“These people are silenced, so I write this article to represent their voice. Listen to them.”
I came to school like any other day, ate breakfast, talked to my friends, and walked into advisory. We had programming about depression and suicide, warning students about clear signs and stories from students that had experienced these symptoms themselves or saw them in others. One of the students in a video we were watching was a trans woman, and once she appeared on the screen, some of my friends and advisees started giggling, looking at each other, and whispering things about her appearance. Why? Because she looked different? It was 9 am and these people were ridiculing this woman because of how she looked and what she wanted to be. If this made me uncomfortable, what about the trans students in the school? All advisories have the same lessons, so they likely experienced the same thing. I did not feel right staying silent.
Students might not understand what being trans is like, what they experience, etc. To truly put ourselves in their shoes and understand what they go through everyday, I interviewed 2 students from this school, people that you, the reader might know. I hope that you keep an open mind while reading this article. Even if you don't agree with them and what they want in their lives, understand that we are all people.
In a study by the CDC, 3.3% of all high school students identify as transgender in the U.S. This number is likely higher due to students saying they aren't transgender because they feel unsafe revealing that information to people. 36.6% of transgender students in the study don't feel close to others at school. 26.4% missed school due to feeling unsafe. 40.1% had been bullied. 64.9% reported poor mental health. 71.9% reported persistent hopelessness. 52.9% considered suicide. 25.9% attempted suicide. As shown in this study, transgender students undergo insane amounts of mental turmoil compared to cisgender students. The people in this study are 13-18, and they're contemplating and even going through with suicide. Their life has barely started and they're being bullied into isolation for something so harmless. This study could include stats from students that come to this school, and they very well do.
For safety reasons, the students that I interviewed for this article will be referred to as "Student 1" and "Student 2".
After school one evening, I text-interviewed Student 1 & 2 to maintain safety and privacy from the comfort of my living room desk. Student 1 told me that they felt "like an outcast" around other people of their "biological sex.", and that "not many people in this school" know that they are trans, but the ones who do "are very supportive." Student 2 told me they had "lots of dysphoria," felt like a "a fake version" of themselves, and felt "completely misunderstood," but also felt "comfortable" around the people who knew they were trans, knowing that they could come to them as their "true self" and not as "[Student Deadname]." As I was reading their responses, I realized how lonely this could really be for them. They have to live life surrounded by people who don't know who they are, and rely on the few that do.
I continued to ask them questions about their experiences at Comp Sci High. Student 1 told me that most of the people in the school that didn't know they were trans "seemed very transphobic," and suggested that the school should "educate students about what gender dysphoria is." Student 2 agreed, saying that they've heard "many disgusting and untrue things" said by other students "about trans people," and that it made them "very uncomfortable" even though the comments weren't directed at them. They then suggested that the school should "teach more about LGBTQ+ people" to break the stigma "many students internalize" from things they see and hear "on the internet and from peers." Their answers reveal the roots of transphobia in society, both the online world, where unchecked hate is spread, and the real world, where people aren't corrected and held accountable by others for the things they say. Such hate can only be dismantled by teaching people the truth and making them understand what it feels like to be different.
They then delved deeper into the struggles of being trans as a teenager at school, with Student 1 relating to the study by saying that they "felt hopeless" and has "struggled with their mental health" almost to the point of "committing suicide." Student 2 answered, saying that they "deeply struggle with hopelessness" and also "contemplate suicide," but say that they "don't think" they would ever go through with it. Reading this deeply concerned me. When students are struggling with their mental health in this school, they usually reach out to the social work team for counseling, but these students cant due to the fear they have of being outed to the school. They cant reach out to anyone because things will only get worse if they do, and that pains me.
To end off the conversation, Students 1 & 2 left a message to the students of Comp Sci High and students across the world.
Student 1: "Being trans isn't a [choice], you don't suddenly just want to transition for fun. It really shouldn't be something that you dislike because it isn't harming you and honestly has nothing to do with you. Being trans is just trying to be comfortable in your own body."
Student 2: "We are regular people, so treat us like it. We don't affect you in anyway and I don't understand your need to constantly belittle us as people. We would like to just exist peacefully in the world like you."
These answers really should be a wake up call to anybody reading this. The statistics mentioned in that CDC study are very much real, as told by the students I interviewed. People that come to CSH every day have to deal with being an outcast, hiding who they truly are, and mental health issues to the point of contemplating suicide. This is the world that these people have to live in. A world fueled by hate for something that doesn't affect anybody. It is simply insane to hate someone for something so harmless. Imagine if someone born with a disability wanted to get surgery to fix that disability, and society disagreed so much that they were isolated from society, banned from being able to get surgery, and bullied into suicide. What did they do to deserve something like that? Want to fix their disability? The logic makes no sense, but they are still targeted, still murdered for who they are, still blamed for the problems of the world. These people are silenced, so I write this article to represent their voice. Listen to them.