Amanda Parriag, president of Media Action Média opens tonight's Ask Women Anything discussion by introducing Amanda Jetté Knox, mother, writer and human rights advocate.
Knox said she once had a voice when she was a young girl and then lost it for a while.
Knox said she was an outgoing child. She grew up in Quebec and due to Bill 101 was obligated to attend French school, a language she did not speak at the time. That's when she found herself without a voice.
Knox said she was bullied starting in kindergarten. She said it got really bad in middle school and started drinking to cope with it.
"A couple of girls sprayed my back with hairspray and threw matches at me."
Knox said she felt lost after that. She ended up in a rehab centre at 14.
"When I look back now at the things that happened to me back then, I think they gave me the skills that I need to cope with today"
Knox said she left home at 16 and found herself homeless for some time
She found it difficult to stay in school. Then she found her partner. They have been together for 22 years.
Two years ago, she received an email from her 11-year-old saying that she felt she was a girl trapped in a boy's body.
Knox said she spent most of her life feeling less than. She said her daughter, Alexis, started to change that.
Knowing her daughter was transgender, she wanted to stand up for her.
Knox said her fear was that the world wasn't safe for her daughter and if she didn't talk about it and stand up for Alexis, that she might get hurt.
She started a blog and kept her family life private enough, deciding not to disclose her children's names.
Knox said the night before her and her daughter's interview with CBC aired she wrote a post called "World, Meet My Daughter."
"That's the thing about motherhood, it has pushed me to the brink of what I thought I was capable of."
Knox said she felt teary when she was invited to speak at Ask Women Anything because she remembers when she didn't have a voice. She doesn't want anyone to feel that way.
Knox said she wasn't worried about her child being transgender, she was worried about the world not being safe for her.
Knox said she is supportive of the new sex-ed curriculum because many elementary school students are not aware of what transgender means.
She pulled her daughter out of school in grade 6 when her friends would no longer talk to her. Knox said she had planned to homeschool Alexis up until her high school years. She ended up finding a school she felt was a safe space for her daughter. Alexis returned to school in grade 8.
Knox's discussion is part of a speaker series called Ask Women Anything by Media Action Média - an organization that advocates for the positive representation of girls and women in the media.
