The Article I chose for this weeks Struggle was written by Bonnie Rochman, on the everyday Struggle of a six year old girl.
http://healthland.time.com/2013/03/01/do-schools-need-new-rules-for-transgender-students/
The young Coy Mathis seems to live the normal childhood life. She wakes up, puts on her pink clothes, and is on her way to kindergarden in Fountain, Colorodo. Nothing seems odd in this young girls eyes. However, Coy Mathis is a boy. Coy Mathis was born a boy, but at the age of three had already declared that she was a girl. To simply put it into words, Coy Mathis is a six year old transgender. Luckly for her kindergardeners are more accepting then others.
One of the struggles that Coy Mathis faces is bathrooms. As we all know, boys go to the boys bathroom and girls go to the girls bathroom. But where does Coy Mathis fit in with this bathroom situation. Earlier the principal of the school allowed Coy Mathis to use the girls bathroom, but has recently revoked this privlege. This is not good for Coy Mathis, becasuse the last thing that her mom wants is for her is to faces the struggles of feeling different then her classmates. Her mother has taken this case to court and has changed the rules for transgender students like hers. It may not seem like much but it is one less struggle that Coy Mathis will have to deal with.
For now Coy Mathis doesn't have many struggles, and at such a young age doesn't realize what she is going to have to go through in her life time. People aren't always as forgiving as kindergardeners. Throughout her life she will be judged and hated on by many people. There is no excaping this struggle. People will do means things to her and say even meaner things. To get through these struggles Coy Mathis must stay strong and remember to be as confident as she was when she was three.
This is an amazing story. What strikes me is how these kinds of issues are getting so much publicity, recognition, etc. When I was in high school (not THAT long ago, only, ok, well, 20 years ago) LGBT rights were not discussed at all. In fact, I don't know that it was on any lawmaker's mind, much less in the public eye. I think real progress has been made, even though, you are absolutely right about Coy facing a lifetime of struggle against discrimination. It seems, from this story, that she has a lot of support from her family and friends. It seems that Coy has a very strong sense of self, which will serve her well, I think. Hopefully, the LGBT community will just get stronger and more accepted as just "normal". I hope so.
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