Should we stop encouraging our young children to change genders?

Question

Heard a debate about this on the radio today. Young kids are claiming to be of a different gender from their biological sex before they even really know about life. Should we stop encouraging this at young ages, before our children even know how to perform basic math or have had sex education?

Answer

Honestly, yes. I think sometimes yoing children aren't able to understand the decisions they make. I am totally supportive of transgender people, however, I don't think very young children fully understand themselves yet. Of course, let them make their own decisions about what to wear/do their hair/play with/ ect, but maybe hold off on the more drastic changes until they are 10-12ish and can better understand the implications of what they are deciding. When I was 6, I told everyone I was a dog for 3 months and even created my own language that I started speaking and writing in almost exclusively. I was young and imaginative. That's not to say some children that young may know who they are, but for some it could truly be just a phase.

Answer

What in the living fuck? Nobody, no parent, "encourages" their child to "change genders".. these kids aren't changing anything, they just want to align their inner self with their physical body. Studies have shown that transgender people literally have the brains of the gender they identify as. To deny them the chance to live as they wish is unnecessarily cruel and will often lead to the child's DEATH. Trans individuals have the highest rate of suicide among any other group, period. Do you really want to risk your child killing themselves because you're too pigheaded and bigoted to let them express themselves?

Answer

I partially agree. I think children don't have a firm enough grasp on what that truly means, but I think we as an adult society need to stop labeling everything as girl or boy. My 5 year old is really into My Little Pony and Littlest Pet Shop right now and his favorite color is pink. I specifically told my family no one is to say it's for girls or he's a girl. He has never expressed that he feels like a girl just because he likes things that have been gender specifically aimed at girls. He just is 5 and likes horses and talking animals. I think we (including myself) try to make everything so black and white and it isn't. If we stop making gender such a big deal, we all become more tolerant. This is not to say that I don't think people are truly transgender, because I do. I do believe that people can be born one biological sex, but be a different gender. Or gender fluid.

Answer

There's a huge difference between "encouraging" people to change genders, and accepting people who say they feel like the opposite gender. No one is encouraging people to live a life they will be bullied, hated, and an insanely higher chance of being killed in a hate crime or killing themselves from depression.

Answer

When I was little I wished I had been a boy (didn't identify as one) I was a total tomboy with 2 older Bros and all male friends. I wanted to run around the baseball fields shirtless like my friends but my mother wouldn't allow it cause I was a girl and she was absolutely right. I no longer want to be a boy though it would be nice to take my shirt off in the hot texas sun ;) I was just a kid I didn't know anything.

Answer

There are people here who don't even know how their vagina works so obviously some of the more basic "right" things aren't being encouraged. I don't feel like kids are encouraged to choose an identity but encouraged to be whoever they are, to like what they like, dress the way that want to; all within reason. Kids understand much more than we give them credit for. By stifling them due to age we are doing a disservice to everyone. Why people are not open or honest with their kids is just beyond me.

Answer

First off, everyone needs to understand the difference between sex and gender. Sex is the anatomy you are born with. Gender is what you feel you are inside. Does anyone remember being asked what gender you were at birth? Of course not. No one asks, the parents and doctor slap an F or M on the birth certificate according to whether a child has a vagina or penis. It's not a matter of what a child wants, it's a matter of what they feel. The binary boxes we put male and females into is socially constructed. Children often show signs of gender around ages 3-4. Many children, based on socially constructed gender norms, will be able to tell you what they feel they are inside. People do not chose gender. Sexual orientation and gender identity and expression are different. However, one thing remains, people do not make this choice. People chose to "come out" or transition, but this is something that we are all born with. So, it's not a matter of "supporting" transgender people. We need to affirm that this is not a choice. I plan to not put my children into binary boxes. And, to clarify, people do not give their children the choice of male or female. This is pre genetically determined. Also, choosing to have male or female boxes is a choice in the sense of some people decide to not identify as either male or female. Some people do choose to use pronouns like them, their, or they or ze, zim, and zir. Rather than male and female pronouns.

Answer

Kids are innocent and extremly impressionable...If my child wants to be like a boy if she is a girl im not going to discourage her but im not going to encourage it either...kids have big imaginations...because my daugther wants to wear shorts and play with batman doesnt make her transgender.

Answer

children are a lot smarter than adults realize.

Answer

My husband and I were having a similar conversation about this last week. He says that if our child were to identify as a different gender, he wouldn't take our child seriously until they were about 15 or 16 years old. I said I would listen to and support our child no matter the age. The roadblock I have is with surgery and hormones. I'm not sure if I feel comfortable with giving hormones or getting surgery for a young child. I'm sure it's safe, but my ignorance on the topic has me scared. I would feel a bit more at ease if my child were like 18-22 if they decided to get the surgery. I would still be scared for my older child getting gender reassignment surgery, but an older person can better understand the risk and decide if it's right for them. I don't think many supportive families have allowed their children to get the surgery at a young age though. Obviously I need to do more research.
But to answer the question being posed, I don't think families are encouraging children to change their gender. There have always been Transgender people on earth. We live in a generation where people are finally listening and slowly, very slowly, beginning to support the trans community instead of marking them off as mentally ill. Information spreads like wildfire in this time so if someone posts about their journey, then it helps young people to fully figure out who they are if they relate and it helps those families learn to be supportive if they choose to.

Should we stop encouraging our young children to change genders?

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