Frustrated noises about trans* info
Aug. 25th, 2013 11:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reynardoI have trans* friends (Hello there, my lovelies) whom I love dearly, who have helped me in my understanding.
But then I know them, can talk with them, and am very proud to call them my friends. Along with all the other wonderful variants we all are that make up this world.
Trouble is, I have some friends from Uni to whom I don't seem to be able to explain things well. They're in their early 20s, and supposedly intelligent. They've been seeing the news from the US, including a really dodgy 60 minutes piece. Apparently the articles are about kids who have realised at ages 4, 6, 8 etc that they're in the wrong-gendered bodies, and the fights the parents have had to allow these kids to use appropriate bathrooms and changerooms, and be accepted for the gender the children feel they are.
The arguments have been basically that "no kid is going to know at 4 or 6 or 8 that they're in the wrong gendered body - it's just a phase", "the boys are just doing it to get into the girls' toilets", and "It's the parents pushing the kids to do this."
I've looked, and there's some great information for later-aged trans* kids - and for their parents and friends. But there's not a lot out there about the much younger kids except for the sensationalist stories or the lovely ones where the parents have let the kid be who they want to be. There's not a lot explaining why it's important to let the kids find out, or how the counsellors can tell if the kid means it when they say "I'm called Tom but inside I'm really Janie", or even studies that I can show my Uni friends about how unlikely a kid is to claim gender issues just to look inside the girls' toilets.
So - anyone able to point me to some decent stuff? Articles I can link for my friends so that they actually learn?
(If I told you that some of their favourite shows include "Big Brother" and "X-Factor", does that help?)
But then I know them, can talk with them, and am very proud to call them my friends. Along with all the other wonderful variants we all are that make up this world.
Trouble is, I have some friends from Uni to whom I don't seem to be able to explain things well. They're in their early 20s, and supposedly intelligent. They've been seeing the news from the US, including a really dodgy 60 minutes piece. Apparently the articles are about kids who have realised at ages 4, 6, 8 etc that they're in the wrong-gendered bodies, and the fights the parents have had to allow these kids to use appropriate bathrooms and changerooms, and be accepted for the gender the children feel they are.
The arguments have been basically that "no kid is going to know at 4 or 6 or 8 that they're in the wrong gendered body - it's just a phase", "the boys are just doing it to get into the girls' toilets", and "It's the parents pushing the kids to do this."
I've looked, and there's some great information for later-aged trans* kids - and for their parents and friends. But there's not a lot out there about the much younger kids except for the sensationalist stories or the lovely ones where the parents have let the kid be who they want to be. There's not a lot explaining why it's important to let the kids find out, or how the counsellors can tell if the kid means it when they say "I'm called Tom but inside I'm really Janie", or even studies that I can show my Uni friends about how unlikely a kid is to claim gender issues just to look inside the girls' toilets.
So - anyone able to point me to some decent stuff? Articles I can link for my friends so that they actually learn?
(If I told you that some of their favourite shows include "Big Brother" and "X-Factor", does that help?)
