What is the point for me, mother of a trans girl, the jubilee pilgrimage?
Testimony of Marisol Ortiz (Spain), Spanish mother participating in thejubilee pilgrimage of "The Gionata's tent and the other associations" with the Christians LGBT+, their family members and pastoral workers who accompany them. Translated by the Spaniard by the volunteers of the Gionata project
For me, the Jubilee represents a deep necessity: on the one hand it is time to ask for forgiveness, on the other is the opportunity to celebrate all the good I have received.
We parents are not the real protagonists of this story. The protagonists are our children and our LGBTQ+daughters. We can only be by their side, as supporters, so that they always find a real and welcoming house in us, and why together we can work for a society that fully recognizes them and respect their rights.
The Jubilee, for me, is first of all once to ask for forgiveness. As parents, often unconsciously, we deposit many expectations about our children. i Don't know any father or no mother who has ever consciously wanted to have a son or daughter LGBTQ+.
And that's why I feel the need to ask for forgiveness for having put my expectations to my daughter's life and truth. I also have to ask for forgiveness for those moments when my fear and ignorance have ended up blocking my love for her.
But the Jubilee is also a festive time. In the family we embarked on a transforming journey: I was able to rediscover my daughter and, at the same time, I learned to rediscover myself.
She helped me to become a better person, to welcome and recognize the unique value of every human being for what it is: a son, a daughter, a person loved by God. And then yes, the Jubilee is also celebration: it is welcoming, with gratitude and the deep of the heart, the gift of God for my family.
Let's celebrate it together!
>Official info on the jubilee pilgrimage of "La Tenda di Gionata and other associations"
