Mimi Lemay
Mimi Lemay Wants You to Understand the Reality of Raising a Trans Son
Mimi Lemay’s son, Jacob, came out as trans when he was just two and a half years old.
“My initial reaction was a non-reaction,” Lemay tells to Kveller over e-mail. “The first time he said he was a boy didn’t register for me because I just thought it was ‘playacting.’ The word ‘transgender’ was mostly unfamiliar to me and I certainly didn’t associate it with someone as young as my child. Now I know better.”
In her new memoir, What We Will Become: A Mother, a Son and a Journey of Transformation, Lemay writes about raising a transgender child. But the book isn’t just about Jacob’s journey — it’s also about her own. Raised in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish family, Lemay left the community to forge her own path. It’s a powerful and moving story, and a must-read for parents of all stripes.
