“This American Life” On Transgender Children

Sure, you’re spending the day re-watching Dustin Lance Black and Sean Penn’s acceptance speeches after winning Oscars for Milk.

Take a few moments, however, to listen to the second segment on the Valentine’s Day episode of This American Life. Each of the show’s three vignettes focuses on someone “searching for people who will understand them like no one else does.” The first and third segments are about more traditional, straight, romantic love (albeit with the quirkiness of most This American Life stories).

The second segment, however, is about friendship, specifically the friendship between two eight-year-old transgender children, born biologically male, but who identify as girls. The rare and brilliant part is that the producers not only let their parents speak, but also let the girls themselves share their thoughts. It’s both heartwrenching and inspiring.

The segment starts 29 minutes into the show. I sat in a supermarket parking lot for 10 minutes listening to it finish the other day.

I can’t post about this without also referring you to The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Families and Professionals, by Stephanie Brill and Rachel Pepper, which I reviewed here; and 10,000 Dresses, a new picture book with a transgender protagonist. My review and author interview of that is here.