Is Transitioning At 14 Too Early? Two Brave Transgender Teens Share Their Inspiring Stories
Have you ever thought about how old should a person be to be able to decide to go through a gender transition? Many people have opinions on the matter: Some believe they should be at least 18, while others are more lenient with this matter. Currently, it's up to parents to decide whether they trust their children's judgement before signing off for them to become transgender.
Andrii Zastrozhnov / Shutterstock.com
READ ALSO: Spanish Stunner Becomes First Ever Transgender Woman To Take Part In 2018 Miss Universe Contest
We want to look at two stories of young trans girls who knew exactly who they were and couldn't be happy until they transitioned.
Josie Totah
According to Josie, she knew she wanted to be a girl since the age of 5. She always wanted to play with girls, dress up, and loved to sing more than anything.
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Everyone around Josie considered her to be a gay boy, and that's exactly the characters she was playing when Totah started her career in show business. When she turned 14, she was certain about who she was and wanted to transition. During the interview with TIME, she revealed why her mother agreed to go through with the gender change:
This is not something that just happened. This is not a choice that I made. When I was five, long before I understood what the word gender meant, I would always tell my mother that I wished I were a girl. And I had an enormous fear of male puberty.
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Josie also revealed that her huge inspiration was watching I am Jazz, in which teen Jazz Jennings went through her own transition.
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Jazz Jennings
Jazz starred in her own reality show when she was 14 years old. It depicted her medical journey from being a boy to becoming a beautiful teenage girl.
Although she fully transitioned in her teens, Jazz lived as a girl ever since she was a child.
READ ALSO: Famous Transgender Teen Jazz Jennings Shares Her First Post-Gender Confirmation Surgery Picture
Jennings is another example of knowing she was born with the wrong gender. Both Josie and Jazz knew their true selves from the young age, so it's very fortunate they had supportive parents, who allowed them to go through with letting out their inner selves.
Mixed public reactions
Many people are very supportive of stories such as Josie and Jazz's, and feel happy for girls becoming who they were meant to be.
Crying over the fact that Josie Totah's Time article came out hours ago and her pronouns have already been changed on Wikipedia pic.twitter.com/IZ5wsYs2Df
— Kerrie Colleen Byrne (@kercoby) August 20, 2018
Congrats on being your authentic self! So lovely!
— Heather (@myweirdmom1) August 21, 2018
But some people still have a hard time with accepting transgenders and express their disapproval of the situation.
If Jazz Jennings had an identical twin who was allowed to go through puberty before undergoing vaginoplasty, we could see who ends up with the more satisfying love life. https://t.co/mqFvtCdqKf
— Ray Blanchard (@BlanchardPhD) June 23, 2018
This kind of thinking should not be encouraged by media. A system that allows this kind of child abuse is clearly broken. https://t.co/0I38yakHnf
— Derick Dillard (@derickmdillard) June 29, 2018
Chromozones don't lie this HE/SHE is a DUDE!
— Fred Matias (@prisonworker) June 26, 2018
Regardless of what anyone thinks, Josie and Jazz seem very happy, and that's the most important thing.