Part 3 - This is the Sequel to Jason's Story.

Author's Note: My sincere thanks to Joni W for all her efforts!

Chapter 7

Kirsten came over to the lunch table where Kelly and her friends were sitting. She was carrying a stack of papers.

"Kelly, here you go, hot off the press, the new edition of the Jefferson Weekly," Kirsten said. She handed a copy to each of them and gave a handful to Kelly.

Kelly took them from Kirsten and said, "Thanks Kirsten."

Kirsten headed over to her own table, and Kelly opened up the paper and found the article she was looking for.

Transgendered Kids
By Kirsten Carlin

Gender — Male, or Female. From the moment we are born, the world begins to treat us differently based on the outward signs of our physical gender. Little boys are dressed in blue, little girls in pink. Our rooms are painted in colors that denote our gender. The toys that we are presented with are dictated by our gender.

You are a boy, or you are a girl. These messages are constant.

For most people the minds image and the body's image are in synch. For some though, they are not, and the painful realization begins early on; as the messages are a constant reminder that something is terribly wrong.

Gender identity begins as early as 8 to 10 months in children and is usually set by the time they are four years old.

Why do some children develop a gender identity that is the opposite of their body's gender? No one really knows. There are a number of theories. One of the most prevalent theories today is that the hormonal 'washes' that occur at various times during the development of the fetus, that pushes the fetus to be male, or leave it female, may misfire and cause the brain to develop along a different path from the physical gender.

Regardless, studies show that forcing a child into the role that they do not identify with reinforces hatred for their bodies. This in turn leads into depression and self esteem issues, often leading to drug addiction, alcohol, and a high risk of suicide.

However, those who are allowed to follow the gender they identify with as a whole, are happier, more self confident, better able to resist the influence of drugs and alcohol, and are at a much lower risk of suicide. Most of the problems these children face are from outside forces, due to society's inability to accept them in the role their minds identify with.

In the past, transgendered children have been forced to live their lives trying to be what society expected them to be. Around the country however, the plight of these students are beginning to be recognized and new opportunities are opening up to allow them to express their gender as they feel is appropriate.

Kelly Anderson, a freshman at Jefferson Regional High School was born and lived the first fourteen years of her life as Jason Anderson. Over the summer between her final year in middle school, and the start of high school, the secret that only Kelly and a few of her closest friends and family knew, became suddenly all too public.

An e-mail sent by Kelly's cousin Tom Merrick, including a picture taken over the summer of Kelly and her friend Julie Sanders in swimsuits, was sent to a few students and spread through the shocked community in a matter of minutes. With the support of her family, and friends, Kelly decided that it was time to begin full time transition to Kelly.

When word of Kelly's decision to attend JRHS this year became public knowledge, a meeting of the Board of Education became a contentious affair, as the divided community made their arguments for and against allowing Kelly to attend. The issue was never truly in doubt, because recent changes in the state law makes it quite clear that Kelly must be allowed to attend, and that the recommendation of her doctors must be honored.

Kelly's first day of high school, was certainly one for her to remember. She was attacked in gym class during a game of field hockey, and received a hairline fracture. Later on that evening, a brick was thrown through the picture window in her family's living room. It was an inauspicious start to her high school career.

Since then, things have quieted down as the community, while still somewhat split on her attending as a whole, was appalled by the violence.

Kelly says, "My earliest memories of feeling that something was wrong go back to when I was maybe 4 or 5. I don't know if I realized what it was then. I just felt wrong. I wanted to play with the girls and I wanted to dress like them. It hurt, because I was always told, ‘you’re a boy.’"

Kelly is under the care of Doctor William Daniels, a well known expert in the Gender community. Doctor Daniels would not comment on Kelly's case specifically, but said, "While we are still learning a lot about what causes gender identity disorders; what we do know is that the vast majority of the problems associated with it, are societal. Particularly in children, what we have seen is that allowing the expression of the preferred gender, instead of insisting on squelching such expression, leads to healthier, happier, and content individuals. There have been a few well publicized cases lately of even very young children being allowed to attend school as their preferred gender. For more information on this, check out Transkids Purple Rainbow at http://www.transkidspurplerainbow.com/. They were featured in a Barbara Walters special, on 20/20, in April 2007."

One of the problems that young transgendered children face is the betrayal they feel as they enter puberty, and their bodies begin to change in ways that are distasteful for them. A controversial new treatment option exists, where the child takes medication designed to postpone puberty. One such drug is Lupron Depot. This procedure is completely reversible, simply by discontinuing taking the medicine. This option is being used to give transgendered children more time to make a decision, and to prevent the changes that are difficult, costly and often painful to reverse, once they have occurred.

Kelly hid herself so well from her family and friends that she almost waited too long. Kelly is fifteen years old, and puberty had already begun. However, she was lucky in that she was a late bloomer and as Jason had not yet needed to shave. Her voice had not dropped and most of the typical male pattern changes of puberty had not taken hold. She began taking Lupron Depot this past summer and her puberty has been arrested, in fact it has reversed a few of the changes that had begun.

In another year or so, Kelly along with her doctor's and her parents, will decide whether to move into the next phase, or to continue on with this treatment. Phase 2, should she decide to move forward, will be to start taking estrogen. Entering phase 2, after having been on Lupron Depot, will begin her puberty, but as a female. Phase 2, if she chooses to move forward with it, is irreversible. Soon after beginning phase 2, the patient becomes sterile.

Unlike in some European countries that have recognized the medical necessity of treating transgendered youth, in the United States, these procedures and medications are not covered by insurance. Lupron Depot is expensive, it can cost between $500 and $700 a month.

Kelly says, "I'm very lucky to have my parents support. We are not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, and I know that Mom and Dad have made some pretty big sacrifices in order to be able to pay for my treatments."

Kristine Anderson, Kelly's mother, says, "It is expensive, and we have had to be creative in finding ways to pay for the treatments, but you do what you have to do."

Asked about what her first reactions were when she found out that her son was hiding his need to be her daughter, Mrs. Anderson said, "I was shocked. Jason, while not the most macho of boys, did not appear to be effeminate. We talked to his pediatrician and began to see Dr. Daniels and we did a lot of research. I never really realized how unhappy Jason had been, until we got to see him as Kelly. I was pretty luke warm to it, to be honest, I wanted Jason to resist his needs. I could see how much that was hurting him, and when Dr. Daniels recommended giving him some time to explore the inner girl, I did not fight it. Kelly was just so happy when she got that chance and it was a happy in a way I had never seen in Jason. I could not really fight it once I understood that."

Kelly has a group of close friends. When the picture of Kelly and her girlfriend Julie was made public, she stood by her friend. "I was the first person to meet Kelly after her parents. To be honest, I had caught Jason and his mother shopping for clothes for Kelly and I wanted to help Jason, so I knew when we started dating. To be honest, it has been fun watching her grow. When she first started she was so tentative and needed to learn everything that we all learn when we are younger. She was a quick study though!"

Kathy and Sue, friends of Julie, first got to know Jason and then learned about Kelly. Kathy said, "Jason was a nice guy, and it was clear that he was good for Julie. When we figured out that he was also Kelly, it was a bit of a shock, but since Julie obviously knew and was so happy, we could not help but be happy for her. We had all kinds of questions for Kelly when we finally met her and made a nuisance of ourselves, but we saw very quickly she was really just one of the girls and we think she is great."

Kelly had two best friends when she was Jason. Neither John, nor Steve, had any clue about their friends suppressed alter ego. They first learned about it when the swimsuit picture became public.

John said, "At first I was furious at Jason. I felt betrayed and it’s like this person I had known, had been lying to me my whole life. Kathy and Sue made me see it from Kelly's perspective, though. How hard it had been for her, to have to face every day pretending to be the boy that everyone thought she was, afraid of how people would react. Once I gave her a chance and got to know her as Kelly, I could see how much more at ease she was. I really could not begrudge her that. Then when school started and she was attacked like that, I saw why she had chosen to hide so long."

Asked about her immediate and future plans, Kelly said, "Right now I'm just trying to enjoy every moment. A year ago, I could not have dreamed that I would actually be attending school and being accepted by most people as Kelly. I wake up every morning, get dressed, and am thankful for the support of my family and my friends. And so many, like you, that have reached out to me and offered their support. I hope that in time, my cousin and my Aunt and her husband will be able to accept me as well. I miss them, and it hurts, but even though they have rejected me, I forgive them, I know that they actually are doing what they think is right. As for the future, I don't know yet. I have a lot of decisions to make, but I'll make them when it seems right, with a little help from my friends." Kelly smiled as her friends all began singing the classic Beatle's song behind her.

As the interview came to an end, Kelly asked to make one final point. She said, "I am very fortunate to have all the support that I have. I am not the first transgendered person to come to this school. As many of us learned at the Board of Education meeting, Chris Fienberg attended this school, just a few years ago. Chris did not have any support, and ultimately he took his own life when he simply could not face it any more. I would not be here today, if it were not for all those that came before me and fought for the changes in the laws, and have given me this chance, I will not forget them."

It has been a little over three months now since Kelly's first inauspicious day at JRHS. Despite all of the hand wringing and warnings expressed by concerned parents, The world as we know it, did not end, the school is still standing and going strong, and the students are learning. It begs the question, "What was all the fuss about anyway."

Reverend Triphard put down his copy of the Jefferson Weekly. "Let's see how they like national attention." He picked up the phone and called a friend of his that worked for Firefly News Network. "Charlie. Hi it's Joe Triphard here. Yeah, how is your wife? Good, good. The kids? Really, good for Simon. Look, we have one of those crazy situations I know your boss just loves to gripe about, going on here. Yeah, 15 year old boy is going to the local High School, prancing around dressed as a freakin' girl, and the school board isn't doing anything to stop it. Yeah, they say the laws here have their hands tied. Yeah, they even published an article in their school newspaper about it. I'll fax it to you right away. Thanks, Charlie."

Authors Note:
I'm sorry for the delay and the relatively short update. The holidays and general real life obligations have made it tough to find the time or energy to write, and this section was hard as I tried to write this as an article. I researched a lot about Lupron Depot and the treatment as well, and that took some time. I hope to have more time, and with getting past this hurdle, be able to get back to posting more regularly. With Christmas and family obligations however, it still may be a bit behind where I would like to be. Thanks for reading, and your patience.

Kristine Roland