Transgender Teens

In a recent podcast regarding a transgender high school student being forced to change in the nurse’s office instead of in the locker room with other students addressed the controversy regarding the treatment of members of our society who identify as LGBTQ. Throughout the podcast, multiple individuals have voiced support for the school’s decision to isolate the transgender student when changing. Do to the opinions voiced in the podcast regarding this case, I realized that the treatment of the high school student is only one example of the existing discrimination towards those who identify as LGBTQ. As such, I intend to explore the controversy of LGBTQ and our obligations that we have as members of the same society. Throughout this paper, I

Transgender issues cover a a multitude of spheres: discrimination (at school, in the workplace, when looking for housing), violence, suicide, and identification through legal documents to name a few. Transgender individuals deal with greater struggles than that of cisgender individuals, or those who identity as the gender which they were assigned at birth. Perhaps one of the greatest struggles transgender individuals have to deal with is acceptance, whether it be acceptance from others or acceptance of themselves. Cisgender individuals, or those who identify with the gender identity given at birth, do not have to worry that their gender identity will be accepted; society has already dictated it to be ‘normal’ and ‘acceptable’ (“Definitions of Terms”). Trans individuals are not afforded this luxury.

Luna LeFort is a young, born male, transgender/gender-fluid that came out to his parents at the age of sixteen. LeFort presents as a female fifty percent of the time and male the other half, and depending on what gender LeFort is that day depends on what washroom they use. LeFort feels that transgenders should be able to use the bathroom they identify with and shouldn’t be scared to. On top of this life story, there is a shocking statistic that shocks most. According to theglobeandmail.com, eighty-seven percent of transgender teens don’t feel safe in school washrooms, changing room, and hallways. While two in five say they have been physically harassed, eight out of ten say they have been verbally harassed. Transgender adolescents share their stories of society is a pressure to them.

" We came equals into this world, and equals we shall leave it, " - George Mason. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the whites clearly discriminate the blacks. They are treated unfairly and unjust. Readers are able to realize how bad the discrimination is once Tom Robinson had lost his court case. Readers who pay attention are able to still see how other groups and people are being discriminated today in modern society.

Scholars have been critical of the medical establishment’s and state’s involvement in constructing and policing of transgender identity. These kinds of pressing issues have occupied the small existing literature. There is not much information and studying what is being done on transgender in traditional areas, family studies research, such as their dating behavior and formation of intimate relationships in adulthood. There is little research on the issues around being parents, their children’s experiences with having transgendered parents, as well as relationships in the family as a whole, and relationships in work and school.

With so little transgender celebrities and almost no representation of transgender in the media, it is no wonder that you hear of so many trans youth killing themselves. The most famous representation of the transgender community is Sophie in Orange is the New Black, who was thrown into prison for credit card fraud to afford her transition. There is also Adam on Degrassi, a female to male transgender whose mom did not fully accept him until he was dying. Degrassi is my favorite representation of transgender youth because when people of the school found out about Adam, the jocks of the school started to tease him and pick on him, even throwing him into a window. This accurately showed what it is like to be living as a transgender person in a bigoted society where you don’t feel like you belong. One celebrity that comes to mind when some hear the term ‘transgender’ would be Caitlyn Jenner. Born Bruce Jenner and being a famous Olympian, she proudly came out as Caitlyn and made the brave decision to publically transition. But yet, people of the world did not want to accept her as Caitlyn. People even made pictures and posts saying “Bruce is not brave, our soldiers are brave,” and comments out loud saying “Gender identity is something Bruce Jenner is struggling with.” Although there was a number of support, trans youth cannot be expected to fully come out and love themselves if they have very little representation and

Attempting suicide is an epidemic in the United States; especially when 41% of transgender individuals have attempted suicide compared 1.6% of the general population (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation). Due to this, the question of whether or not transgender youth have a harder, more straining adolescence than their cisgender counterparts rises. Although adolescence can be hard on everyone, experiences such as a school environment, puberty, laws that guarantee protection, family and social acceptance of transgender youth are harder than those of their cisgender counterparts (harder does not necessarily mean correlate with strenuous, the use of harder is aiming more towards different, costly, and possibly more confusing). The revolution for transgender lives is just beginning, change is happening. But in order for change to occur, adequate information on the material needs to be discussed and terminology must be defined and questions must be answered. Questions such as: what do the terms transgender and cisgender actually mean? Why is it important to know the difference between the two terms? What is the difference between transsexual and transgender?

Did you know that more than 50% of transgender minors have admitted to attempting suicide? How about that 82% of transgender youth feel unsafe or scared at school? These statistics are high, too high. Transgender is defined as of, relating to, or being a person who identifies with or expresses a gender identity that differs from the one which corresponds to the person's sex at birth, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary. Years ago it was considered bad to be transgender, but our society has become more open-minded, leading to the coming outs of many more transgender minors. However, while it seems as though we are more open-minded, transgender youth are still being mistreated, to a point where suicide sometimes seems like the only good

Internal conflict is something that the transgender community knows all too well. Feeling as though you are living in the wrong body can do serious damage to the way that someone sees themselves. One of the hardest time for transgender teens is puberty. Researchers have said that “This is a particularly hard age, since the body begins to change and adapt gender specific features (breasts, changes in genitals, menses, etc..). Transgender individuals have reported “I was disgusted by (hair, breasts…etc)” (Ami B. Kaplan, 2014). It already puts a child or teen under great stress to see themselves living life as a gender they feel is completely wrong, but, as puberty begins to hit and they see this body changing it only increases that self-hatred that slowly builds. Even though transitioning can be the best decision a transgender person might make, it can still be just as difficult to finalize this. Many transgender youth have said that they have “Fears about finding a partner, feelings about having to experience surgeries, hormones, (and for MTF transsexuals) facial hair removal and voice changes, and fears about violence and prejudice when one is read transgender”(Ami B. Kaplan, 2014). Even when the option to transition arises, doubt may still linger. Some transgender youth that have gone through with transitioning face many issues emotionally such as “Disappointment that transitioning didn’t solve all problems, level of satisfaction with appearance, level of satisfaction

Transgender youth are children and adolescents who consider themselves transgender or transsexual. Transgender youth are usually dependent on their parents for care, shelter, financial support, and other needs. Transgender youth face different challenges compared to adults and other hetereosexual youth. Transgender issues can arise at different times in life and be experienced differently for each individuals. Many of these children experience rejection as a result of their differences and quickly attempt to repress them creating self hate and isolation. People may see these children regularly and be unaware that they are unhappy as members of their assigned gender by birth.

“One believes things because one has been conditioned to believe them” this quote written by Aldous Huxley accurately describes the impact parents have on their children. When parents aid their transgender children in transitioning into the opposite sex they are committing child abuse; changing sex is unsafe, indecent, and permanent. Over the course of a month, I have been a slave to the library. I have read over 30 articles on transgenderism; The basis of my opinion comes from well-sifted through research. The definition of child abuse is the mistreatment of a child by physical, sexual, or emotional ill-treatment or neglect, especially by those responsible for his or her welfare. Parents of transgender kids are neglecting what they need

The LGBT society have always been on the lower end of the scale when it comes to respect and fairness. As humans we should see each other for the person we are and the actions that are condoned by oneself, not by who we choose to have intimate relations with. Since some of our leaders such as our president can’t see past someone sexualtity, and instead see their bravery and courage we have implemented a ban on our fellow trans from joining our military. Kids go through plenty of struggles in school, but being a trans kid you are taking the biggest step in your life at a very earlier age, which is finding who you are. Most trans don't have the strength yet and the confidence at such a young age to be who they want to be, but when they do most aren’t accepted with opens arm in society it’s more of a wall that is painted with judgement and violence. The transgender community have had to deal with many social injustices, but in the 21st century there is hope for change.

The experience of growing up LGBTQ+ alone is one of difficulty in much of western society; however, this becomes even more so when a person is transgender. This stems from many origins. It is, of course, possibly the most argued that being transgender is a choice. People argue that if someone can change their sex, they should be able to change their race or age. Many people say this out of jest, but some say it in seriousness, not understanding what people who are transgender are truly experiencing. None of us ever will if we ourselves are not transgender. In the film Growing Up Trans, we see parents who vary in their levels of support for their children. For many parents, especially those who hold their religious faith close to

In a lot of places around the world more and more people are coming out as “Transgender.” The term transgender means that the person’s gender identity does not correspond with the gender they were assigned as having at birth. From personally having a transgender boyfriend I have since realized that these people experience a lot of discrimination in and from society. Many people simply just do not understand what the term transgender means and they see it as someone just “wants to be a man” or “wants to be a woman.” While there may be people who present it this way, it is more so that the individual just “feels” different, and “feels” as if they are “in the wrong body.” Some people experience this feeling at a young age as my boyfriend did in his elementary age. We live in a world who put these people down for being who they truly are, and no human being wants or needs that.

The social issue that I chose which affects society today is transgender inequality. These issues are more recently gaining attention and becoming a prevalent topic of inequality within our country. A transgender person is someone whose gender identity, gender expression or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they were assigned at birth. As more and more transgender people share their stories in the media, the social problems that arise from these stories are discrimination within their everyday lives. They suffer from scrutiny and judgment from their peers, and thus many hide their gender identity from family and society. This social injustice can be as simple as a glance or staring, or offensive comments and questions to violent hate crimes. Transgender people are prone to violence and harassment, and often not feeling safe in any aspect of society. They are fired from jobs, denied medical insurance, and being murdered left and right solely for being transgender. “A staggering 41% of respondents reported attempting suicide compared to 1.6% of the general population, with rates rising for those who lost a job due to bias (55%), were harassed/bullied in school (51%), had low household income, or were the victim of physical assault (61%) or sexual assault (64%)” (National Center for Transgender Equality). The structure of this paper will consist of adding all the research that was gathered over the semester, news articles and peer