An “accidental advocate”

I wanted to write about Trinity Neal and her family since I first met her and her mother at an LGBT conference in Philadelphia earlier this year. When “Delaware Today” accepted my pitch, I made plans to go to Delaware to spend the day with the Neals.

The Sunday before our interview, Wilmington’s News-Journal published part one of a two-day front-page story about Trinity and her transition from male to female. It was a detailed, comprehensive account, making my story unnecessarily.

I needed a different approach. After talking to DeShanna, Trinity’s mom, I found it. This is the story of an “accidental advocate.” DeShanna’s focus is on her children and ensuring they are safe and happy. She never sought the limelight — all of the work she put in fighting Medicaid to get Trinity’s hormone blockers paid for and the efforts she’s made to create a safe school and home environment was to help her child. support but the limelight found her. She’s now in the forefront of the LGBT rights movement. And while, yes, she does it for Trinity, she’s also working hard on behalf of her three sons, hoping they become adults in a more accepting, loving world.

You can read the story here.