Parents On Gender-Affirming Care | The Problem With Jon Stewart

Parents of trans children, Keisha Michaels and Debi Jackson, offer moving stories about how gender-affirming care starts at home.

#TheProblemWithJonStewart #gender #lgbt

[TheVodec]

The problem with Jon Stewart is that I dont get to see him 4 times a week any more.

[misstunes]

"So you're saying it's YouTube". 😊 Jon is hilarious!

[j.l.]

I am a straight male.

I was 4 years old in 1984. I remember seeing Return of the Jedi in theaters.

It is absolutely 100% plausible to me that a 4 year old would be able to recognize his/her gender identity. I did. I knew i was a boy and gravitated to boy things and boy mannerisms.

If my mothet had forced me to dress in little girl dresses and put bows in my hair and sent me to kindergarten or church...I absolutely would have felt embarrased and uncomfortable. I would absolutely have voiced my displeasure and told my mom that she was dressing me incorrectly.

The whole "a 4 year old cant know his/her gender" argument is just ridiculous.

[philippschwartzerdt]

I have a son (now 16y) who was born a girl. He is currently in reaffirmation therapy.
We have though embraced our child for what it identifies.

It was not easy at first, but the more we thought about it, the more we recognized that all the signs were there from the beginning:
- Always playing with cars, never with dolls;
- when role playing family with other girls always being a male character;
- when doing sports competing with the boys;
- dismissing the color remotely pink from the beginning (any girlish identifier was taken off;
- never wearing a skirt unless dress codes demanded it;
- preferably playing with the boys not the girls and being accepted as one of the boys (always!);
- best pals are mainly boys;
Before he realized himself his gender, we were able to see that he didn’t accept the situation lightly.
He went through a number of phases before asserting his gender to himself and eventually to us.
For us there was nothing else left but to accept his findings, his arguments and reasoning.
As mentioned above, it was not easy at first, because we felt the loss of a daughter first and the ambiguity towards the addition of a son.
Now we embrace the son as we love our kid and that is all what counts in the end.
It is his life, it is his revelation and it is what makes him happy. And this is what makes us happy.
Anybody having a different opinion on the matter can just take it and stuff it where the sun never shines, I don’t care as it is not his/her cup of tea.
Just respect his gender same as anybody else wants to be respected with its own gender, no more, no less.

[rhondaguerrero]

Why are we allowing POLITICIANS to tell the Drs & parents what to do with their children’s health care ??? This is going too far

[tinascott]

In the 70s my grandmother had a neighbor with a little girl who's name was Bobby Jean, she wouldn't answer to her full name only to Bobby. She was also 4 and was adamant she was a boy and got angry when her mother would say she was a girl. Her mother said she would grow out of it. Fast forward as a teen she dressed as a boy and looked just like a boy. Last I heard, BOBBY TRANS TO MALE in the 90s 🤷 They are who they are

[enviromental]

We've had Transgender people since we evolved into people. There are many examples in old text and paintings and some societies were and are more accepting than others. Please let us allow Americans to get the health care they need and deserve.

[willswadling]

Thank you Jon Stewart and the team of the Problem with Jon Stewart, for this episode. Whilst I’m not American I’m thankful for this as too often the conversation around is geared towards fear and denial, especially in the media.

[JustbeYourself]

Parents please listen to your children and not the Politicians who falsely claim that they care about them.

[bronwaith]

Born in 98, always snuck my mum's makeup and clothes at age 3, I told my teacher at 5 years old when I grow up I wanna be a beautiful woman. I wasn't influenced by the Internet or anything.

Trans people exist and we are real. 💖🏳‍⚧

[xanatax]

good “heads-up” for parents … if your 4-yr old says this, don’t panic … you have YEARS to figure out what’s going on! a genuinely, for-sure trans kid will still be like this at 5, 6, 7, etc. … and there’s no medical intervention at that age! it is ONLY social stuff, like name, clothing, haircut.

tho … I’d fight about kid’s toys. 😂 IMO, Toys don’t have a gender bias. Boys can play with dolls, girls can play with trucks, or whatever … it means nothing. 🤷‍♀️

[rinkuraku]

I really wish my mother was more like her instead of, "no, you can't wear a dress to the wedding, you're embarrassing me" followed by a sharp slap on the rear and being dragged off to the boy's section. Or when I was seven and almost told her flat out I was a girl, preempted with "you look ridiculous, take that dress off right now or I'll get my 'fanny wacker!'" A thick nylon spatula she liked to use because it didn't leave a bruise.

But hey, I'm 43 now, so I'll look terrible without a ton of surgery, but I have an appointment in three weeks for my initial HRT assessment so I'm finally becoming the person I've always been on the inside.

[caturdaynite]

I'm Trans Woman who transitioned 2 decades ago, in that time I have experienced no regret about it. In fact, it was one of the best things I ever did like going to college and starting my own business. I think a 4 year old can know they are different. I did, but I didn't have a word for in the 1960's. If you were Trans back then you had two choices, hide or die. So, when people say we didn't have Transgender people back then, they are wrong. We have always had Transgender people. You just had to stay hidden and be stealth about it. I didn't find out about Transgender people until I was in my 30's. I was suicidal and drinking a lot, so I went to head doc and we worked through my issues and it turned out I was Trans. So, I got off the sauce and went to a Gender Therapist and over a period of 4 years I "transitioned" to Female, culminating in surgery in 2007 when I was 45 years old.
I say "transitioned" because you don;t suddenly turn in to the opposite sex, you always were that sex on the inside, you just have to feel comfortable not only expressing it, but being able to live the way you should have from the start.

I know some of you may find this absurd or incredulous, but I really don;t give a crap what you think, it's not your life. It's mine and I'll live the way I should thank you very much. What really ticks me off is how people can give a 6th grade biology text book version of sex and gender, well, the world isn't that simple, even if you would like it to be. It just isn't. And interfering in how other people live their lives when they are harming no one, no even them selves seems not only selfish, but incredibly ignorant. But, if you want to ignore the facts, fine, just keep your nose out of our affairs. All you want for people is misery, so you can feel good in your world where is everything is simple. I wasn't about to die for other people's comfort. Fuck that shit. I have people who need me here, no matter what the outside looks like. I found out pretty quickly who those people were. And who wasn't. You never know how people will react. Some surprises and some real disappointments. Holy shit some people are really fucking stupid.

The amount of misinformation being spread out there is truly disturbing to me. Kids do not get surgery and hormones. And I agree with that. Puberty blockers are a good idea and reversible. If they decide it's not for them later then they can just continue their puberty as their assigned sex.

The hatred and lies, the hurtful laws, the seemingly endless chasm of cruelty is quite daunting some days. But, I'm one of the lucky ones. I have a home and love in that home. I have meaningful work that pays the bills. But most of all I get to to do it being me. Not what some else thinks I should be, but who I really am. Many cis people don;t have these things, but I do. And I try to stay grounded in that fact.

In closing, I would like to thank Jon for having this discussion. I can't imagine having to help a Trans child as I have had no children of my own, I am struck by the love and patience these parents have for their children. I wish all the best and happiness for their children no matter what the child decides to do later in life. Just do what's right for the child and be patient, figuring these things out at such a young age takes time and they may change their mind, so small moves. Good luck to you all.

[virginia]

A little girl in my neighborhood has always displayed boy tendencies since she was 5. She was constantly arguing with her parents and being grounded. She stared acting out in school and on the bus. She was friends with my sons. As they got older, she stopped hanging out with my sons. I saw her again when she was in college and still living at home. She looked so depressed. I later found out she quit college and had a sex change and is married now. I could see it in her as a child, she was a boy, and her parents wouldn't listen or tried to change it. It was torture for her.

[TMU-]

Nice to see parents who care more for their children than social structures.

[AdeboFunkyVoodoo]

I do so miss having John on our TVs several nights a week. His ability to use humour to drive home serious points is rare. Or it is at the level of both humour, intelligence, insight and effectiveness at which John operates.

So it's YouTube?

[moridain]

I knew when I was four.
Some kids think that and are wrong, but its important to keep in mind that some of them aren't and providing the care they need is literally life saving.

[Pensnmusic]

"We didn't know what that meant"

I know it's not this easy when you're on the other side of propaganda, but she said it herself....

Their child knew who they were. It means literally what it meant. Layers and layers of ideology insulate us from reality, some more than others. I'm glad they eventually understood.

[paulaOyeah]

I was born in the late 70s, and I knew I was agender by age 7. I used to argue with people all the time who called me "young lady, " etc.
I was a mom of two before I heard the word agender, and I out-loud ugly-cried because there was finally a word for me.

[mianelsonable]

I love that the parents educated themselves and seem supportive. And she has a sense of humor! Jon is always great! ❤