The importance of pronouns

I really need to stop reading the news. Seriously every time I read something it's about another person in the transgender community who committed suicide. It's getting really out of hand and this one really hit home, a transgender MTF young adult committed suicide and the news article still ended up using the wrong pronouns. He, him, his. No. This young woman wanted nothing more to be accepted by people as a woman, but that never happened. Her mother is mourning the loss of her "son" and not realizing the bigger picture. Before I continue, let me just say I am in no way saying it is her mother's fault-not my point AT ALL! I am however saying pronouns matter. Pronouns define who you are, literally. If you were to call me "sir" I would be offended because I am a woman and I know I am. It's the same exact thing for a transgender person, they know what gender they are and want to be accepted as so. It really isn't that hard. People always comment on stories like this and ask why this happened, how it wasn't prevented, and why no one tried to stop them. What they don't realize is it only takes one person. One person to stand up and say that it's ok. To them they're worth it. To them that they love them no matter what gender. Using the correct pronouns is honestly one of the best ways to show a transgender person that you care. I understand switching pronouns later in life can sometimes be hard, but it's better than the alternative when the alternative is death. Every time I read these articles I'm reminded of what I was told when we found out Callie is transgender, would you rather have a dead son or a living daughter? That's what this family has unfortunately found out is beyond true, you can't have a living son when they're supposed to be your daughter. That's living a lie, something no one should have to do and that's why they think suicide is the best answer to this, because then they can be whoever they want. So to the person reading this, the person who's afraid of using a different pronoun because they don't agree with transgender ways, just use the pronoun the person prefers. Trust me, a living person is way better than a dead one.