| Thursday, June 28, 2007 |
| Insight |
Last night I went to my last shin-dig at the Vancouver Crisis Centre. It was a workshop on trans-gendered mental health and it was phenomenal. I wont go into it too much, otherwise this could be a really long post and I don't want people to lose interest. Just a few thoughts, and definitions to start.
gender identity: A person's internal self-awareness of being either male or female
Transgendered/transsexual: A person whose gender identity does not match the sex they were assigned to at birth.
Imagine this... you are a little boy, you think like a boy, feel like a boy, you know you are a boy. But when you look in the mirror, you see a girl...you see yourself in a girl's body, and you feel out of place. You feel lost and alone because how do you explain this? You go through childhood wondering when you will fully become a boy. Then you hit puberty, and your body takes a very sharp turn towards womanhood. You're hormonal and going through the same physical changes and discomfort other kids your age are, on top of that you realize that something is terribly wrong. You do not fit the mold, you do not feel complete... You decide you do not want to live anymore.
This is often when we talk to you, at the crisis centre. It's your last hope, that maybe out there somewhere, someone can help you. Or maybe you feel you are beyond help, but you want to speak to someone who can't see you, one last time.
The suicide rate among transgendered youth is extremely high. This is why we had the workshop, to inform and educate crisis line workers. But I went because I see myself possibly working in this field some day. I have always been interested in gender roles from the psychological aspect, and as a Christian I am aware of the spectrum of beliefs and ideas people have. It's a tough one. And honestly I'm not interested in debating whether it's 'real' or not, because I absolutely believe it is. And if there's something I can do to help these kids who feel lost, then that's what I want to do.Labels: transgender, transsexual, Vancouver Crisis Centre |
posted by jamie @ 9:12 PM  |
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| 2 Comments: |
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Your taking a class about this in the fall, aren't you?
Mom
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yeah it will be on gender roles in society...so it should cover the basics.
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Your taking a class about this in the fall, aren't you?
Mom