Explain Like I'm Five

Alright, literal 5 year old, I'll give it a shot. Fair warning, most kids get these lessons in pieces over time, because attention spans. I don't know what your metaphorical 5 year old has learned so far though, so, sorry for the wall of text, but I think we have to start from the beginning:

Well, kid, you know how your parents always tell you that it's what's on the inside that counts? And that you can be whatever you want to be when you grow up? And that it's fun to do things different sometimes?

And you know how some children are boys, and some children are girls?

Well, in very special cases, when a baby is born... sometimes we only think they're a boy. They might even look like a boy.

But later, when that baby grows up, and learns how to talk, and tells us how they feel... it turns out that "boy" was really a girl on the inside all along!

And sometimes we think they're a girl, but they were really a boy on the inside all along!

And sometimes they don't really feel like a boy or a girl on the inside! Just remember that it's what's on the inside that counts. Whatever they look like on the outside, it's what they feel like that matters most.

Sometimes, when we call someone a boy, but they don't feel like a boy, that can upset them. If you know it makes them upset, then it's not nice to do that. It's not nice to call them names they don't like, even if you think you're right.

Well, there aren't a lot of children like that. They're very rare. Most boys feel like boys on the inside, and most girls feel like girls, and they grow up to be what we always thought they were. That's great for them!

But because they're so rare, most people have never met a special kid like that. Most people have never seen a child grow up to surprise everybody like that. And sometimes... sometimes adults don't like surprises.

You know how sometimes you're afraid of the dark? And sometimes you think there's a monster hiding in the closet? But you come find us, and we turn on the lights, and we check your closet together, and we show you there's nothing to be afraid of?

Well, adults can be scared too. They can be scared by what they don't understand. Sometimes, when they get surprised and confused, they see monsters where there aren't any, and that upsets them. And they get upset at those children, even though the child did nothing wrong.

That doesn't always make them bad people! Sometimes they never learn, but sometimes it just takes time for that poor kid to turn on the lights and help them see there's nothing to be scared of.

But sometimes, there are mean people who play tricks on those adults. They make scary noises and trick those adults into really believing in the monsters. They make those adults think that it's what's on the outside that counts, and that those special kids are like the monsters in the dark. But that's not nice.

It's not nice to scare people... but not everyone is nice all the time. Sometimes people are mean. Sometimes people like to lie, and cheat, and steal, and that's not nice. We don't do those things, because we don't like it when people do those things to us.

You know the boy who cried wolf?

Sometimes, those mean people make those scary noises and pretend the monsters are real, and they cry wolf, even when there are no wolves... and it works. Those confused, scared adults come running, because they don't know any better.

The story hasn't ended yet, and they don't know that there is no wolf, and so they keep running to chase it away, because they don't know it's all a trick by those mean people.

They can't see what's on the inside, and so they think those boys and girls are the ones being tricked, and they get angry and scared and they do all the wrong things because they think they're the ones who are right.

It's messy, and confusing, because sometimes things are messy and confusing.

But what you need to know, more than anything, is that it's what's on the inside that counts. There is no wolf to be afraid of when people are different or surprising. We can't see what's on the inside, so the best we can do is listen when someone tries to tell us how they feel, and do our best to be kind, and make them feel happy.