Transgender playmate poses a challenge

9/23/20

DEAR ABBY » My

7-year-old granddaughter, “Leyla,” has a playmate who is a transgender girl. My fear is that she may find out the truth and feel betrayed by her playmate as well as me. Should I explain it to her?

It doesn’t matter to me that her friend is transgender because I have always believed that a person’s most important trait is having good morals.

I’m an upfront and honest person. However, with respect to this subject, I feel that if I remain silent, it’s as though I’m somehow betraying my granddaughter.

Leyla is very accepting

Bridge

W.C. Fields wrote, “Few things in life are more embarrassing than the necessity of having to inform an old friend that you have just got engaged to his fiancee.”

Few things for a bridge player are more embarrassing than making a slam-try during the bidding, then going down in your game contract. That happened to the original declarer in today’s deal.

How should South have played in four hearts after West led a trump, and East followed suit?

North’s sequence was a mild slam-try. If he had only wanted to play in four hearts, he would have responded four diamonds, a Texas transfer. South rejected it because of his 4-3-3-3 distribution.

The declarer drew the of all people, and I don’t believe it would change her relationship with the child as long as I explain everything to her about people who are trans. Any advice would be appreciated.

DEAR GRAN » Do Leyla’s parents know about the friendship? Assuming they do, have a chat with them, as well as the playmate’s parents, to make sure you’re all on the same page. I do not think you should “out” Leyla’s playmate to her. But I DO think it is time you start talking to your granddaughter missing trump and played a spade to his queen. However, West won with the king, then found the killing defense. He shifted to the club jack.

As dummies are wont to do, North told his partner what he should have about gender and what makes a girl a girl and what makes a boy a boy.

At some point, her friend may feel comfortable enough about the friendship — and herself — to tell Leyla herself. When that happens, be prepared to answer any questions your granddaughter may have. PFLAG, an organization I have mentioned before in my column, is an excellent resource for LGBTQ issues and will be helpful to you if you reach out. Its website is pflag.org. done. After winning the second trick in hand, he plays a diamond to the jack. If the finesse wins, the contract is safe. Here, though, East takes the trick with his queen and shifts to a spade.

South wins with his ace, plays a diamond to the king, returns to hand with a trump and discards dummy’s last spade on the diamond ace. Then he leads the spade queen and takes a ruffing finesse. If West does not cover with the king, a club is pitched from the board, and it does not matter whether East takes the trick or not. Here, West covers with the spade king. Declarer ruffs on the board, crosses to hand with a trump and discards a club upon the spade jack.