According to a 2018 report from the Human Rights Campaign, over half of transgender or gender-expansive youth say they have been mocked by their family for their identity, and three in four hear their family make negative remarks about LGBTQ people. TV Shows. With meticulously manicured talons and a glossy copper mane flowing down her back, she dreams of becoming a runway model. Its ruined my life and now everyone in this world is going to know. If it's your family, your dynamic, your child, you make the decisions based on your gut not what anybody else's opinions are. The featured children are: Leena aged 15, Jay, 13, Avery 7, and Phoenix 4. It was then released on HBO Max on November 12, causing the recent outcry from . This HBO documentary follows the lives and trajectories of four transgender and gender-nonconforming children in Kansas City. Transhood is fixated on transition, and therefore preoccupied with time, or at least that seems to be its intention. One widely shared clip shows a unitarian universalist church recognizing an apprehensive Phoenix as a girl at his mother's prodding. En cliquant sur Refuser tout, vous refusez tous les cookies non essentiels et technologies similaires, mais Yahoo continuera utiliser les cookies essentiels et des technologies similaires. Anyone who would try to equate the two issues is either lying or delusional. Its a rude awakening to this young person affirmed by his parents and medical providers that hes not the sex he was born as that straight boys are highly unlikely to view other biological males as female. With so much ground to cover, the scenes shortness can feel unsatisfying and even occasionally facile. pubescent Jay, elementary schooler Avery and preschool-aged Phoenix, are developmentally less self-possessed than teenage Leena, so Liese (and the audience) must instead rely on their parents to articulate their childrens emotional states. Going through puberty as someone youre not is a little harder.. 2023 TIME USA, LLC. I identified as . (See Stella Morabitos book review in The Federalist.). Watch on HBO Max. HBO. Offering no narration, expert talking heads or text interstitials, Liese forgoes contextualizing the culture wars and instead lets her subjects speak for themselves. En cliquant sur Accepter tout, vous acceptez que Yahoo et nos partenaires traitent vos informations personnelles et utilisent des technologies telles que les cookies pour afficher des publicits et des contenus personnaliss, et des fins de mesure des publicits et des contenus, dtude des audiences et de dveloppement de produit. Fortunately, I finally woke up from the delusion, got sober, worked through the pain of childhood with several capable psychologists. On Thursday, November 12, HBO premiered the documentary film Transhood, following the lives of four children and adolescents who "identify" (or whose parents have said they identify) as transgender. I hope that the documentary opens peoples eyes and opens peoples minds., Avery, one of the subjects of 'Transhood,' with her mother Debi, Leena, whose later adolescence is documented in 'Transhood', What America's Richest Ski Town's Handling of COVID-19 Shows. Modest Fashion Beauty Lifestyle Family I crashed, entered alcohol rehab, and started therapy. The four young people director Sharon Liese followed in her hometown between 2014 and 2019 show different facets of what it can mean to be trans or gender fluid. None of the children have a childhood I would wish for my children; I . Three of the children are far too young even to begin to think about sex or what gender they are. 2023 The Hollywood Reporter, LLC. I had no knowledge of what it meant to be transgender, Mike told TODAY. Ultimately, the film is as much a call to action to advocate for legislation protecting trans rights as it is a portrayal of the complexity of transgender lives. Just as my grandma disrupted my normal boy development by affirming me in a dress, the adults in the documentary are disrupting the normal development of four children by allowing them to experiment with social transition, that is, the adoption of a false identity. Leena, Phoenix, and Jay, ranging in age from 4 to 15) as they redefine "coming of age." . Phoenixs parentdivorce, partly over their disagreedment with their childs claims, while other parents get praise for their advocacy. Over five years of filming, the childs young and hippie-ish parents divorce, leading their mom to cease homeschooling and move in with her more conventional parents. And so yes, it did take a little longer for me., There are always going to be haters because people can be in the dark where they don't know anything about it.". Leena. Its a good thing that Avery has opted to take a step back from the spotlight,as Popsugar put it, though its still horribly sad that this confused young boy is still pretending to be a girl with his parents approval and encouragement. The location was also a backdrop for the shifting attitudes around and support networks for trans people. Anyone can read what you share. For younger, more rambunctious subjects like Avery (7 at the beginning of filming in 2014) and the gender-fluid Phoenix (4), the camera often has to chase them, making it difficult to capture in a cohesive way how they personally explore their gender identity. During President Donald Trumps tenure, various levels of government have enacted major changes impacting the rights of transgender people and LGBTQ people more broadly, including a declaration that requires schools in Connecticut to ban transgender students from participating in school sports and the rollback of an Obama-era federal rule that protected transgender people from discrimination by homeless shelters and other housing services. While depictions of transgender people onscreen appear to be evolving for the better, with more transgender people both in front of and behind the camera in critically acclaimed films and series including Orange Is the New Black, A Fantastic Woman and Pose, they largely focus on transgender adults. From there, the damage mounted: out-of-control drinking, copious amounts of female hormones to look like a woman, divorce and loss of family, loss of career, and drug abuse, culminating with gender affirming surgery at age 42. I lived as a woman for the next eight years. . 'Transhood' is an empathetic look at four transgender and gender non-conformist kids of different ages, all based in Kansas City, as they go through life-altering changes and redefine "coming-of-age" with the help and support of their families, filmed during the course of five years. Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter. Today, watching this documentary, I marvel at how the events of my childhood groomed me into believing that identifying as the opposite sex was the solution to my gender confusion. The trailer also ignores the revolutionary ideological demands behind the transgender movement and its impact on the legal rights, institutions, and civic support for all women and girls. He loves writing about pop culture, trending topics, LGBTQ issues, style and all things drag. Phoenixs entire wardrobe is draped in rainbow. T he fight to legalize same-sex marriage in America was a decades-long culture war. Director Sharon Liese told Time magazine: People ask me, how do kids know when they are four years old? It follows four so-called "trans" (a term loved by those who want to pigeonhole them) children for five years and describes what would seem impossible. Both were in shock. '", Every single family that goes through this has a different experience, Cathy said. For 80-year-old Shirley, the most important thing is love. For the parents featured in Transhood, navigating their childs transition as a family is often uncharted territory. She parades him around to show him off while he is visibly in despair. Her sobering interviews at the tail-end of filming will genuinely leave you more interested in learning the details of her personal biography than in studying the early gender journey of her middle child. Outcomes are not tracked. Slinky, fashionable and self-involved, Leena is an endearingly average teenage girl. Her father Mike is a masculine, seemingly conservative, blue-collar type guy's guy, and his acceptance of his transgender daughter is obvious from the beginning of the doc. cumbersome ordeals even many adults wouldnt be able to shoulder. Child exploitation has nothing to do with LGBT rights. My thoughts constantly revolved around how I could become a female. Children lack the maturity to consent to medical interventions. Its worth repeating that these arent random people I found on Tik Tok. November 24, 2020 by Murphy Moroney. Avery, Jay, and Leena, at puberty, each chose to undergo some degree of gender-affirmative medical transition as well. . If a Christian couple had a son who came out as a homosexual and the parents response was to send him to a so-called straight camp, the establishment media and their progressive allies would have a field day plastering the couples faces nationwide, branding them as bigots and homophobes. We just were not sure what the right way to go about it was, Cathy said. 2,160 posts. We already have evidence beyond common sense and life experience that shows transgendering children is child abuse. All rights reserved. Her parents are supportive, their concerns respectful yet reasonable . I quickly realized that is not the question. We meet redheaded charmer Leena at age 15, just four years after the start of her social transition. Informations sur votre appareil et sur votre connexion Internet, y compris votre adresseIP, Navigation et recherche lors de lutilisation des sites Web et applications Yahoo. For Transgender Awareness Week, TODAY Parents talked with Leenas family about raising their transgender daughter, what they want people to learn from their story and how they deal with haters. Avery, the 7-year-old, is very obviously used by his weird mother as a prop for her political activism. I am a libertarian, and with that being said, I believe that a consenting adult should be able to do whatever he or she chooses with their own body. Now 19, Leena is one of the subjects in Transhood, a new HBO MAX documentary that profiles four transgender children and their families in the Kansas City area. I cant make everyone like me and understand, but at least they can watch this film, and hopefully they can see that [being trans] is O.K. A lopsided majority of voters oppose transgender medical treatment of children. When I was dating Brian, it felt like an authentication, she said. The oldest among the bunch is Leena, a redheaded teenager with dreams of becoming a Victoria's Secret model. Their feelings remain potent and tangible throughout: After all, kids are kids, no matter their upheavals. Self-destructive thoughts and actions took over. Continuing on the educational bent, Tanya Cipriano's "Born to Be" is an affectionate portrait of a tireless surgeon who has committed his entire career to serving the trans community, and it . How is this not considered brainwashing? 6 Amazon travel essentials for your next getaway, starting at $12. We Have A Lifestyle Crisis, Every Bite Of Processed Food Is Killing You: Study, NYT Contributor Is Terrified Of New Childhood Obesity Guidelines For All The Wrong Reasons, Black History Month Is Lackluster When Elites Obsess Over Race All Year Long, Why Did The IRS Let Biden Off The Hook For His Sketchy Tax Filings? . 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From her dad taking her bathing suit shopping to a nail salon trip with her grandmother, Leenas bond with her family seems unbreakable. Youre a rainbow, she replies. But unlike their cisgender peers, they navigate body dysphoria, hormone treatments, threats of violence, and the weight . But when my teen uncle found out about it, he teased me and made fun of me in front of my playmates, then escalated to sexual molestation. Unfortunately, this kind of unconditional love is more uncommon than not. Much later, we witness the kids regretful mom slowly harden to the idea that her child was ever nonconforming at all, blaming her exs previous influence as Phoenix starts to assume a more masculine presentation. Ive done too much in this world. "I hope that the documentary opens people's eyes and opens people's minds," says one of its subjects I have now found peace, and remarkably even joy, living as Walt. Aaron Barnhart has written about television since 1994, including 15 years as TV critic for the Kansas City Star. It puts off a vibe strikingly similar to the case ofJames Younger, the 7-year-old old boy in Texas who was being forced to live like a girl by his mother against the wishes of his father,who maintainsthe boy is being used. Movie Info. While the Midwest, broadly speaking, is a more politically and religiously conservative part of the U.S., Kansas City, like many urban areas, is more progressive, and is also home to the Transgender Institute, an organization that provides resources and support for transgender people and their families. We were completely in the dark about it, too, before this all happened. Filmed over five years in Kansas City, this documentary follows four transgender kids - beginning at ages 4, 7, 12, and 15 - as they redefine "coming of age.". The human brain is not fully developed until around the age of 25, according to theUniversity of Rochester Medical Center, so why would any reasonable human being think that is OK to have a child born male live as a female? The book talks about a boy who made himself a dress and asserts the nonsensical notion that there are all sorts of ways to be a boy. There are other people hurting. Genre: Documentary. And the parents of spirited four-year-old Phoenix believe their child is gender nonbinary due to their preferred play styles and self-referral as a girl-boy., While Leena commands your attention from the moment shes on screen, its the parents of the other three children who nearly steal the film as they candidly delve into the complications of raising trans children in a culture that invalidates their kids humanity. Leena Al Mutlaq. Still, by far the most compelling family is Phoenixs. If I sell my book its gonna go in the news, along with me, for like the fiftieth time at this point and its just making my life worse. Yowsers. Two of the children, 12-year-old Jay (a girl who identifies as a boy) and 15-year-old Leena (the opposite), have been placed on hormone pharmaceuticals by their parents in order to suppress their natural puberty. An interview thatPopsugarconducted last month with Averys mom, Debi, revealed that Avery became concerned with how open her family was at times., She would hear me talking to my husband and ask, Why are you having to go and tell so many people about trans kids, Mom? I responded, Well, because Im working with another school because that school isnt supporting a student, and I want that kid to have a chance, the mother said. If you don . Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts Another scene shows a mother visibly coaxing her son who no . In a film segment posted to Twitter byMatt Walshof The Daily Wire, one of the kids featured in the film a 12-year-old named Avery expresses regret concerning the promotion of his book about his life at an LGBT youth event in the nations capital. The story of 4 year old Phoenix was fascinating. With Avery Jackson. Transhood Trailer. A new HBO Max documentary, "Transhood," follows for five years the lives of four Kansas City, Mo. Its not cut and dry, she says. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. You don't have to like us. Following a . HBO Max released on Nov. 12 a documentary called "Transhood," which chronicles the lives of four transgender children over a period of five years. This is where my crossdressing and gender confusion started. Transhood is a film about four transgender kids over the span of five years. In a landmark case in the United Kingdom high court brought by two people treated as children at the nations sole gender clinic, Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS), judges were surprised that GIDS did not track data about their patients, even while under their care. And he should immediately have his medical license revoked for lying to a child, encouraging him to permanently mutilate his sex organs. The Transhood trailer glosses over the tension in the four families caused by the transgender claims. My heart goes out to these children who also are being groomed into a transgender life. Transhood. A second segment posted to Twitter by Walsh shines a light on just how far these so-called parents are willing to go to push a new sexual identity onto their children. -style over five years, starting in 2015. follows four Kansas City families in various stages of this conversely agonizing and rewarding process. 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