Transgender Children & Youth

It helps me to read about other people's experiences and I imagine this article (I'll add links to the rest of the series as it's published) may help trans/questioning youth and their families: Trans Teen's War With His Body Started When He Was Just 10

10 June 2017 | by Rafaella Gunz "Replacing old laws determining child protection, foster care, and adoption service, this Act requires all children’s services and judges to consider a child’s ‘race, ancestry, place of origin, color, ethnic origin, citizenship, family diversity, disability, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.’" -- gaystarnews This new Canadian law considers denying a child's gender identity a form of abuse

I think this is a very timely and important article: My Transgender Daughter Is A Beloved Child Of GodGod doesn’t make mistakes.

By KRISTIE RIEKEN Feb 25, 3:24 AM EST CYPRESS, Texas (AP) -- Mack Beggs could win a Texas state wrestling title on Saturday. "It's a no-win win situation," she said. "Mack wants to wrestle boys. (But) he'll never be recognized as a boy because of the birth certificate in the state of Texas. The female wrestlers don't have a chance. It's a no win ... for either one." More here: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WRE_TRANSGENDER_WRESTLER?SITE=SCAND&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&SECTION=HOME

Jan 31, 7:16 AM EST By CLAUDIA LAUER Associated Press DALLAS (AP) -- A New Jersey woman whose son was asked to leave his Boy Scouts troop after leaders found out he is transgender said she has mixed emotions about the organization's decision to allow transgender children who identify as boys to enroll in its boys-only programs. The Boy Scouts of America announced Monday that enrollment in its boys-only programs will now be based on the gender a child or parent lists on his application to become a scout, rather than the gender listed on the child's birth certificate. More here: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TRANSGENDER_BOY_SCOUTS?SITE=SCAND&TEMPLATE=DEFAUL…

SECAUCUS, N.J. — The mother of a transgender boy who was barred from being a Cub Scout had to fight back tears Wednesday as she read a letter from a Scout leader in Great Britain offering her 8-year-old son membership in his troop and adding: "We don't discriminate." More here: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/12/29/cub-scouts-transgender-boy-family-grateful-support/95951310/

The stunning issue coincides with a new documentary.12/15/2016 04:32 pm ETIn what’s being touted as a first for the magazine, National Geographic will kick off 2017 by featuring a transgender person on its cover. A stunning photo of 9-year-old Avery Jackson will appear on the subscriber’s edition of the magazine... More here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/national-geographic-transgender-cover_us_5852d77de4b054eeaea229c0

Sebastion Malo | Monday, 26 September 2016 21:51 GMT "The plaintiff's attorney, Alison Pennington, with the Oakland-based Transgender Law Center, said she believed it was the first case to claim an underage transgender person had suffered sex-based discrimination under the Affordable Care Act." -- news.trust.org Mother sues U.S. hospital for discriminating against dead transgender son

By Mackenzie Maysmmays@fresnobee.com Members of the transgender community have joined the critics of Clovis Unified’s strict dress code, saying it’s discriminatory and harmful to students. The school district’s current policy forbids boys from wearing long hair and earrings and says dresses are for girls. The American Civil Liberties Union has called for a dress code that sets a single standard, regardless of a student’s gender, but the school board rejected those recommendations in January. The ACLU is also pushing the district to drop the use of the word “exotic” to describe makeup and hairstyles, saying it perpetuates otherness and discrimination. More here: http://…

Hello Dr. Spack, My name is Erica Elizabeth Ravenwood. I have been, among other things, an advocate for transgender children. I myself am transgender and I recognize the immense need, my obligation, to try to save transgender children from living my fate. I ran across a lecture of your's on YouTube. It was posted by a parent's group and was listed after one of my own videos. I was thrilled to find we agree on every point. I would like to share my work with you. I have no degree. No formal schooling. Bullying took that right from me. Still I would be very pleased if you would take a look. Though denied the chance to learn in a classroom setting I have been blessed to stand…

Here's a delightful story and link to NPR's audio report on Allie, a transgender 8-year old girl. "[People say,] 'You know I'm not against anyone that's transgender, I just don't want them using my same bathroom.' I mean that's like saying, 'I like black people, I just don't want them to sit at my lunch counter,' " Jen says. Allie doesn't know much about the debate over bathrooms. School and dance classes keep her busy, along with the lessons she shares with neighbors about what it means to be transgender. When The Kid Becomes The Teacher: On What It Means To Be Transgender

I think most people care about kids. I hope so anyway. Do I really need to go into the suicide statistics? Do I really need to talk about the mental heath issues caused by long term stress? It breaks my heart when I speak to children who face the fate I endure. It's simply not needed. Please help by doing what is so easy.

An important article: https://medium.com/indian-thoughts/the-child-i-love-822af4adb4d1#.9zyxpydin

I hope you're able to access and read this article in today's New York Times: As Attention Grows, Transgender Children’s Numbers Are Elusive Progress...

Growing up transgender isn't a passive existence unfortunately. Being in the closet is painful. Children are born transgender and being transgender is a life long thing. That life being one that could be happy or could be extremely sad based solely on how we as a society treat them. We have children, right now, ending up in the hospital due to stress. Children attempting to take their own lives. We can't change every negative that a child might face, but we have it in our power to change many. To say we won't because a certain community isn't seen as ready is a critical mistake. Transgender is: A Gender Identity that is other, in some way, than the sex that was assigned …

Sounds like some ultra-conservative organization that has taken a name to fool or confuse people into thinking they are getting information or advice from The Amer Academy of Pediatrics. I wonder if people should start asking a doctor which one of the two groups they belong to? Parents, family and friends of transgender children should watch this video --

Zack Ford Apr 22, 2016 8:00 am "Just because the student deserves to be safe and respected, wrote parent Vince West in October, “that does not mean, nor does the law imply, that we have to celebrate gender non-conformism (or any controversial moral difference) in school (or anywhere).”" -- thinkprogress.org It Takes A Village To Bully A Transgender Kindergartner

By Rachel Thompson LONDON — A city council has sent a letter to thousands of parents asking them to support the gender their children "most identify with" when confirming school places. The letter, sent this week, requested that parents help their children "choose" their gender identity, asking them to leave the gender section of the form blank if their child is non-binary. http://mashable.com/2016/04/20/gender-identity-children-brighton/#mB.b05sVaEqr

by David Yi Katherine, a gentle 19-year old from Brooklyn, is many things: Bangladeshi American, an avid gamer, Muslim, a future programmer. But one thing she is not: human. At least, that’s what she's been told by the family who rejected her. In the cramped apartment she shares with her parents and siblings, Katherine is a ghost. Virtually ignored, she spends her days invisible in the hallway, the only place she doesn’t get in the way of her mother who is seldom outside the kitchen, her father who spends his days in the living room, and her siblings, who hide themselves away in their small room. Katherine doesn’t have a room, let alone a bed she can call her own. “I sle…

Mitch Kellaway | July 08 2015 6:06 PM ET ""We were all happy to adjust around Penel," Patterson shared with women's lifestyle magazine Family Circle, in an issue hitting shelves next week. "Our immediate family has only ever known Penel as he is — we've never asked him to change his ways. So we simply had to change our language around him."" -- advocate.com Two Black Trans Boys, Two N.Y. Families, and Boundless Love

February 26, 2016Studies of mental health among transgender people in the United States have been consistently grim, showing higher rates of depression, anxiety and suicide. But almost nothing is known about the mental health of a new and growing generation of transgender Americans—prepubescent children who are living openly as transgender with the support of their families. How do those children fare in an environment of openness and family support? When theirgender identity is affirmed, are they happy? New University of Washington research suggests the answer is yes. To be published Feb. 26 in Pediatrics, the study is believed to be the first to look at the mental heal…

BY Tobias SalingerNEW YORK DAILY NEWSUpdated: Wednesday, February 3, 2016, 9:39 AMA 9-year-old transgender Girl Scout has suffered smears online and in person just for selling the Scouts’ famous cookies. Yet Stormi, who lives in Herrin in Southern Illinois, has also received an outpouring of love in the form of thousands of cookies sold despite the hateful comments directed at her, BuzzFeed News reported Monday. Stormi was knocking on doors with her foster mother last month when a man at one home expressed opposition to the Girl Scouts of America’s inclusive policies by insulting a little girl. “Nobody wants to buy cookies from a boy in a dress,” the man who lives nearby …

Associated Press - January 5, 2016 "“Kids have full permission to be themselves — as well as educators. Where there’s no wondering, ‘Is this teacher going to be a person for me to be myself with?’” said Zsilavetz, who is transgender and a veteran teacher with nearly 25 years of experience. “This is a place where they (students) can just open up and be the best person they can be.”" -- yahoo.com Groundbreaking High School for LGBT Students to Open

Landon Patterson became Oak Park High School’s first transgender homecoming queen on Saturday. Photo courtesy of the North Kansas City School DistrictBY LISA GUTIERREZ lgutierrez@kcstar.com LINKEDINGOOGLE+PINTERESTREDDITPRINTORDER REPRINT OF THIS STORY It was a moment that felt too good to be true. As she stood next to her mom on the football field Saturday at Oak Park High, the crown of homecoming queen was placed on Landon Patterson’s head. The crown came with a spotlight that turned Patterson into an instant celebrity. She is not only the school’s first transgender homecoming queen, but one of the first in the United States as well. http://www.kansascity.com/livi…

Jul 23, 5:44 AM (ET) By LYNNE SLADKY MIAMI (AP) — The transgender community has gained a degree of acceptance in recent years with the help of such celebrities as Caitlyn Jenner and Laverne Cox from "Orange is the New Black." But for those who are less known it can be more of a struggle. Many young transgender people, wrestling with their identities, find themselves shunned by family, friends and co-workers. Episodes of homelessness, alcoholism, drug abuse and violence often follow. "A lot of people really don't realize the like immense amount of pain the average trans person goes through just trying to like live their life," says Eli, a 17-year-old male who was born a gi…