Transgender 10-Year-Old, Jackie, Born A Boy, Happier As A Girl

[Natasha]

Transgender 10-Year-Old, Jackie, Born A Boy, Happier As A Girl

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/31/transgender-10-year-old-j_n_943654.html
8/31/11

Turns out there are parents in the news who do the right thing. Jennifer and John of Ohio have a transgender 10-year-old child, and they support Jackie's decision to live life as a girl.

Since she was 18-months-old, "it was always dancing, dress-up, " says her mother Jennifer. Jackie loved the color pink and wearing ballerina outfits. She wanted sparkles and pretty shoes.

[FairyGirl]

But, not everyone in the family has been as accepting as Jackie's parents. Her grandfather is resistant. "I can not accept that a nine or ten-year-old can make decisions for himself that will be life lasting," he tells GMA.

Sadly, this is the at the heart of all the misconceptions about men and women born transsexual- it isn't a "decision" at all, any more than it's a "decision" to have 10 fingers and toes or 11 for that matter.  It's unfortunate that this lie gets promulgated so voraciously, especially by those with a political agenda; it's not like we don't have enough obstacles to overcome as it is.

[eli77]

It's part of the problem with constantly promoting the "Jackie loved the color pink and wearing ballerina outfits. She wanted sparkles and pretty shoes" stuff. As long as people think it's about liking pink and playing dress-up, they'll never accept that it's a condition we are born with.

[JungianZoe]

Sadly, this is the at the heart of all the misconceptions about men and women born transsexual- it isn't a "decision" at all, any more than it's a "decision" to have 10 fingers and toes or 11 for that matter.

As someone with 12 toes and 6 nipples, I agree wholeheartedly!   (Yes, that's true; I'm not making it up)

But what I also find disturbing is the prevailing attitude that kids never know what they want and aren't capable of understanding things.  Beyond the fact that my body didn't match my personal experience of self, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of things that I figured out as a small child that hold true today.  And I'm not alone in this.  Studies of child development show that children have a keener sense of perspective than many well-meaning (and not-so-well-meaning) scientists and psychologists gave them credit for over the centuries.  This is not to be confused with mature understanding or even, to a certain age, a grasp on formal operations such as ethics, philosophy, and abstract mathematics, but they know what their bodies are telling them and are even capable of articulating it when they're not being stifled by stodgy adults who believe that they always know best.

Think about it... how many times has a small child said something to you that made you say to yourself, "Well, duh!  Why didn't I see that?"  I love those moments when a child opens their heart to me and changes my own view of the world.