goodstuffhappenedtoday:This dad started a swimwear line with his transgender daughter. It’s giving o
goodstuffhappenedtoday:This dad started a swimwear line with his transgender daughter. It’s giving other families hope.Anne BraniginFeb. 13, 2021In every package of Rubies bikini bottoms shipped to customers, 13-year-old Ruby Alexander includes a postcard, handwritten in purple, pink or teal-blue marker.“You are strong, brave, and extremely important,” she wrote in one last year. “Keep being you and don’t let anyone bring you down. I am transgender myself and can understand you.”It feels “really nice” to write the postcards and connect with other transgender and nonbinary kids, Ruby said: “When they see the letter or the postcard, they feel really attached, like connected to it, and that it’s more special than the actual bikini bottom.”In 2019, Ruby’s dad, Jamie Alexander, founded the Rubies swimwear line for girls like her: transgender, nonbinary and other “gender creative” children who had trouble finding bathing suits that made them feel confident as well as physically comfortable. The line, named for his daughter, was created out of necessity, according to Alexander. Ruby wanted to start wearing bikinis like her friends, but Alexander and his wife were concerned about her sense of security in a potentially ill-fitting suit. When they looked around, they didn’t find many options that were suitable, particularly for bikini bottoms, Alexander said.“There were none that were designed specifically for kids in mind,” he explained.So Alexander, a tech entrepreneur, decided to make his own line of bikini bottoms alongside his daughter. The result is Rubies, which offers shaping bikini bottoms in black and pink. (A new line of shaping underwear and a one-piece halter swimsuit are also available for preorder.) More than being fashionable, the garments fill an urgent need among many trans and nonbinary kids and their families, who worry about discomfort, attracting unwanted attention or worse — being unintentionally outed.For Rubies customers, the bottoms have been a game-changer.One parent who bought a pair for his daughter, a competitive swimmer, wrote in a review, “her anxiety level is so much lower” — a change that apparently was noticeable to even her coach.“My daughter says they look and feel amazing,” wrote another. “It was the confidence boost she needed.” -- source link
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