"Transgender" Second Grader . . .

This story is just weird.

HIGHLANDS RANCH, CO – The issue of being transgender usually pops up with students in high school. However, a 2nd grade biological boy wants to dress as a girl and be addressed with a girl's name. . . teachers are planning to address the student by name instead of using he or she. The child will not use the regular boys or girls bathroom. Instead, two unisex bathrooms in the building will be made available. . . The student had attended this same school in years prior, but had left to go to classes in another district for about two years. The transgender student will be returning to what is the child's home school. Dave M. thinks classmates will recognize the change.

Of course they will recognize the change!!! I don't mean to offend anyone, but does a second grader really understand anything about what it means in the long-run to be male or female? Is elementary school the right place to "come out?" Does the child understand that to truly pursue this, he will need multiple major surgeries, hormone treatments, and will never be able to have children? If a person is going to make a choice of that magnitude, shouldn't they be old enough to tie their shoes first? The therapist says:

The most important thing is to make sure the transgender student does not become the target of bullying or verbal abuse which can lead to suicide. "These children are at high-risk," said Pearson. "Our number one goal is to keep kids safe."

So the way to make sure the child isn't ridiculed is to

1. Have him go ahead and cross-dress,
2. Call him by a different name than the children knew him by before,
3. Have him use a special bathroom,
4. Pass out an explanation to every parent in the school, and
5. Never refer to him using pronouns?

That won't make him seem any different! Just one of the gang! Excuse the sarcasm, but they might as well put a "kick me" sign on his back and have him stand on a desk in front of the classroom all day.

I'm not trying to say that this child isn't deeply confused, all I'm saying is that this remedy is going to make things worse. This is just labeling him. Children HATE being labeled, but they will latch on to the labels given by others immediately. The school wouldn't divide the class into beanpoles, husky kids, midgets and cripples would they? How about preppies, stoners, nerds and jocks? kids might, but the school shouldn't. By doing this, the school is separating him from his classmates, and singling him out for attention.

Wouldn't it be easier on everyone to have the child wear male clothes while at school, and try to teach him that his worth as a person isn't determined by the clothes he wears? That would keep the discussion, advice and counsel to the people who are supposed to care about him and not drag the entire community into a personal, private issue. Parents need to ensure that their children make choices at the appropriate time, and with full knowledge and understanding of the consequences, not let them do whatever they feel like, and insist that the entire community adapt.

As a side issue, I thought the latest thinking was that gender is all a matter of environment? Aren't men and women all the same? Why are "transgender" people the only ones who can insist that gender is fixed at birth without being called bigots? Am I the only one who sees this as inconsistent? I must need to attend more propaganda sessions sensitivity training.