FULL STORY: Gender Identity
Summary
TLDRThe video highlights the journey of two 10-year-old transgender girls, Tracy and Harriet, who were born male but identify as female. It explores their struggles for acceptance in their schools, families, and communities. The documentary delves into the emotional challenges they face, including bullying and the resistance from religious institutions. It also covers the legal battles their families undertake to secure their rights, emphasizing the importance of acceptance and understanding for transgender children in society.
Takeaways
- 👧 Two 10-year-olds, Tracy and Harriet, were born as boys but identify as girls, sparking a debate with schools and the government.
- 🏫 Tracy and Harriet’s parents support them, but their journey has been filled with challenges, including opposition from schools and religious institutions.
- 💔 Tracy's Catholic school would not allow her to use her chosen name or dress in a way that aligns with her gender identity, prompting her family to pull her out of the school.
- 🎂 Tracy transitioned 18 months ago and even celebrated with a rebirthday party, but she still faces taunts and teasing from peers.
- 💪 Harriet, who legally changed her name and presents as female, also struggles with bullying and exclusion from friends but remains strong and confident in her identity.
- 💡 The families have filed human rights complaints, seeking acceptance and change in schools and the government to recognize their daughters' gender identities.
- 🏥 Dr. Wallace Wong, a psychologist specializing in transgender children, explains that gender identity develops around age three and that mismatches can lead to emotional distress if not supported.
- ⚖️ The Catholic Church believes sex and gender are the same, which conflicts with the transgender community's push for acceptance, especially in religious schools.
- 💔 Both families hope for compassion and understanding, highlighting the emotional and psychological impact of being denied their gender identities in school settings.
- 🌈 Despite the challenges, Tracy's mom reassures her that being transgender makes her special and that their fight for acceptance will continue.
Q & A
Who are Tracy Wilson and Harriet Cunningham?
-Tracy Wilson and Harriet Cunningham are two 10-year-olds who were born as boys but identify as girls. They are the central figures in the debate around transgender children's rights.
What challenges have Tracy and Harriet faced regarding their gender identity?
-Both Tracy and Harriet have faced challenges from schools, the government, and society, including resistance to accepting their chosen identities. They have experienced teasing, bullying, and lack of acceptance from religious and educational institutions.
How did Tracy's parents react when they first noticed signs of her identifying as a girl?
-Tracy’s parents, Michelle and Garfield, initially struggled with their child's gender expression. Garfield, in particular, was uncomfortable when Trey (Tracy’s birth name) wanted to wear dresses and feminine clothing. Over time, they embraced Tracy's identity.
What did Dr. Wallace Wong say about gender identity in children?
-Dr. Wallace Wong, a psychologist specializing in transgender children, explained that while a child's biological sex is determined at birth, gender identity develops around the age of three. He mentioned that mismatched sex and gender is often mistaken for homosexual behavior, but it is a gender identity issue.
What are the mental health risks faced by transgender youth according to Dr. Wong?
-Dr. Wong pointed out that transgender youth face a high risk of emotional pain, which can lead to self-harm and suicidal behavior. In fact, 40% of transgender youth attempt suicide.
What was the response of the Catholic school to Tracy’s transition?
-The Catholic school Tracy attended refused to acknowledge her new gender identity. They would not call her by her chosen name, refer to her as ‘she,’ or allow her to wear the girls' uniform.
How has Harriet Cunningham's family responded to her transition?
-Harriet’s family, especially her grandmother Kathy Dickens, has been supportive. They have even started a campaign to remove gender markers from birth certificates and passports to help Harriet be recognized as a girl.
What legal action have both families taken?
-Both the Wilson and Cunningham families have filed human rights complaints. Tracy's family sued the Catholic school for discrimination, while Harriet's family filed a complaint against the BC government for assigning a male gender to Harriet at birth.
What was the significance of Harriet's blue dress?
-The blue dress became a symbol of Harriet's transition. During a grade 2 Christmas concert, she wore the dress, which helped her father Colin realize that his son was actually his daughter. It represented Harriet’s desire to express her true self.
How have Tracy and Harriet's social lives been affected by their transitions?
-Both girls have struggled socially since their transitions. Tracy lost many friends after switching schools and no longer gets invited to social events. Harriet also faced teasing and rejection from peers, with only one birthday party invitation in grade 4.
Outlines
👧 Fighting for the Right to Be Girls
This segment introduces the story of two 10-year-old transgender girls, Tracy Wilson and Harriet Cunningham, who were born as boys but identify as girls. Their families support them, but they face resistance from schools, the government, and religious institutions. The narrative highlights the struggles these girls endure as they seek acceptance and the right to live as their true selves. It touches on the difficulties of navigating societal expectations, discrimination, and the emotional challenges faced by transgender children.
👗 Challenges Within Families and Acceptance
This part focuses on the internal struggles within the families of Tracy and Harriet. It highlights the tensions between parents over accepting their child's identity, with Tracy's father, Garfield, initially struggling with the idea. The segment also discusses Harriet’s journey and her favorite blue dress, symbolizing her fight for recognition. Psychologist Dr. Wallace Wong explains the emotional toll of being transgender and the potential consequences of a lack of acceptance, such as self-harm and high suicide rates among transgender youth. The parents ultimately choose to embrace their daughters, helping them transition and live authentically.
🎒 Struggles with Schools and Religious Beliefs
This paragraph delves into the conflicts between Tracy's family and her Catholic school, Sacred Heart, which refused to recognize her as a girl. The school would not allow her to use her chosen name or wear the girls' uniform, citing religious beliefs that gender and sex are divinely assigned and immutable. This resistance leads to Tracy’s parents removing her from the school, emphasizing their disappointment in the lack of compassion and acceptance they expected from a religious community. The narrative captures the emotional impact on Tracy and her family as they fight for her right to be herself in an environment that does not support her identity.
📚 Legal Battles and Advocacy for Change
The final section covers the ongoing legal battles and advocacy efforts by Tracy and Harriet’s families. It details how Tracy’s parents filed a human rights complaint against the Catholic school for discrimination, highlighting the conflict between religious freedom and the right to gender identity. Meanwhile, Harriet and her grandmother are campaigning to remove gender markers from birth certificates and passports to prevent discrimination. The segment underscores the broader fight for transgender rights in Canada, focusing on the need for legal recognition and social acceptance. Both girls continue to navigate a challenging landscape as they strive to live authentically, hoping to inspire change and understanding in society.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Transgender
💡Gender Identity
💡Human Rights
💡Bullying
💡Transition
💡Acceptance
💡Catholic Church
💡Mental Health
💡Gender Dysphoria
💡Legal Recognition
Highlights
Two 10-year-olds, born as boys but identify as girls, fight for the right to be recognized as full-time girls.
Tracy and Harriet's parents support their daughters' gender identity, while others, including schools and churches, resist.
Tracy and Harriet were transgender from an early age, expressing their true identity through behavior and dress.
The children's gender identities led to struggles at school, including teasing, isolation, and rejection from peers.
Harriet's grandmother played a significant role in convincing her to fully embrace her gender identity.
The Catholic school refused to recognize Tracy's gender identity, not allowing her to use her new name or wear the girl’s uniform.
Tracy's parents pulled her out of Catholic school after feeling unsupported and filed a human rights complaint against the school.
Harriet's family launched a campaign to remove gender markers from birth certificates and passports, advocating for systemic change.
Both families face discrimination and emotional challenges but continue to support their children's gender transitions.
The Catholic church believes that sex and gender are one and cannot be changed, which fueled the conflict with Tracy's family.
The psychologist working with transgender children highlighted that gender identity develops around 3 years old and may not align with biological sex.
Transgender youth face severe emotional pain, with 40% attempting suicide if not supported, according to research.
The case involving Tracy is the first of its kind, challenging the Catholic church's stance on transgender children’s rights in a school setting.
Tracy now attends a public school where her gender identity is accepted, providing her relief and a sense of belonging.
The families hope their legal actions will bring about broader societal change for transgender children across Canada.
Transcripts
tonight on 16 by9 two 10-year-olds
fighting for the right to be girls not
just a girl a lot of the time and a boy
sometimes I want to be a full-time girl
I don't want to be just someone wearing
a costume battling the government
schools and the
church I don't believe God makes
mistakes you cannot just change your sex
and then all it takes is 8
[Music]
[Applause]
seconds the end goal for me is to be the
World Finals Champion to make bull
writing
[Music]
[Applause]
history and my name is Joel and this is
my tiny
house living large in tiny homes I'm
going to take over the world one tiny
house at a time
here's Carolyn
Jarvis good evening and welcome to 16
by9 human rights are something children
normally don't have to worry about but
Tracy Wilson and Harriet Cunningham are
special two 10-year-olds who were born
as boys but identify as girls while
their parents accept who they are others
don't and that has ignited a debate with
both School boards and the BC government
as Jill crop explains it's a matter of
who gets to decide whether someone is a
boy or a
girl
slide good okay from the beginning till
there
okay run here we come our the sun you
Cruis it
if I have a bad day I come here and then
all of my sadness goes away to look at
her you wouldn't think 10-year-old Tracy
Wilson has anything to be sad
about but appearances can be
deceiving what are you doing
Trey get the bar get the ball she was
born a he Trey Wilson first born to
Michelle and
Garfield
oh hi and while they thought they had a
son Michelle and Garfield soon realized
Trey was unique do you know when little
boys get together they are just really
aggressive and they just kind of run and
beat each other up not not so much he
would take my scarves and wrap them
around his head to make flowing hair or
he would put on uh shirts as
dresses there's Trey playing with this
toy TR train from his I never really
felt like one of the boys rough and
tough and pretending to be Pirates and
walking up
[Music]
princesses you hungry too
Henry Henry eat come on you're hungry I
know you are 10-year-old Harriet
Cunningham is most comfortable tending
to her animals this is Lillian and she's
good but she needs a bit of a
bath Harriet was born Dean but she has
never wavered in who she is I've always
been a girl even when I was a boy when I
was considered as a boy in my dreams I
was never I was never a
boy Tracy and Harriet are trans gender
they were born boys but knew early on
they were meant to be girls I just
assumed that I was just being myself and
being unique and I didn't know that it
would all come up to this she's good the
Wilsons and the cunninghams now want the
rest of Canada to see their daughters as
they do
[Music]
but it hasn't always been easy it wasn't
until preschool when the toy options
expanded and he went whoa like look
there's dolls and there's fairy dresses
and then his interest started to shift a
little bit when it was getting into the
role playing and things like that with
him wanting to dress up I got
nervous as it progressed Trey wanted to
wear the dresses and the fair Wings
outside or we get a ring in the door and
he run to the door in a dress and and
garfi would panic I would Panic yeah I
felt Garfield's discomfort with with
Trey and I'm like that's so not fair for
Trey and at the time I just thought he
was gay I remember I was sitting on the
couch and we were arguing again and I'm
like honey like this is a deal breaker
if you can't love Trey for who he is no
matter what that is this is this is not
going to work most of it was my own
personal fear you know um of not
understanding and
then the fear of bullying cuz I was
bullied as a
kid this is my closet in Harriet
Cunningham's family this blue dress has
become something of a symbol this is
pretty much my all-time favorite dress
it was the night of Harriet's grade 2
Christmas concert and her father Colin
hadn't yet accepted that his son was
really his daughter about 10 minutes
before we ready to leave she she comes
clopping down the stairs in uh heels and
Megan's uh powder blue uh bridesmaid's
dress I admit that I was thinking of my
own embarrassment taking my child to his
Christmas concert dressed as a a girl so
I said why are you wearing that and you
know why now she genuinely said well cuz
it's a really beautiful dress I
especially like it because it goes swish
swish swish swish whenever I walk and I
froze in place Colin didn't take Harriet
to the concert I think that's not
unusual for a lot of parents because
they we always have that hope that that
our kids will turn out to be fit in the
majority Dr Wallace Wong is a
psychologist specializing in transgender
children he says while sex is known at
Birth gender identity doesn't develop
until 3 years
old sometimes the two match and
sometimes they don't often mistaken for
homosexual Behavior it's actually called
gender identity disorder we are all
weird in some way and that make us
unique none of us in can fit 100% as a
muscular male or feminine female Dr Wong
knows that it can be hard for parents to
accept but there are serious
repercussions if they don't there's a
lot of emotional pain there's no way out
so the only way to to to numb their
feelings often they do a lot self harm
uh behaviors that emotional pain leads
to 40% of transgender youth attempting
suicide Michelle and Garfield embraced
their New Daughter letting her be the
person she
wanted as soon as I let that go it
was I never looked back I really didn't
it
was and it changed my relationship with
Tracy it completely changed it I felt
like I was holding on to something that
wasn't there Trey became Tracy 18 months
ago biologically she is still a boy but
she goes by her girl name is referred to
with female pronouns and she wears
whatever clothing she
[Music]
wants Tracy even had a rebirthday party
celebrating her transition
[Music]
for all the parties and red carpets life
can be overwhelming for the young girl I
just need to think about all that's
going on and try and find a way to calm
myself
down thinking about
everything taunts and teasing happen all
too
often they would say stuff like
I hate to say this
word and they would call
me sometimes an alien or
nonperson cuz they thought that I was
different and I was so and I was too
girly to be a boy I was too and I was
too different to be a
human but earning the acceptance of her
friends and family was only the
beginning of Tracy's difficult journey
by the end of grade three Tracy decided
to to admit how she really felt I told
her mom I'm really going to trust you
now and I want to be a girl not not just
a girl a lot of the time and a boy
sometimes I want to be a full-time girl
at dance she was Tracy at home she was
Tracy so she was a full-on girl but when
she'd go to school she'd have to go back
to being Trey and being called he she
was attending this semi-private Catholic
School Garfield grew up going to church
so he was looking forward to
reintroducing faith into our lives yeah
I wanted to have the foundation of Faith
Michelle and Garfield approach Sacred
Heart asking them to allow Trey to
become Tracy oh they wouldn't allow any
of that they wouldn't let her use her uh
new name uh they wouldn't refer to her
as she did you have any sense at Sacred
Heart School that they would have a
negative reaction no no never we believe
that sex and gender are one and the same
Doug Lawson is superintendent of the
Catholic independ dependent schools of
Vancouver God creates a person with a
sexual identity at Birth I don't believe
God makes mistakes you cannot just
change your
[Music]
sex good night under your blanket tight
give me a kiss okay H how could God not
love something that he created it's like
everybody else how could you not love
something that you created it's just
like having a doubt how could you not
love your own
child just
[Music]
saying next a parent fight with the
school to let this 10-year-old be
herself I expected a community that
talks about love and acceptance to
actually show love and acceptance
[Music]
in grade two I got invited to 10
birthday parties in grade three I got
invited to 10 and grade 4 I got
invited to one 10-year-old transgender
girl Harriet had to learn to be
tough I got called a HEI I got called
quite quite me names and it I try not to
let them show that I'm I'm sad but it
really hurts me Harriet has a very
strong personality kids would say what
are you and she'd go I'm a person that's
what I am but it was a conversation with
her grandmother Kathy Dickens that
finally convinced Harriet my grandma
told me do you want to get a beard like
Daddy and I said no and you like at the
thought of that I I put my foot down no
I want to be
fully a
girl so that is what she did wearing
only girl clothing legally changing her
name and presenting herself as entirely
female have different ideas of gender
but that's not enough Harriet also wants
the government to accept her when I have
to show ID and I'm going through um
Customs I think it's called yeah Customs
it makes me sad CU people give me dirty
looks and they kind of question me who's
this BL and it makes me feel like I
shouldn't have to go through that I'm
I'm a girl and I'm I'm like everybody
else grandmother and granddaughter have
started a campaign to remove gender from
birth certificates and passports I will
continue writing to government and
advocating for change until we have
things in place where she feels safe and
protected wherever she goes why is it
the people those people's business to
know what gender I am it I'm I'm Harriet
look at me I'm I'm like this there we
there we go it's kind of that simple
they even filed a human rights complaint
against the BC government saying that
Harriet should never have been labeled
male at Birth we used to think that you
could tell gender you looked at you
looked at the baby when they were born
and ah now we know boy or girl for the
rest of your life those are
profound ideas in our culture but
they're mistaken
lawyer Barbara Finley took on their case
she says gender markers are outdated
when I first got my birth certificate it
had on it as identifying features my
name my date of birth and my gender that
was it if I've been born 20 or 30 years
before it would also have had my race
and my father's occupation in my class
but we've already figured out that those
aren't
relevant I had to give up my friends I
had to give up almost everything
everything I barely even see my friends
from Sacred Heart
anymore it's
just friends Tracy doesn't get to see
anymore because she wanted to use the
girl's washroom to be called her new
name and to wear the girl's uniform at
the Catholic school she was attending in
short she wanted to be treated as the
girl she knew she was they had no
intention of letting her be her her they
wouldn't let her use her new name uh
they wouldn't refer to her as she the
school resisted asking the Wilsons for
multiple assessments confirming Tracy's
condition that wasn't okay and Tracy's
uncomfortable like my child doesn't feel
comfortable it was hard for her Michelle
and Garfield pulled Tracy out of class
let me just think it's just fear and it
sucks and it's so wrong and everyone
says well what did you expect I expected
compassion I expected community that
talks about love and acceptance to
actually show love and
acceptance like I don't think that's so
[Music]
strange the whole existence of a
Catholic school is for the Catholic
faith the position of the Catholic
church is that you live your life in the
sex that God gave you Doug Lawson is the
superintendent of the Catholic
Independent Schools of couver and says
Tracy is the first open transgender
child in one of their schools this is an
emerging issue it's certainly an issue
that has come to the Forefront over the
last number of years and it's a very
complex issue in order to be who you are
to be who God made you to be you don't
have to wear the girl's
uniform it's it's I think as simple as
that Lawson says the board is working on
not a policy for transgender children
but that the research is conflicting
some researchers will say wait and see
support the child in his or her desires
other people will say no don't do that
that's the worst thing you can do very
very different opinions and so we had to
research the medical evidence evidence
with conflicting numbers on if a child
will eventually change their mind and
how to best handle adolescence surgery
is not available to minors in Canada but
children can take hormones to suppress
puberty starting at around 12 Tracy has
questions about it but it's not
something that we want to focus on or
worry about too much right now we want
her to be able to just live as she is
and and live as the 10-year-old that she
[Music]
is and 10-year-olds need to go to school
the Wilsons also hired Barbara Finley
and filed a human rights complaint
saying the school discriminated against
their daughter then you have headon a
contest between the right to be free
from discrimination on the one hand and
the right to hold religious views on the
other hand is religious freedom
Paramount to the right to education and
to sexual orientation absolutely
for a Catholic School yes this case will
be the first time where
that particular headon contest in a
school has happened who's walking on my
bridge it's very humbling we adults have
a
job and our job is to listen really
really carefully to what children have
to say
while the grown-ups are left to decide
who they can be Harriet already has it
figured out I don't want to just be
referred to on the street as a girl I
don't want to be
just someone wearing a costume I want to
be
[Music]
me Tracy now attends this public school
where she is enrolled as
Tracy sometimes I wish that I was just a
normal girl so that I wouldn't have to
go through all of this but my mom always
tells me that it's good to be
transgender cuz being transgender makes
you special and we no not saying that
nobody else is special no no thank I'm
not trying to start up a riot
[Music]
Tracy's complaint against a Catholic
School Board will be heard this spring
while Harriet is still waiting for a
response from the government we'll be
right back
تصفح المزيد من مقاطع الفيديو ذات الصلة
Transgender at 11: Listening to Jazz Jennings | 20/20 | ABC News
THIRD GENDER IN INDIA | Hijras, the Kinnars daughters
Gender Equality Advocacy Video
Mass Protests Erupt in China, From Children to Parents, Every Person Involved;Public Outcry Explodes
I-Witness: 'Kapit sa Patalim', dokumentaryo ni Atom Araullo | Full Episode
Celebrating Pride - Canada's History of LGBTQ2S+ Rights
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)