Tough road for transgender teens
Morgan Allen believes she’s one of the lucky ones, despite her long battle with depression and anxiety.
She came out to her parents as transgender earlier this year after a long struggle to find her true identity.
‘‘I did it by literally writing a note that said ‘I’m transgender’ and left it downstairs,’’ she said. ‘‘And my mum was the one who found the note.
‘‘She was originally confused, kind of ‘what the hell is this, what are you talking about?’ But after a couple of weeks we sat down and had a conversation about it, and since then she’s been unbelievably supportive.
‘‘My dad is also fully onboard. They’re very much of the mentality that they’d rather have a happy child than a dead one.’’
Allen went through school as a boy named James, but knew she was different from around the age of eight. It wasn’t easy.
‘‘I was always one of the kids at school who was targeted by bullies.’’
Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance, an annual event that highlights the suffering of the transgender community.
Dr Jaimie Veale from Waikato University, who has spent years studying transgender health, says the latest Adolescent Health Survey of 8500 Kiwi teens shows nearly half transgender high-school students had self-harmed in the past 12 months, and one in five had attempted suicide.
RainbowYouth general manager Duncan Matthews believes schools could go a lot further to support students who are struggling with their gender identity.
He said the current guidelines were open to interpretation, and some principals refused to accept their school may have transgender or gender-diverse students.
For Allen, finding her true identity has been a major milestone.
‘‘After coming out there was this huge weight lifted, a feeling that I didn’t need to hide behind this person that I wasn’t.’’