and a transgender granddaughter. The entry referenced a Huffington Post article published Wednesday by Marsha Aizumi, who attended a recent Southern California conference in which Honda mentioned his transgender grandchild in a video. Aizumi became an LGBT advocate largely because of the bullying her transgender son endured in high school.
In the video shown at the conference, Honda said he was proud to be the grandfather of a transgender granddaughter.
“I’m heartened that Marsha Aizumi was so touched by my message,” he said in response to the Huffington Post article. “Marsha has been one of the leading advocates for AAPI transgender youth, and I am proud to work with her.
“We need to ensure that our LGBTQ youth are never bullied because of their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. These children need our protection and our love.”
Contact Julia Prodis Sulek at 408-278-3409. Follow her at Twitter.com/juliasulek.
