Transgender young people get fresh support

[Adrian]

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SARAH FERGUSON, PRESENTER: Finding your identity during your teenage years can be challenging at the best of times, but it’s especially hard for young transgender people, working out their sexual identity in the face of bullying and discrimination. New referrals at Australia’s only clinic for young transgender people have risen from one in 2003 to 60 so far this year and it’s struggling to cope with the rise in demand. Now, a group of young people are taking part in a program to help out others in their battle to be treated as normal. Monique Schafter has this report.

CANON: Riding BMXs and wearing boys’ clothes and playing football were natural things to me and not liking girls’ toys or giving them back ’cause I didn’t like them seemed, like, perfectly natural.

MONIQUE SCHAFTER, REPORTER: Growing up, Cannon always liked boys’ stuff, but he was born biologically female and felt pressured to fit in.

CANON: I’ve had to wear dresses at school. I think as I progressed and got a little bit older, I waited for a time where I would be this other person, where I wouldn’t be a tomboy any more or I would just have grown into a woman of some kind.

MONIQUE SCHAFTER: After many years searching for his true identity, Canon accepted that he was a guy.

CANON: I think if we lived in a community and a society where everyone is valued, the forming of myself and my identity might’ve happened a bit quicker.

ASHLEY: I grew up in Canberra in suburban Canberra. I hid away my own gender.

MONIQUE SCHAFTER: Raised as a boy, Ashley knew from a young age that something was wrong.

ASHLEY: Yeah, I think I battled with that for a long time and I ended up using a lot of illicit drugs and doing that for a long time. I never felt empowered, self-empowered to go out and to really be proud of my identity.

MONIQUE SCHAFTER: When Ashley finally found the courage to express her femininity, she became the target of bullies.

ASHLEY: They would, um, sort of prank call me, they would come to my home and sort of harass me there and when I was just doing things like shopping, I would get called names, I would – I got spat at.

MONIQUE SCHAFTER: Canon and Ashley now want to help other young people like themselves. They’re part of a team developing resources that will make it easier for 15 to 25-year-olds who are questioning their gender to find support.

JEREMY WIGGINS, YOUTH WORKER: Maybe we’ll just go round the table. I’m Jeremy and I prefer male pronouns like he and him.

CANON: Canon. He.

MARLEE: Marlee. He.

ROBIN: Robin. She.

SIM: Sim. He or they.

MONIQUE SCHAFTER: The project is being led by youth worker and transgender man Jeremy Wiggins.

JEREMY WIGGINS: About eight per cent of the population could be identified as gender diverse. Now, the reason why we use that term loosely is because not everyone decides that they want to go down a route with medical transition, so they might not want to have hormones or surgery; they might just identify fluidly.

MONIQUE SCHAFTER: Raised as a girl, Jeremy physically transitioned to male in his 20s. He too had a tough time growing up.

JEREMY WIGGINS: I would’ve been, like, I guess a bit of a tomboy and I was really bullied at school, I was verbally bullied, physically attacked. At times there would be groups of guys even trying to run me off the road with their car. … Young people that are transgender diverse are 125 times more likely to attempt suicide than non-trans people. So that’s a really alarming statistic.

MONIQUE SCHAFTER: Victorian Minister for Health David Davis recognises something needs to be done.

DAVID DAVIS, VICTORIAN MINISTER FOR HEALTH: Poorer mental health and well-being is caused by stigma, bullying, rejection by family and friends and difficulties associated with transitioning. …

… It’s very clear that transgender people may well feel isolated and this brings people together. It’s an opportunity for people to make friendships and to make connections in a safe way in a way that will improve their health.

MONIQUE SCHAFTER: Marlee is one of the growing number of young people questioning their gender identity.

MARLEE: This project is really important to me because as a young trans person, I’ve experienced discrimination in school and out and about and I just feel like if more people know about how to be an ally and how to be effective in supporting trans people, the world would be a better place.

MONIQUE SCHAFTER: Marlee, who identifies as a he, was fortunate to have the support of his family from a young age.

MARLEE: I’m doing my final year of high school. So, that’s a pretty fun time. There wasn’t a lot of knowledge around gender diversity when I first started coming out.

MONIQUE SCHAFTER: And when did you start coming out?

MARLEE: I suppose officially maybe when I was 14. To my mum, maybe when I was 12. … My mum doesn’t care what I am – whether I’m a boy, whether I’m a girl, whether I’m a donkey, she doesn’t really mind; she just wants me to be happy.

MONIQUE SCHAFTER: The diagnosis used to describe people born in the wrong body is gender dysphoria. Victoria has seen an increase in the number of children seeking treatment.

JEREMY WIGGINS: Young transgender people under the age of 18 who wish to medically transition currently seek treatment through the Royal Children’s Hospital. And in 2013, the Royal Children’s Hospital saw the same number of young people in that one year than the previous 10 years combined. The Royal Children’s Hospital expects a 50 per cent increase by the end of 2014. …

… In the last couple of years I think there’s just been a really great change socially. There’s more acceptance. And we’re in this really interesting time now where there’s more people sort of accessing services and affirming their identity and right now we need to sort of build some support services around them. … This project could literally save people’s lives.

SARAH FERGUSON: Monique Schafter reporting.