Born in the wrong body

By Jeff Gard, Northumberland Today
Wednesday, December 5, 2012 9:28:07 EST AM

http://www.northumberlandtoday.com/2012/12/05/born-in-the-wrong-body

The following is the first story of a three-part series looking at transgender in Northumberland.

NORTHUMBERLAND — When 'Julia' was four years old, she said to her mother, "When I grow up and I'm a woman..."

Her mother had to stop her right there and clarify by saying "You're not going to be a woman."

This, after all, was her little boy talking. Kelly (not her real name) will never forget that moment.

"She was just devastated," Kelly says. "The look on her face, you could just see the heartbreak."

Julia, who is now 12, has always been a girl, as far as she is concerned. Definitely not in body, but certainly in mind and spirit.

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Making a smooth transition

By Jeff Gard, Northumberland Today
Wednesday, December 5, 2012 2:45:04 EST PM

http://www.northumberlandtoday.com/2012/12/05/making-a-smooth-transition

NORTHUMBERLAND - The following is the second article of a three-part series looking at transgender in Northumberland.

Having worked in much larger cities such as Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph, London and Woodstock, registered child and family therapist Linda Farrell wasn't surprised to encounter a few transgender cases over the years.

When she and her husband Aaron (a clinical psychologist) set up their practice, Farrell & Farrell Therapeutic Services, in Cobourg about three years ago, she was astounded by the number of transgender-related cases in Northumberland.

"Over the last three years it has built to where I would say 15 to 20% (which is quite high for an area of this size, she noted) of my client case load is around transgender issues — so that could be a transgender client, but it could also be a family member that is trying to support their loved one that is going through the transition," Linda Farrell says.

"When I came to the quaint little town of Cobourg, population 18,000, I was very surprised, and in a positive way because I think it's awesome that people are willing to open up and explore this. I have been in awe of the parents of kids I have seen, especially, because the bottom line is these parents love their kids."

Bringing transgender issues into the open

By Jeff Gard, Northumberland Today
Thursday, December 6, 2012 2:45:32 EST PM

http://www.northumberlandtoday.com/2012/12/06/bringing-transgender-issues-into-the-open

NORTHUMBERLAND - The following is the conclusion of a three-part series looking at transgender in Northumberland.

No one knew James Spencer when he began attending a new high school in September.

That goes without saying, though, since until a month before the school year began Spencer was still living as a female — the gender in which he was born. The 16-year-old grew up as Samantha De Graauw and previously attended Cobourg District Collegiate Institute West.

This final part of the series actually shifts from Northumberland down the road to the Durham region. James now lives with his sister, Jessica, in Clarington and attends Clarke High School in Newcastle.

"Because I changed schools, the new friends I made all met me and knew of me as male so it was different," James says.

His anonymity soon changed, both at his school and on a provincial and national level.