I first became fully aware of transgenderism after reading a story in Rolling Stone magazine in 2013 about a 4 year old boy in Colorado by the name of Coy Mathis who, through tear filled eyes, asked his mother one night as she was tucking him into bed, "when am I going to get my girl parts?"
As long as his mom and dad could remember, Coy was always drawn to girl's toys, loved pink frilly clothes, and freaked out every time his mom took him to the barber to have his hair cut. After Coy's tearful question, Ms. Mathis was finally convinced that something was wrong, and upon discussing her son's identity with multiple psychologists and councilors, accepted the fact that Coy was a girl trapped in a boys body and that nothing would change that. After that her parents allowed Coy to dress and behave appropriately with little fanfare.
At school, Coy had been using the girls bathroom, but then a complaint was filed by another parent after which the school told the parents that Coy had to begin using the boys room. That's when the parents sued, with the Colorado Civil Rights Division ruling in their favor. It was the first lawsuit in the United States that forced a school system to accommodate trans youth in that way.
According to Education Week, around 300,000 teenagers identify as trans in this country, but Republicans are having a heyday passing laws that discriminate against this vulnerable subset of our population. Never mind the fact that 82% of transgender men and women have considered killing themselves while 40% have actually attempted suicide. Those rates are highest among transgender youth.
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