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Executive Summary
The book entitled Transgender Care defines transgender identity as a term used to
describe a number of groups of people: transvestites, transgenderists, those with androgynous
presentations, or the inter-sexed (Israel & Tarver, 2009, p.8). As society evolves, it is becoming
more important to provide a variety of professional transgender support services to meet the
more multifaceted needs of many different populations. This support must start when a child
initially begins experiencing gender dysphoria. Challenging the concept of the gender binary is
so important in order to allow a group of people freedom from psychologically and emotionally
damaging pressures to be someone they are not. This paper emphasizes the need for increasing
support for transgendered youth and advocates for the implementation of community-based
counseling and support services as well as positive family and community responses.
The Issue in Brief
Children begin identifying with their gender and sense of self from a young age and
many transgender children begin experiencing gender dysphoria long before puberty. In fact, in
Kennedys 2008 study, data from an analysis of an online artifact suggested that the average age
at which a transgendered person becomes aware they were transgender is around 8 years old and
that more than 80% of transgender people became aware they were transgender before they left
primary school (Kennedy and Hellen, 2010, p.27). This means that it is imperative that schools
introduce children to the concept of transgendered people so that transgender children are able
to feel they are not alone and that their gender identity is just as valid as any other (Kennedy
and Hellen, 2010, p.41). This would also promote tolerance as the children enter adulthood.
Shannon Mintor, a lawyer who advocates for transgender children and youth notes during the
past 15 years, public awareness and acceptance of transgender children and youth in the United
States have increased at breathtaking speed (Mintor, 2012, p.422). Also, in the past decade,
many states and localities began to enact legal protections for transgender children and youth in
schools (Mintor, 2012, p.423). These legal safeguards protect transgendered children against
discrimination and bullying in the school setting. Also, some school districts have implemented
comprehensive policies requiring schools to use appropriate names and pronouns for transgender
students, permit them to dress according to their gender identity, and provide them with access to
restrooms and locker rooms based on their own gender identity (Mintor, 2012, p.430). However,
References