actually there are, we have friends with biological twin boys, one of whom swapped genders at three years old. The parents did nothing actively to "encourage" this, but there was absolutely no "controlling" it. They have raised the children as boy and girl ever since, and it's going fine. And some elementary schools have pre-middle school athletics, our district runs a very successful elementary-level track and field program designed to get kids involved early and succeed right up through the high school years. So it's also an issue.
What do you mean there aren’t trans elementary students? Yes there are - gender identity isn’t something that we get to decide when it becomes an issue. There are two transgendered children in my sons elementary school, and it’s part of the reason the idea of shielding young children from the people around them in the world is so foolish. It was the same with gay people, disabled people, minorities, religious and atheists. When just explained that there are people that identify as a different gender, children tend to understand at a very basic level.
This. There are trans elementary school children in most elementary schools… the teachers and administrators don’t advertise it because it will cause protests that really don’t help anyone… schools cannot prevent a child from referring to themselves from another gendered name or dressing like another gender. It’s really a FAR bigger problem for some parents than the kids.
I think it's a good balance. Banning all trans people from sports is too draconian and unfair. Not allowing any bans is also unfair. Ideally, each school should make their own determination in the best interest of the students involved, without the involvement of a court or an executive branch. I understand the need for drawing some lines, and I think the line drawn here by the Biden administration is trying to be fair and leave room for some local determination. I also believe that serious sports competition (high school and beyond) is a sensible line.
Fair enough. My daughter is in her first year of elementary so I was oblivious to there being trans kids at such young ages. When did this become common?
I just think parents are a lot more aware now of the need not to force their kids into rigidly structured gender expectations/roles. Forty years ago if a boy wanted to play with dolls the parents beat it out of him. Now I think parents go with the flow and the child grows up in a happier home environment. For what it's worth, that describes a second set of neighbors of ours. Twenty-five years ago one of their two boys wanted to play with dolls and dress like Dorothy at Halloween. Mom was okay with it, the father somewhat less so; but over time he accepted it. That son grew up happily, is gay, and is very well-adjusted and well-loved. There are simply a lot of different models for successful family life now than there used to be.
This is the problem that many don't seem to understand. It is not a choice of being "trans or not." If you are, you are by birth, in your mind. They only "choice" is whether the individual "hides" this or not. And people have been hiding for centuries. Do they live an unauthentic life or an authentic life? The climate is getting better and more accepting and people are coming out of hiding. But clearly there is still a long way to go with tolerance.
Yes, completely. No one has the right to tell someone else how they feel or should feel inside. People that believe that transgenderism is made up or not real are completely wrong. It is real and people that identify as transgender should be given the same respect as everyone else and treated as real people and not props for for politics or immediately turned into sexual objects - they are people. The debate for me is more in the execution of society adapting. Issues such as sports and medicine (the sex of someone is necessary to be known with your doctor), and perhaps how we handle things such as affirmative action for women - but the overwhelming majority of the issue isn’t really debatable in good faith IMO. Also social media has depicted transgendered people as political extremists that are unhinged - and the overwhelming majority of trans friends I have just want to live their lives.
My first experience with this of parents of a trans elementary aged child that I knew, but not closely, was 15 years ago. It blew my mind then and I thought they were crazy. That stated, they were two of the most genuinely good people I knew and I was in no place to judge their parenting.
I can say that my family member who recently came out as trans told us that they knew as young as five years old.
Man, the more I learn, the more I think those of us who had a clear and easy path for our gender identity should just be thankful for it and sympathetic to those who do not. Not to repeat a story, but re: elementary school, this one clearly marked my mind early on. I road the school bus with a kid who (in retrospect) clearly wanted to be trans. A "tom boy". She caught some **** from mean kids on the bus but dealt with it easily and had no fear of fights. Just wanted to be a boy, was great at sports, wanted to live in blue jeans, etc. But her/their family eventually took the "make them conform" route. Damn we all felt so bad for that kid, riding to school in a bright yellow dress for picture day and just sincerely crying the whole way there, and all the way back too... the whole bus unusually quiet but for her crying; we all knew this wasn't right but didn't know what to do. Even the mean kids who used to tease her tried to comfort her than day. I do remember now the old bus driver trying to reassure the kid, telling her she looked great as a girl. That... did not help much. I'm glad it's getting a little easier for them. Or in many cases at least.
Why do we need competitive sports in schools? We certainly do not need it in college. I feel like we need to normalize gender dysphoria and recognize its not a simple binary male/female issue. This of course does not match up with the DSM so it becomes an abstract idea that gets dismissed. Personally i view 'gender' on a spectrum, or as an amplitude, with one gender 'definition' as the crest and the opposite as the trough. From there, an individual can fall anywhere on the spectrum. Depending on age, culture, ect..., the amplitude can increase or decrease, thus making the definition of 'gender' more difficult. For example, for a biological male who falls under the transgender side of the spectrum, the opposite side would be toxic masculinity. Those are both gender dysphoria IMO. As for children, I can say quite a bit, however I realize being a parent isn't easy. Far too often parents are too busy coercing children to be what they think they should be instead of recognizing the parent is the fruit and the child is the seed. Forcing a child to play with a barbie over a G.I. Joe is ridiculous.
It's wild to me how much change there has been over the last 30 years. 30 years ago, homophobia was the rule not the exception. Transgenderism was either a joke (See plot to Ace Ventura) or a fetish (chiks with diks) being advertised in a nude magazine. Now, society as a whole is a lot more tolerant about homosexuality and to an extent transgenderism.
I read that the changes toward homosexual over the last two decades are reflected in implicit bias (less bias against gay) test across the age spectrum (young to very old). That was a shocker. The idea that older people won’t change went right out of the window.
