COMMENTARY | On Feb. 20, the American Academy of Pediatrics released the disturbing, but unsurprising, results of a long-term study investigating abuse rates among transgender children. The investigation followed some 17,000 people who demonstrated "gender nonconformity" before age 11, measuring their mental health and markers for abuse in early adulthood. The findings of the study were alarming and indicate a frightening and hidden epidemic of abuse.
A full 39 percent of transgender men and 30 percent of transgender women had been abused by their parents. Most of the abuse victims demonstrated signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, a very serious condition marked by severe anxiety and suicidal ideation. As a parent, an LGBT activist, and a dedicated friend to several transgender individuals, I felt personally troubled not only by the degree of abuse among transgender kids, but also by the fact that it has gone relatively unnoticed.
Recently, the parents of transgender children have been in the media spotlight, and attempts to discredit, attack and insult these parents are common. The mother of Bobby Montoya, the 7-year-old transgender girl who joined Girl Scouts last year, has been a subject of threats and organized boycotts. Seattle's Cheryl Kilodavis, author of "My Princess Boy," has been continuously attacked by the right-wing media. A lesbian couple in Australia was the subject of international debate when they allowed their transgender daughter, Tammy Lobel, to transition at age 11.
These parents have become famous for "abusing" their kids by embracing their children's identities. When a parent actively supports her child's "deviant" gender identity, she is considered to be corrupt, sick, "politically correct," and guilty of brainwashing her child. Yet the tens of thousands of parents who have physically, sexually, and psychologically abused their transgender children go unreported by the news.
There is something severely wrong with our society when it is headline news for a mother to allow her male-bodied child to wear a dress, and when she is considered abusive for doing so. This is especially true when a headline like "Mother Spanks Son for Wearing Make-Up" becomes unremarkable and uncontroversial. We live in a world where abuse of transgender children is substantially more common than support, and this is problematic and dangerous.
The epidemic of abuse toward transgender youth must end. Of the many adults I know who are transgender or gender-deviant, I know very few who have not experienced child abuse, and even fewer who do not suffer from long-term mental health problems because of this abuse. For the health of future generations, we need to ensure that this problem ends now. The parents of transgender youth owe their children nothing short of full support, unconditional love, and a stable family life.
Juniper Russo is an activist, health consultant, freelance writer, and full-time mom living in Chattanooga, Tenn.
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