News

Every morning when I get on the internet part of my ritual is checking all the news that is going on in the world and every once in a while beyond all of the political news there is one story that is amazing to me,
When I find stories like this I love to share them simply for awareness and education issues. Yesterday I cam across the following headline and decided I needed to share it.

Unhappy as a boy, Kim became youngest ever transsexual at 12

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/28/wkim28.xml


The reason this story intrigues me is quite obvious as I understand exactly what this child is going through., I’ve lived it. Lets take a step back and look at the bigger picture now because I’m sure that a lot of people are up in arms over this story because it is not only a misunderstood issue but it is also a child.

People who do not understand G.I.D or transsexualism usually look on the subject with a great deal of prejudice. I also understand that that prejudice is based in fear of the unknown and what people don’t understand they seem to fear, which in turn creates a hostile view in the bigger picture. Add a child into this and it gets rough as people believe children are to young to form these types of feelings about themselves.

I guess to some degree I understand the need to play it safe when it comes to our kids but I also understand how tough it is to live life the way this child feels at the same age. I think in terms of sexuality children can certainly be to young to understand and deal with the issue and we need to guide our children through it. Most people lump gender and sexuality into one big ball instead of understanding that they are in fact different… who you are attracted too is only loosely based on who you feel you are.

For the majority of people living this way the one part of it that always seems to remain constant is the idea that they knew from a very young age or the feeling that it was always somehow just there. When you break it down into basic thinking an 8 year old child isn’t taught to be transgendered they simply understand that things aren’t right and they try to understand why. A lot of times a parent will simply try to correct what they perceive to be wrong behavior and reaffirm the child’s visual gender because of their lack of understanding.

I was no different and when I was 12/13 years old it became a big issue in my life. I remember how it affected my social thinking and the need to act a certain way to fit in. I wasn’t always successful in trying but I just learned to act a certain way so I wouldn’t be picked on worse unloved by my family for it.

Over the last few years this condition has become more discussed publicly and even studied within the scientific communities. It is now believe that it is not a mental illness as once thought but more of a biological disorder during fetal development.. If this is indeed where we are in our learning curve is it so tough to believe that a 12 year old can understand that they aren’t how they feel?

Now add into it that the medical community has a better understanding of these issues and have ways of identifying it and dealing with it successfully. If a child is so determined going into their teen years that they are a different gender than the visual one they appear to be, the medical community has enough knowledge to identify that and help them then we need to look a things like this in a more positive manner.

Hormones can be a powerful thing to any human being but more so to a teenager. It causes so many emotional changes and those changes can mean life or death to a transgendered youth. If this can be scientifically identified and correct before the body’s hormones do their damage then dealing with this condition can early can only be more successful. Again this is provided there is enough medical proof to understand it is necessary for the child.

The older we get the more damage our own hormonal does to our body and the less chance the correct hormone has at doing a good job. This is a small part of why research needs to be done and people within this community can be helped at critical stages as this teenager. When this is done we will not only become more accepted by society but our own rate of mortality will get better.

In closing I’m proud to know there are parents that not only support their children but are willing to go as far as they need to allow their kids to grow up happy, healthy and well adjusted. I certainly salute Kim’s parents for being leaders and not followers …

~K~