All these years and no one overall Planningtorock thread. Just released a new single and the text with it, it's lovely:
‘Told me Mum I’m Trans’ This is an important story for me and one I wanted to share because there’s so much hatred towards trans people right now and we need to be reminded of all the wonderful people who do love us and help our community.
Mum has long been an ally and was already going to Pride back in the ‘90s with our Beulah. She’s always been there for me and for me friends through the years when their parents were rejecting them for coming out.
Took me a long time to get here and so it wasn’t until I was 51 when I could tell Janet I’m trans. She was 80 and her response was so sweet, so on point that I wanted to somehow preserve it so I recorded it into a song.
Growing up on a council estate in Bolton, Janet left school at 14 and went straight to work. When me and Beulah were kids she was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given just 6 months to live. She went through excessive radium treatment and was ill for a while but it wasn't long until she was back working several jobs.
There are a million stories I could tell you about the times Janet defied what life seemed to throw at her and all the times she fought for both me and Beulah without resources or support. But the story I wanna tell you with this song is when I told Janet I'm trans and how she immediately understood that this was about me and never once made it about herself.
She said she’d sensed something when I was younger but didn’t have the words and was just so happy to see me happy. It was a beautiful moment of unconditional love which has brought us even closer together.
It's so important to shine a light on the parents and families who do support trans kids. Not only to show that they do exist, but to show them that they are not alone. Because there are those who want the world to think otherwise.
I hope that by sharing this story in some small way it can help other parents learn how to love their trans kids and know that even older generation parents get it.
This song is an archive of an older trans person's journey with their even older powerhouse of a mum.
Credits:
Clip filmed by Riinu Rahuoja and planningtorock
Edited by Ro Murphy
feat. Jam and Janet Rostron
Artwork by Tom Joyes
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 10 September 2026 19:30 (five days ago)