Roswell family, neighbor of sponsoring lawmaker, responds to transgender legislation.
Now that we’re through the primaries and on to the General Election contest for Georgia State Senate District 56, I want to take a step back and look at our campaign journey so far. Specifically, where it all began.
My wife Ellie and I never had specific ambitions to get involved with local or state politics. We’re small businesspeople and very active parents with a big family. That is to say, our plates are already pretty full. But we’ve always encouraged our kids to be themselves, whatever that might be, as long as they don’t hurt themselves or others—a freedom which gave two of our kiddos the space they needed to explore who they are as young trans people.
But last summer, our state senator, neighbor, and former coworker John Albers co-sponsored SB 140, a senate bill which became law that removed all parental and familial choice in pursuing gender-affirming care for transgender minors and which negated all forms of consent offered by youth, parents, guardians, or family members.
It’s a bill that directly targeted two of our children by blocking lifesaving healthcare options critical to help them deal with depression, anxiety, eating disorders, self-harm, and suicidal ideation. And it’s a bill about which our elected official refused to speak with us despite dozens of attempts to reach him across multiple channels (but hey, we got signed up for his newsletter!).
Before we decided to run for office, and before we even started our TransFam meetup, Appen media covered our family back in May 2023 as we reacted to SB 140’s attack on our children’s healthcare. Looking back now, it’s an emotional reminder not just of what motivated us to ultimately run for State Senate District 56 but also how personally our kids felt the state’s intrusion upon themselves and their siblings.
The original Appen Media article (edited for typos) is included below.
“That’s a closed door.”
Roswell family, neighbor of sponsoring lawmaker, responds to transgender legislation.
By DELANEY TARR
Originally published in Appen Media, May 19, 2023
The Jordan-Grimes household consists of five children. From left are: Sean Grimes, 14; Lily Grimes Jordan, 17; Jack Jordan, 15; Onyx Grimes, 16 and Malcolm Jordan, 12. Photo by JD Jordan, 2023.
ROSWELL, Ga. — The Jordan-Grimes household in Roswell greets people with a wall of energy.
JD and Ellie Jordan share five kids, 3 dogs, two cats and a rabbit. They’re a typical “blended” family, with kids excited to show off old family photos and the “fat dog.”
But a recently passed piece of legislation looms over the family, a Georgia law that limits medical care for transgender minors. Two of the five kids are transgender—Lily Grimes Jordan, 17, is a trans woman, and Onyx Grimes, 16, is a trans man.
The legislation, which bans medical procedures for transgender minors, including genital reassignment surgeries and hormone replacement therapies, was co-sponsored by Republican State Sen. John Albers who lives just down the street. Transgender youth will still have access to puberty blockers prior to turning 18.
Requests for Sen. Albers to comment on the topic went unanswered.
State Sen. Brandon Beach (R-Alpharetta), another co-sponsor of the legislation, spoke frankly about the reasoning behind his decision. He said young people who make “dramatic changes” at a young age may end up regretting them.
The Jordan-Grimes family is frustrated with the new law. JD says he’s angry to see it happening with the help of Albers, a Roswell legislator.
“How was this legislation informed by his constituents?” JD said.
JD and Ellie say they worry that the law will harm transgender youth.
“You have just publicly told your children you are never allowed to be this or to broach this with you,” Ellie said. “Because you co-sponsored this law.”
As parents to two transgender children, Ellie and JD are familiar with the reasoning behind the legislation. Lawmakers stated concern with children making permanent medical decisions before they turn 18.
Ellie said those ideas are based on “assumptions” that parents are ready to let their children have surgery the moment a kid comes out. It’s not like that, she said, the process is long, complex and involves many medical steps.
DEPRESSION DIAGNOSIS
Lily Grimes Jordan, 17, a trans woman in Roswell, wants to be a “more accurate representation’’ of what it’s like to be a transgender teenager in light of a Georgia law that bans medical procedures for transgender minors. Photo by JD Jordan, 2023.
Lily’s transition started not with a coming out, but with a depression diagnosis. In the summer of 2020 JD and Ellie noticed Lily showed signs of depression and took her to one-on-one therapy sessions. She eventually moved on to an outpatient group therapy, where many of her fellow patients were also LGBTQ+. Lily didn’t come out as a transgender woman to her parents until September 2020, although the teen remembers the story differently from her parents.
“I was accidentally outed, but it didn’t end poorly,” Lily said.
She said her former significant other had outed her by accident, referring to her as “Lily” in front of her parents before the teen had shared her gender identity and chosen name. The parents don’t remember the conversation, but they recall when she came out as a transgender woman at a family dinner.
“We didn’t know what we were doing,” JD said.
The parents said it was a major adjustment at first.
“There’s so much worry and thought and research and therapy sessions poured into receiving the news and processing it,” Ellie said. “Is this a symptom of the depression or is the depression a symptom of being trans?”
Ellie said the first step was figuring out the best course to take for Lily. The family began by using Lily’s chosen name, rather than her birth name, and began using she/her pronouns for the teen.
By December 2020 Lily met with her first doctor for a consultation. In October of 2021, she started taking Spironolactone, a hormone blocker that targets testosterone. It is also used to treat excessive hair growth in women, acne and high blood pressure.
The hormone blockers did not work well for Lily, though, and after numerous consultations and doctors’ appointments, the family decided to start the teen girl on hormone replacement therapy. Lily began taking estrogen on Nov. 1, 2022.
Ellie told Lily about the estrogen with a handwritten note and a box of the medication. She said both of them had tears in their eyes.
“The experience of telling her was very affirming,” Ellie said.
Under the newly passed Georgia law Lily’s healthcare will be grandfathered in and she will continue receiving hormone replacement therapies while still under the age of 18.
LEARNING CURVE FOR PARENTS
JD and Ellie Jordan share a blended family of five children, two of whom are transgender. Photo by JD Jordan, 2016.
Lily’s transition journey was a learning curve for the parents, but across numerous appointments, consultations and therapy sessions they had some major takeaways. One consultant told the family to watch out for three things in transgender and questioning youth: persistence, insistence and consistency.
“As soon as she said that, it was like this lightbulb went off,” Ellie said.
Ellie kept the three words in mind when Onyx said he wanted to be a boy and get gender-affirming care.
“My mom had said ‘Alright, so I want you to keep a calendar for how many days you felt like you want to do this,’” Onyx said.
Onyx kept the calendar for almost two years. Because of the new law, he won’t be able to get gender affirming care.
“That’s a closed door until he’s 18,” Ellie said.
Onyx will have to wait two years before he can receive the healthcare he wants. Ellie said the people opposed to transgender healthcare need to talk to people that are affected by these laws, like Onyx.
“You can’t say authentically ‘I’m opposed to this’ if you don’t even understand and you haven’t made an effort,” Ellie said.
JD said he was frustrated to see the law pass in Georgia especially with a connection to Roswell via Sen. Albers.
“I don’t associate our community with being that kind of hateful,” JD said.
He said Roswell is “resistant to change” but people in the area have been largely accepting of Lily and Onyx. Lily, a student at Roswell High School, said her experience has been a mixed bag.
Teachers use her chosen name and pronouns, and many students are allies, but Lily has also faced hatred and slurs from others.
Younger brothers Jack and Malcolm Jordan are both accepting of their transgender siblings. They are religious but said their beliefs “don’t have to collide” with transgender people.
“It’s your belief, if they don’t believe the same thing, why do you have to tell them?” 12-year-old Malcolm asked.
JD said he knows there are dozens of transgender teens at Roswell High School alone, with even more across Georgia. He said Albers and his co-sponsors did not talk to them, the people the law would affect most.
Lily said she is ready and waiting for the public to approach her. When asked how she feels about being a spokesperson for transgender youth, she said her voice is a “more accurate representation” of what being trans is like.
“It’s a bit better being approached and being talked to,” Lily said.
JD JORDAN FOR GEORGIA STATE SENATE DISTRICT 56
For anyone in East Cobb, Roswell, or Woodstock alarmed by the state’s escalating attacks on our bodies, our families, our doctors’ offices, our classrooms and libraries, even our polling places, I’m running for state senate district 56 to fight for our freedoms and to deliver a better future for everyone in Georgia.
And unlike my opponent who’s spent 14 years rolling back our freedoms, failing to safeguard our kids, and gerrymandered his district to stay in office, I promise to bring everyone in the 56—regardless of ideology—the best possible constituent experience so you feel heard, valued, and supported. As we all deserve to be.
I’m running for the 56. Let’s make a better Georgia for all of us.
—
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT
Jordan For Georgia, LLC
10800 Alpharetta Hwy Ste 208 #629
Roswell, GA 30076-1467
jdjordan@forthe56.com
706.804.0456
