A transgender Cincinnati teenager wants hormone therapy and to remain living with his grandparents.
The teen's parents denied that he is transgender and refused to let his counseling at Cincinnati Children's Hospital continue.
Now, a Hamilton County judge will decide what’s best for the teen.
According to a complaint filed in juvenile court, the now-17-year-old's parents prefer Christian therapy over hormone therapy.
The teen has been diagnosed with anxiety, depression and gender dysphoria.
"My client deserves a loving and supportive home.My client deserves some hope in his life," attorney Tom Mellott said.
Documents reveal that the teen claims he feared for his safety while living at home with his mother and father.
"A reasonable parent, however, your honor, would never tell their own child to kill themselves because they were going to hell anyway. A reasonable parent would never instill terror into the mind of their child," said Donald Clancy, an attorney for the state.
The grandparents were in the courtroom Friday, advocating to have the teen remain in their custody.
"They are the only family members that have provided acceptance and support that most probably kept this child from taking his own life. Excuse the melodrama, your honor, but these people are heroes," Clancy said.
Court records reveal the parents pulled their child from counseling at Children's Hospital to seek a Christian therapist. They also forced him to listen to Bible Scriptures for six hours or more at a time.
"The child has stated, 'I don't want to go back home. When I was home, dad chased me around the house. When I was home, I lived in terror,'" said Jeff Cutcher, an attorney for the grandparents.
"Pretty much everything the parents say or don't say is taken out of context, twisted, exaggerated, blown out of proportion and then improperly used against them," said Karen Brinkman, an attorney for the teen's parents.
Attorneys for the teen said the child cried and screamed in the fetal position when he saw his birth name on documents, and that the best option is to hand custody to his grandparents.
"Your honor, what we want to do in the coming months is, around May, plan for a high school graduation; throughout the summer and fall, plan for entrance into college. We don't want to be planning a funeral," Cutcher said.
A judge plans to issue a decision on the case no later than Feb. 16.
