How about no press conferences, no media interviews, no pictures of your children in the media. If some court reporter gets wind of it a quick “no comment we’ll let the court decide.” No interviews and interest will die off quick. The kid just wants to play. The parents want to be on the news.
I appreciate that. I question the ability of a 5 year old to appreciate that. What does a child know about the concept of living as a boy or a girl besides a superficial understanding of the things adults tell them “boys do” and “girls do”.
Can these doctors guarantee that this kid won’t decide at the age of 8 that being a boy isn’t so bad? They better guarantee it, because this thing is going to follow this kid for the rest of his life.
A diagnosis of transgender in a child is based not just on words but also behavior. It’s not something any of us here on a message board can diagnosis, not in the least because absolutely none of the articles published about this kid have ever provided enough information.
Oh, please, doctors can’t guarantee than any one of us will even be alive in 2 years. Try naming a goal that is actually realistic.
Funny how in these discussions people always wind up sounding like they think being a girl is a horrible fate… :rolleyes:
I’m pretty sure a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes is one that is more or less guaranteed that the patient isn’t going to grow out of. You don’t grow out of being a girl. If this child is really a girl, then she’s not going to suddenly become a boy at the age of 8, or 10, or 15. That’s sort of the point, isn’t it? That this isn’t a “phase”, it’s who this child REALLY is.
Being a girl is not horrible. Being a 10 year old boy (who wants to be a boy) with a googleable history of dressing like a girl and demanding to be a girl, and being officially diagnosed as being a girl in a boy’s body, is not really the same as being a girl.
Both are equally delicious.
I actually think it would be kind of hard for the kid to change back to being male after a few years without the family moving to a different state. Once you go down this path, it will be difficult to get off the path, just like a 14 year old kid going to an High School Arts Academy and then deciding as a Junior that Science is really where it’s at. That kid would have a really tough time socially transferring to the Science Academy. A lot of times it’s much easier to stay on the path that you are on rather than change. I think in school at this age, the kid needs to treated as a boy.
Men’s bathrooms also have stalls with toilets, don’t they? Don’t some small men’s bathrooms only have a toilet? Men certainly use toilets in their homes, so it’s not impossible for a person with male organs to manage without a urinal. As for female biology, wall-mounted bins for used tampons and sanitary napkins aren’t universal (some bathrooms just have a regular trash can) and presumably aren’t relevant to the average 6 year old girl anyway.
I don’t see any physical reason why the facilities available in a girls’ bathroom wouldn’t be sufficient for Coy’s needs, and sending a child who looks like Coy into the boys’ room seems like a very bad idea. I can see why the school might have thought that having Coy use the staff bathroom was a fair compromise, but I think 6 year olds are a lot more likely to question why one kid uses neither the boys’ room nor the girls’ room than they are to object to a child who looks like Coy using the girls’ room.
i read one article on this case. the school had some unisex restrooms for students. that would mean that the person wouldn’t have had to make a declaration or face a stigma on their restroom use. i have no idea of the number of restrooms or the distribution in the school.
Don’t the parents of all the girls at the school have a right to
Don’t the parents of all the girls at the school have a right to expect boys NOT be allowed in THEIR bathroom?!?!?
Perhaps if there were more open minded people in this world-- people who didn’t think there was something wrong with being trans or a woman-- then it wouldn’t be a big deal at all. Fortunately for the rest of us, our society is quickly moving that way, no doubt in part due to rulings like the one here.
Who cares? Do you think that a cis gendered 6 year old boy is going to be fapping away in the ladies’ room if he’s allowed in? Because if so, I’m going to start raising hell at all of those mom’s who bring their little perverts into public bathrooms and locker rooms with them.
They have the right to expect anything they like, but as DiosaBellissima mentioned it’s already pretty common for little boys to go into women’s restrooms and dressing rooms with their mothers. So it’s pretty likely that most of the girls at this school have at some point shared a public restroom with a boy.
I suspect little boys aren’t so used to seeing little girls in public restrooms, and would probably prefer not to have a child who sure looks like a girl using the boys’ room with them.
Some friends of mine worked this out with their elementary school without involving the courts, thank goodness.
Their daughter, who is biologically male, transitioned age 4-5 on the recommendation of the psychiatrist she had been seeing since age 3 (one of the top specialists on gender identity disorder in the nation). She started kindergarten as a girl, and none of her classmates know different. She uses the girl’s bathroom, going into the stall and closing the door just like everyone else. She is now 7, going into 2nd grade this fall. 
I’m extremely hopeful that having her parents full support in being who she feels she is meant to be, will mean she, unlike most trans people I’ve known, will avoid the shame, guilt, fear, depression, emotional trauma, suicidal thoughts, and abuse or estrangement from unsupportive family, that so frequently plague those with gender identity issues.
They are not allowing boys in the girl’s restroom. Coy is a transgendered girl, and the amount of ignorance being spread in this thread is appalling.
To everyone saying it will be too hard for Coy to transition back, if she so chooses-- we’re talking about parents that fought a school district and won the right for their daughter to use the appropriate bathroom. You think they won’t move heaven and earth to help her transition to a boy again if she decides that’s the best path? I mean, yes you probably do see that, because you’re so blinded by prejudice you see parents interested in making a political statement (to WHO???) rather than parents who are dedicated to their child’s health and well-being.
Coy’s doctors-- you know, those people who go to school a really long time, and have spoken to the child in question at length? They say this is what she should be doing. The standard for care of trangendered children is being followed here. The amount of hubris and stupidity in saying something like, “I think in school at this age, the kid needs to treated as a boy,” is mind-boggling! Do you question the diagnoses of autistic children, or maybe kids with dyslexia? I mean, just how far does your medical expertise go? Hey, my kid has a growth disorder, but maybe his doctor’s are wrong and we should just ignore it until he turns 18!
But the back of the bus is more comfortable, and you’ll enjoy the ride much more back there with your own kind.
I think you can understand and be tolerant of and support the rights of transgendered individuals, while still being a bit incredulous that gender identity “disorder” can be accurately diagnosed at age 3-6. I realize it is probably society demanding a diagnosis, but it still seems sad to have to rush your kid to the psych just because they aren’t fitting into rigid gender stereotypes. 
Can’t they just have long hair or play with GI Joes without having to have a diagnosis.
It makes me cringe in the same way that parents will proclaim their preschooler is gay, or say there are two gay kids in their child’s kindergarten class. I’m like you don’t really know what orientation they are, and it seems crazy to decide since they are not 100% stereotypical you know they are gay(not that there is anything wrong with that). I would cringe at people proclaiming their kid is straight too.
And diagnostic criteria are not and never have been confidential.
So how is this going to be handled when Coy does physical education–where students take showers afterwards?
It is NOT because the kid “does not conform to stereotypes”. I happen to be a ciswoman who is also a raving tomboy, from an early age I shunned dresses and skirts, wanted to play rough games with boys, and even these days I work with power tools and don’t wear make up. But no reputable doctor would ever diagnose me as transgender no matter how “butch” I am and act. Why? Because I’ve never doubted I’m a girl, I am not repulsed by my own genitals, and on top of that am boringly heterosexual in orientation. I don’t fit into ridgid gender stereotypes, never have (and the brought it’s own form of grief in my youth) but no one would mistake me for someone transgendered.
In other words it’s not what you think it is. You’re working from an unconscious bias.
It’s shocking, but in some cases it really is obvious from a young age.
No, but which criteria a particular person meets is considered confidential information.
In all my years of schooling, which included mandatory physical education, I was never, ever required to take a shower afterward. Contrary to what many believe, this is not universal.
What I mean is that to outward appearances in such a young child there isn’t much of a difference between a kid that doesn’t conform to stereotypes and one who is transgendered, not that they are the same thing. I honestly don’t know if such young transgender children express repulsion at their genitals etc which I wish the doctors in question would explain, as otherwise the article is just the parent’s anecdotes about blankets and stuff.
I wish parents and society would just let kids have room to grow and become who they are without court cases to force their hand, couldn’t the school work something out damn.
I never took a shower in the locker room either, and it’s my recollection that hardly any of the other girls did. Mostly we’d just wipe off with some baby wipes and put on fresh deodorant. We definitely weren’t frolicking nude like in the opening scenes of Carrie. (Maybe that’s really what it was like in the '70s, but not by the '90s when I was in school.) Being nude or even topless where other girls could see you was such a big taboo at the schools I went to that a pre-op transgender student probably could have “passed” without putting much more effort into hiding her body than other girls did.