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Insight: May 28

This week Insight learns how to navigate through your teens when you are transgender.

Last night The Voice used Reality TV to add voice to stories of young transgenders, and this week on Insight Jenny Brockie learns how to navigate through your teens when you are transgender. SBS asks how important is your family’s support during this time?

About 1.2 percent of Australian school children are thought to identify as transgender*.

Figuring out who you are is a major part of your teenage years. But what would you do if being yourself also means changing your gender?

How are these young people navigating the typical hurdles of adolescence – fitting in, dating, hormones and mental health – as well as coming out and transitioning?

This week on Insight, award-winning journalist and host Jenny Brockie sits down with five young people and their parents to talk about each of their transitioning journeys and how they navigated this whilst being a teenager.

Jenny speaks to Logan who was forced to wait years before he could transition to living as a man. But before Logan’s 19th birthday, his dad, although initially disapproving, developed a timeline to gradually introduce him to their immediate family, culminating in a coming out birthday party. We also hear from Oliver who, unlike Logan, had an incredibly positive transitioning journey under the guidance of his parents.

When Jenny speaks to Nathan, he shares what it felt like to be incorrectly perceived as a girl. Nathan came out last year and would like to start testosterone. Jenny also speaks with Willow, who grew up in a regional town with no LGBTIQ+ community. She came out at age 15, and was the only transgender person in the town.

Insight is Australia’s leading forum for debate and powerful first person stories. Each week, host Jenny Brockie uses her unique skills to guide a lively debate on a single topic.

* https://www.rch.org.au/kidsinfo/fact_sheets/Gender_dysphoria/

Tuesday 28 May at 8.30pm on SBS.

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