Beyond Magenta: Transgender and Nonbinary Teens Speak Out

Nonfiction | Biography | YA | Published in 2014

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapters 1-2

Part 1, Chapters 3-4

Part 1, Chapter 5-Part 2, Chapter 6

Part 3, Author’s Note

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Themes

The Diversity of the Transgender Experience

All six of author Susan Kuklin’s interviewees report certain commonalities in their experiences as transgender people. While there is no standard or one true model for trans adolescence, openly trans teenagers all share a few fundamental experiences: They realize they are trans, they come out (usually to their parents and/or peers), and they begin the process of transitioning socially and/or medically. This basic outline is universal to all openly trans teens and defines an openly trans adolescence.

Beyond this basic trajectory, Kuklin’s interviewees have diverse experiences in life and specifically in regard to their trans identity. The most obvious point of separation is gender identity: Kuklin interviews two trans men, two trans women, and two nonbinary people. Two were assigned male at birth, four were assigned female at birth, and one was medically identified as intersex. While some of the teens—such as Jessy and Cameron—report feeling comfortable and proud to be transgender, others—such as Christina—regard their identity as a burden. Likewise, the level of support from the interviewees’ families and communities vary. Cameron’s parents, friends, and school were fully supportive and accepting, whereas Mariah has largely lacked stable support. By contrast, Christina’s mother was initially unsympathetic but grew to become a humble and vocal supporter of her queer children.

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Ultimately, Kuklin’s sample of interviewees presents a diverse view of trans teenhood—but not a comprehensive one. For example, all of her subjects are Americans. All of her subjects are on hormones at the time of interviewing, whereas many trans people elect not to take hormones for a variety of reasons. Likewise, her subjects are largely binary trans people and AFAB; Kuklin presents no account of AMAB nonbinary people. The very nature of being a closeted trans person also makes it impossible for Kuklin to identify and interview trans teens who are not open about their identities. Overall, Beyond Magenta can only present a snippet of what it means to be a trans teen.

Self-Discovery as a Journey

All the interviewees’ stories reflect the fact that defining and manifesting one’s true self is a long-term project, not something that happens overnight. The human process of defining one’s identity, especially when aspects of that identity do not align with societal norms, naturally entails questioning norms, experimenting, and learning. This undertaking will take time, likely a lifetime, and that is perfectly fine. In short, the book is an exploration of Self-Discovery as a Journey.

In the context of being transgender, the interviewees describe journeys that began in childhood and span up to the present day, stating either implicitly or even explicitly that their journey is ongoing. Most of the interviewees started questioning social norms when they were punished for having interests or preferences outside those socially ascribed to the gender they were assigned at birth. An important milestone for many of the interviewees was then discovering they were not alone. Jessy recalls learning about the transgender community through media: “When I was sixteen, I saw a TV episode about the transgender community, and the first thing that came into my head was ‘Oh, my god! That could definitely be me’” (17). Christina describes seeing a picture of a transgender woman, the mother of her brother’s boyfriend, as a profound point of hope. In describing learning about the term trans for the first time, Mariah says “To tell the truth, I didn’t know the word” (116). As the interviews conclude, the teenagers report the various ways in which their journeys are ongoing—physically and otherwise. Taken overall, these concluding statements with their varying emotions reflect The Diversity of the Transgender Experience.

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Especially as a book featuring teenagers, though, Beyond Magenta also addresses many other areas of self-discovery, situating the exploration of one’s gender identity within explorations of self that most readers would already be familiar with. As Mariah observes, “Transition? Everyone goes through one kind of transition or another. We go through transitions every day” (120). In addition to wrestling with their gender identity, the six interviewees describe the shift from middle school to high school and the process of aging out of childhood and into adolescence. Jessy, Christina, and Nat describe graduating high school and entering college. Choosing interviewees closer to this period of great physical and social change has several effects. It helps illustrate how being transgender is not all that a person is: These interviewees are complex human beings with their own richly layered internal lives. Simultaneously, it sheds light on how being transgender is an integrated and inextricable part of a person’s life journey, interacting with many other aspects of self-discovery. This latter effect explains why receiving support and acceptance eases challenges while The Harm of Social Rejection can be severe.

The Harm of Social Rejection

Humans are social creatures. Being rejected by society for being ourselves has serious consequences for mental and physical health, undermining a person’s capacity to reach their full potential. As the interviewees’ stories make clear, The Harm of Social Rejection is a common and profound challenge for transgender people.

Being transgender does pose inherent challenges. Adapting the physical body to align with a person’s gender identity can be uncomfortable at best. Using binders to flatten breasts can cause breathing difficulties. Transitioning medically may involve taking hormones; especially when first taken, hormones can have unpleasant side effects. The interviewees mention fatigue and changes in appetite and sex drive. Gender affirming surgery consists of invasive medical procedures. This is all to say nothing of the expenses, in terms of finances and energy, involved in these efforts. There is also the challenge of coping with the differences in physiological and biological sex. As Kuklin observes of her first interviewee, who is taking hormones, “Physiologically Jessy is male because his body operates on testosterone. But biologically, he’s still female. He will always have XX chromosomes. […] You cannot change your genetic makeup” (37). This fact still has implications for transgender people’s healthcare.

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However, these existing challenges are mostly overshadowed and certainly compounded by the harm of social rejection. Dr. Manel Silva, clinical director of the HOTT Program at the time of his interview, gave the following statement to this effect:

A lot of the risks in transitioning have less to do with hormones or surgeries than with how society deals with folks who are transgender. […] It’s really about how society deals with people who are transgender, and the very real experience of transphobia. […] Being transgender and wanting to transition is often a very marginalizing experience because of the lack of acceptance in society (214-15).

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The harm of social rejection may manifest on personal and institutional levels.

On a personal level, the interviewees refer mainly to peers and family. Jessy notes feeling drained in 10th grade as he changed friend groups and dealt with his mother’s emotional withdrawal: “I was, like, enough! No more! I was tired of trying to make other people happy around me. I was tired! I could be so much more if I could just be myself” (15). Mariah, in describing the bullying she experienced at her new school at around age 11, notes a cocktail of negative emotions: “It was the first time I felt lonely. […] I felt that everybody hated me. It made me depressed. It made me sad. It made me feel creepy. So I started acting out, cursing my grandmother again” (110). In short, the interviews all indicate the profound impact of a young person’s community and family on their well-being.

On an institutional level, social rejection places burdens on transgender people that cisgender people do not have to consider. Healthcare becomes complicated; existing systems do not adequately cover or provide information about and access to gender affirming medical care. Christina expresses frustration at the added financial challenges as she considers hormones and gender affirming surgery: “While everyone else my age is saving up for a car or a house, I’m saving up to look possible. I’m saving up for a vagina” (47). Bureaucracy is rarely supportive—Jessy uses a Thai passport, and Thailand does not allow citizens to change their legal gender. Educational institutions are rarely equipped to deal with transgender people, who often do not receive compassion from administrators.