Can young children really identify as transgender?

[Komugi]

What is your opinion on transgender children?

 

[friendlyfire]

What is your opinion on transgender children?

Most kids know the difference between boys and girls by 8. I’m not sure what the problem is with allowing an 8-year-old to express the gender he or she identifies with. It’s hardly an irrevocable decision. Even the use of puberty blockers further down the line isn’t irrevocable.

However, the damage of forcing a person to conform to gender identity at odds with his or her self-identification is likely to cause irrevocable harm. The tragic case of David Reimer shows what can happen to a person forced to conform to gender identity.

 

[mochimash]

In the first place, no one is making a choice, and indeed, most parents are not pushing forward. If they are pushing, most are pushing backwards. Children very early on sense something is not as it was expected to be. I do believe the parents (with professional guidance) need to work with the child to delay as long as it is a reasonable and logical move toward a transition.

I say this only because I believe the additional maturity time makes it easier for the child to deal with the situation. That said, every case has to be considered unique and special. The decision as to when and what is reasonable and logical to begin the change needs to be a collective one. At best, it can only be an educated guess emphasising the collective and educated.