Transgender Children & Youth

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…

Trigger warning in the article... http://www.transadvocate.com/what-happens-when-pji-is-confronted-by-parents.htm

http://mobile.philly.com/health/?wss=%2Fphilly%2Fhealth&id=274029501

By Victoria Derbyshire 7 April 2015 The number of children aged 10 and under who have been referred to NHS support services to help deal with transgender feelings has more than quadrupled in the last six years, the Victoria Derbyshire programme has learned. Here is the story of two of the youngest transgender children in the UK - with permission from their parents and with the support of the children's schools. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32037397

This article doesn't really tell us anything we don't already know. But I decided to post it for all the cisgender people that might be lurking around - the ones who might be looking for answers, but don't know how to go about it. The ones who find themselves in that group that is afraid of transpeople, or dislikes transpeople, or believes that transpeople are somehow wrong, abnormal, mentally disturbed, deviant, etc. This is to challenge such people to look at the picture that accompanies this article, and then answer the question, "how can you hate this child, this little girl?" Maybe then, if they realize there is nothing there to hate or fear, and realize that thi…

Mitch Kellaway | July 26 2014 3:04 PM ET "...she poignantly recalls how after they discussed her revelation, "I assumed [Grayson] would say 'I have a boy brain.' But he didn't. He said 'I have a boy's soul.'" --advocate.com WATCH: Mormon Mom Helps Transgender Son Accept Himself

14 May 2015 For children who may be questioning their gender identity, the world can be an confusing place. But for one long weekend, some children can freely express themselves alongside their parents and siblings at a camp designed specifically for them. Their experiences have been captured by photographer Lindsay Morris, who has been involved with the camp since it began in 2007. Now her images appear in the book You are You. She recently she spoke to the BBC about her work. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32602868

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.

By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLISJUNE 16, 2015 In a cozy cottage decorated with butterflies to symbolize transformation, Katherine Boone was recovering in April from the operation that had changed her, in the most intimate part of her body, from a biological male into a female. It was not easy. She retched for days afterward. She could hardly eat. She did not seem empowered; she seemed regressed. “I just want to hold Emma,” she said in her darkened room at the bed-and-breakfast in New Hope, Pa., run by the doctor who performed the operation in a hospital nearby. Emma is her black and white cat, at her home outside Syracuse in central New York State, 250 miles away. Her childlike r…

To comply with league policy, student must have undergone gender reassignment surgery Staff Reports | Thursday, February 20, 2014 "RICHMOND, Va. — The governing body of high school sports in Virginia has sanctioned the participation of transgender athletes at the state’s 313 high schools, on the condition they undergo gender reassignment surgery." --lgbtqnation.com Transgender high school athletes approved by Va. governing board ____________________________________________ Okay...is the Virginia governing board really that ignorant? Or do they think we are that ignorant?

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

She's in the news again... Jul 13, 10:34 AM (ET) By FRAZIER MOORE EW YORK (AP) — Like many 14-year-old girls, Jazz Jennings goes to school, plays soccer, hangs out with friends, has a thing for mermaids and loves social media, kind of wishes her tummy were a little bit flatter, and lives life feeling good about herself. She's also transgender. She was assigned male at birth yet was sure as young as 2 years old that she was a girl. She transitioned into Jazz at 5. http://apnews.myway.com/article/20150713/us-tv-i-am-jazz-3fc49bc953.html

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 …

Nicholas R. Eaton and Kristina Olson and Aidan Key| February 11 2015 6:02 AM ET "While this media exposure holds promise to raise awareness, reduce stigma, and increase visibility of transgender individuals, there has been a dearth of scientific research on this community. We started the TransYouth Project to address some of these gaps in the research literature, with a particular focus on the lives and identities of transgender children and their families." --advocate.com Op-ed: Science Holds the Key to Transgender Equality _______________________________________ "No one knows what percentage of the population is transgender, but it is likely less than 1 percent…

KAMENSK-URAL, Russia — A network of loosely organized groups of Russian ultra-nationalists are targeting LGBT youth for bullying and assault by creating fake social media profiles and gay personals to attract unsuspecting victims. http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2013/07/russian-extremists-using-social-media-to-target-attack-lgbt-youth/

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…

I was delighted to happen across this EXCELLENT publication last night, and highly recommend it. I'm posting it here but it could just as well been posted within the Significant Others section or several others here in TG Guide. Very well written, articulate, and illustrated, with links to other resources and information: http://lgbtweekly.com/2014/12/10/pflag-national-unveils-new-guide-to-being-a-trans-ally/ Emma

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…

And now, from Texas: To Be, or Not to Be in the Yearbook. A transgender high school student in Texas was told his yearbook photo was rejected because he wore a tuxedo. Michelle Garcia | November 13 2013 5:15 PM ET "The photography studio that took Loredo's senior picture was told to withhold it once school administrators learned that he took it in a tuxedo, Loredo says. After the family lodged a complaint with the district, the superintendent reportedly said the photo would offend the town's "community standards."" --advocate.com Student Omitted From Yearbook — Possibly for Tuxedo

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

http://www.ibtimes.com/transgender-teen-colorado-crowned-homecoming-princess-receives-criticism-support-1688050

While driving along the Alaska Highway last summer I happened to find a podcast called "How to Be a Girl: Daily Life With My Transgender Daughter" and quickly fell in love with the posts. I especially liked this one, and listened to it more than once: Episode VII: THE FACTS (about transgender kids) Marlo (the mother) and I got to know each other over emails, and I was so surprised to learn that she and her daughter live in Seattle. She, her daughter, and I have become friends! I'm so thrilled to know them and others in the community. It really makes me feel like I've come home. The three of us even went out for sushi last night! But some time ago Marlo was interviewed by …

Transgender Youth – Fad or Fact? "Increasing numbers of youth today question their gender, and there is a corresponding increase in the number of ways people choose to describe and name their gender..." https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/transgender-youth-fad-or-fact_us_5a3fee20e4b0df0de8b06636

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