According to an article in this month’s Atlantic, 8-year old Brandon Simms was born a boy, but has insisted he was a girl ever since he could talk. His first full sentence was “I like your high heels,” and he would often try on his mother’s clothes. Many transgender youths share the same sentiment as Brandon did: they were born one gender, but feel in their hearts and brains that they are meant to be the other. Now, newly-developed puberty blockers can allow transgender children to lead an inconspicuous life by suspending their development.
Transgender people have come more into the public eye as of late. Earlier this month, some children were pulled from a transgender teacher’s class in California. The parents were angry that they had not been “warned” that a formerly female music teacher would be returning in the new school year as a man. And on this season of the popular show America’s Next Top Model, one contestant, Isis, revealed that she was not physically female. This made some of the other contestants uncomfortable or even hostile, but Isis was so confident in her identity that it barely fazed her.
Today, Brandon’s mother calls him Bridget. Bridget wears earrings and is growing her hair long. It will be a difficult transition, especially in her small Southern town, but she can do it. She was simply born in the wrong body.