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Comment by PierceJoy | Hacker News Reader

Transgender is also not a sexual identity, so then what exactly is the parent horrified about? If they misspoke and meant to say open gender identities, then my question still applies.

> If a girl likes to dress in what is traditionally recognised as boys clothes and play with trucks, that just kids being kids, there's nothing transgendered to be found there.

There is nothing *necessarily* transgendered about this. However, the grandparent stated there are openly transgendered kids in a second grade class. Are you saying it’s impossible for a child to know if they’re trans or not? I think we generally accept that some gay people knew they were gay at that age, why can’t the same be true for trans people?

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My wife cried when she got her first period because she didn’t want to turn in to a woman. She was a tomboy.

Then, you know, hormones happened. It’s insane to think that kids can be trans because a huge part of what makes us men or women happens during puberty. I didn’t think much about my gender until puberty hit either.

> It’s insane to think that kids can be trans because a huge part of what makes us men or women happens during puberty.

As far as I can tell, nearly all kids are fairly certain about their gender identity by the time they start school. What makes you so certain that those of them who are transgender will have no idea?

Hell, “I knew there were boys and girls from the age of 4, and knew that I was the one of those everyone said I wasn’t” is such a common trans narrative that folks like me who didn’t really start getting complicated gender feelings until around puberty have a lot of trouble with wondering if their feelings are real.

I’m saying that some that might think that they’re transgender could very well be wrong because the hormones - the things that sexually differentiate us - haven’t hit yet. Those hormones don’t just shape the body; they shape the brain.

In this case, we can expand your previous statement to also include:

It’s insane to think that kids can be cis gendered because a huge part of what makes us men or women happens during puberty.

So given both of those positions, exactly what point are you trying to make in relation to this thread besides trying to imply that prepubescent transgendered kids don't exist, when they clearly do by their own accounts as adults?

I mean, I would agree with that statement. Puberty changes people.

My best friend growing up was gay and some people recognized it before puberty, but he either couldn't or wasn't willing to recognize it until after high school. He had a breakdown while drunk on our band trip and said he was asexual. Do you think a little kid that realizes he's different from everyone else might just think he's trans instead of realizing he's just gay? That's kind of hard to sus out until you actually have sexual attraction to people.

For clarification, the children I mentioned changed their names, appearances, and pronouns to match their own gender identities. It’s not just “boys playing with dolls, girls playing with trucks”.

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