Wow, I think I might have to change my sig on this site.

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Even if you hold the minority opinion, stick to your guns and go against the flow if that's what you truly believe. (CnRedd)

It is common among young children to have a very lax gender identity. They form their gender identities through socialization and reinforcement of specific roles, whether that socialization is through play time, observation, imitation, or direct instruction.

Object-relation theory of gender role and stereotype asserts that the bond between mother and child influences gender identity. Boys separate from their mothers early on to attain identity but girls don't have to endure separation. Under gender schema theory, children internalize the roles they see society giving to the different genders and this aids in the development of their identities.

Add to this the fact that the other children at the school are also having their identities developed at the same time. They are learning their own gender roles and having their morality influenced on a constant basis by educators and other children. While on the surface it seems like a splendid idea to teach them tolerance by utilizing this particular situation, there is the underlying consequence of possibly causing confusion and complication to their own growth and development.

I, again, assert that there are too many variables and issues at stake here. There is too much evidence to suggest that this child could just be deeply immersed in fanciful play. It would suggest that there is some pathology at play here, but I am not convinced that reassigning this child's gender is going to be at all helpful, especially considering that part of developing gender identity is enforcement of mutual expectation and conformity to social norms.

I ran across additional news and commentary on this story here, including a YouTube CNN interview on the topic, if anyone is interested.

Working to Make Transkids Safe | OurChart

There is one thing that I KNOW for fact, even though I DONT know the kid... DRESSING as the opposite sex... does that equate that the kid ALSO likes the SAME sex? NO IT DOES NOT!!!!!!! WHY are the gay people so QUICK to draw the kid to them? JUST cuz he likes girls cloths means he wants a male to have sex with as well? There are women that like to wair Male cloths. does that mean they are LESBIANS?!?!?! NO! But the gay populous are EAGER and WILLING to rope in ANYTHING that they can equate to being homosexual... and say..."youre one of us....."

I swear. Forest for the freakin' trees.

It's not an issue of "you're one of us". (i.e., assuming gay)
It's an issue of gays and lesbians realizing the type of crap that transgenders can go through, so we EMPATHIZE with it and seek to help out our fellow human being.

I think the REAL question you should be asking is why some of the "straight populous" are so quick to REJECT people like this in the first place.
That and the whole "God doesn't make mistakes" retort to try and deny reality. To those individuals, I challenge them to look at a conjoined twin picture and repeat their claim that "God doesn't make mistakes"...

Because it's a CHILD...

If this was an 18 year old, the whole situation changes...

The hypocrisy of people who believe "It takes a village" to raise a child because they all know what's best for children and children can't make decisions for themselves are now DEFENDING this child's choice to make a decision on his own...

As if he were an adult instead of a NINE YEAR OLD...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

Slow down there hoss.
I'm not talking about your SPECIFIC approach as discussed above.
I'm talking about a completely different type of person which harasses the transgender.

Quite frankly, for a 35-year old person (not a child) you would expect to find more support for the transgender person than you would see from the Republican party. That was my point to the other poster's comments.


And adult vs 9-year old makes a lot of difference in this case.

The kid should see a psychiatrist (or something similar) so that somebody can help make a real assessment of the kid's psychological situation.
Blindly acquiescing to his desires could be likened to allowing a kid to play with fire because he wants to be a fire-fighter.

I see no reason to throw out "the Republican party" in this...

If you want to see issues about social discrimination, all you have to do is watch the Democratic primaries...


That's the way I see it...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

Here is the story of this particular family:

Colorado Community Newspapers - Becoming Jamie Family, friends, school support a transgirl

Here is a story explaining some basics of transgenderism:

Colorado Community Newspapers - Explain gender simply to kids