The reality of our current social climate is that people, often times, hold on to prejudices, judgments and so on towards things like race, sexual preference and gender identity. Arguing between adults is one thing...but when I see a child suffering because of these prejudices my heart breaks.

On Tiktok, a father out of Mattawan shared that his daughter had recently faced some bullying due to the above mentioned type of prejudice. His video, which was posted four days ago (9/26), describes an incident his daughter had with their neighbors:

In case you're in a place where you're unable to watch the video, this is what happened:

The daughter, who was excited to play with the kids next door, was told by those children that they weren't allowed to play with her anymore because, "She's sick and she sometimes thinks she's a boy." Obviously, that would be incredibly upsetting to both the child and to her father, @Joalkzoo. It's upsetting to me and I'm not involved in any capacity.

The video goes on to say that when the father, I'll refer to him as Joal, went to confront the father of the neighboring kids he was told that his family was not welcome. When Joal asked if they could find a way to co-exist he was basically told "no" due to religious beliefs. And...that they should find another place to live.

That kind of cruelty is so unnecessary and, in my opinion, unacceptable.

Joal's video gained over 30,000 views and well over 1,000 comments from people expressing their shock and sadness at the neighbor's attitude towards Joal and his daughter.

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However, one of the comments made a great suggestion. A user by the name of Ihtpc wrote:

Idea - maybe get a PO box or give us a nickname so we can address your child directly. I'm Gen and I struggle with these ideas, but ultimately if a child tells me a preferred pronoun or a new name, that is such a small thing to embrace. THIS Christian says God loves all of his creations. Period.

And that's exactly what Joal has done.

Just two days ago, on 9/28, Joal posted this follow-up video:

The follow-up video didn't get nearly as many views as the first which is why I'm writing this today. I want this child to be so overwhelmed with positive, encouraging messages that hopefully, should this kind of prejudice behavior be encountered in the future, she can feel shielded by the kindness shown to her by complete strangers.

Should you want to write to "Alice", and I hope you do, you may do so at P.O. Box 161 Mattawan, MI 49071.

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