<p>How would you feel as they began to transition? Would you feel alienated?</p>
<p>This is a little bit different, but one of the students at my high school came out and began transitioning their freshman year of college (I had just senior in hs at the time). I don’'t think anyone felt alienated. He was met with positive encouragement. The hardest part was correcting female pronouns to male pronouns. I had known him for several years as a female, but he never was a “girly girl”. He didn’t really change IMO, just officially recognized himself as a male and transitioned.</p>
<p>We have so many at our school…</p>
<p>I wouldn’t really care?</p>
<p>Considering Catholicism isn’t exactly well-known for its tolerance of the LGBTQ+ community (though many of us are working to end that stereotype) and I go to a Catholic school, I’d be kind of surprised that someone would be willing to be open about that in such an environment. At first, I’d probably accidentally mix up my pronouns a couple times but I’d get the hang of it after a mistake or two. </p>
<p>That being said, I’d be accepting of the person, and we had one person who I knew was gay my freshman year, and our student body president last year came out after graduation (though most of us at least had an inkling if he hadn’t already told us).</p>
<p>I wouldn’t treat them different, except for the pronouns. Also, if they wanted to be treated more like a girl/guy then I would treat them how they wanted. I wouldn’t be mean, but I would accept them into that gender as if it were to be a permanent role.</p>
<p>Knowing my school in particular, I don’t think it would be too much of a deal. See, My school is a magnet school, and I know this sounds strange, but it attracts a lot of socially inept and LGBTQ people. I think it’s really nice because of the diversity and the degree of acceptance of our school. It wouldn’t be considered a big scandal.</p>
<p>My school has a history of being really accepting of lesbian, gay, and (to an extent) bisexual students, but I think it doesn’t really understand trans* issues. We’ve had students come out in speeches made to the entire school - middle, upper, and faculty - met with standing ovations and tons of support… my school is very liberal. I’m cis, but I’m an advisor to and was vice-president of my schools LGBTQ group. Part of what we’re doing this year is raising awareness about trans* issues… we’ve set up gender-neutral bathrooms and working on a ton of other projects.</p>
<p>That being said, most people at my school don’t understand the concept of someone not identifying completely with the gender that was originally on their birth certificate. I know tons of people who are trans*, genderfluid, agender, non-binary, etc., but they usually wait until college to come out to the public, if they even do that.</p>
<p>If they did come out at my school, no one would treat them poorly, and they’d probably see a lot of support as well. But I think people at my school just don’t fully realise what it means.</p>
<p>Okay, that got off-topic a bit from the original trans* topic, but I think it’s kind of relevant :)</p>
<p>EDIT: sorry, if we’re talking about what we personally would do - I call them whatever name/pronoun they want. Sometimes I’m bad at remembering though, and I feel bad… I also have an inability to correctly pronounce the xe pronouns, so I probably really annoy my friends that go by that. As other posters have said, that’s the only difference. They’re still the same person.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses so far. I’ve been considering transitioning in public at the start of the next school year and attempting to get hormones by March (I want to lose some weight first while it’s easier). Any more responses would be just as appreciated as the ones before.</p>
<p>I guess I’d treat it like someone was getting a nose job or weight loss surgery. Just another part of self-image, none of my business and a choice.</p>
<p>I am really not strongly gender identified though I am technically very straight 
when and where it counts, so I think men = women in every way in terms of brain function and feelings and emotions.</p>
<p>The rest is just fluff, like putting on makeup. Ask Angelina Jolie about her mastectomy. Just fluff.</p>
<p>But I would be very supportive, even though most of my gay friends are absolutely happy with who they are physically and in every other way and I can see a few of them wondering about transgender people.</p>
<p>The difficult thing is, there are only so many places that would support a minor undergoing this transition. If my child were going through it, I’d have a hard time not insisting (since my money would be paying for the change) that they wait until they are 18 at least. I did not clearly define my sexuality until I was over 18…</p>
<p>As for fellow students, the general view at my son’s school is that advertising being LGBTQ is an attention-getting device. I’d think if I was a HS student looking to make that change, I would think about how to address that type of response. Or be prepared to ignore how others respond.</p>
<p>Good luck! (and YES - if you mean starting female hormones, the weight will NOT go where you want it to on the estrogen type chemicals and there will likely be weight gain. There is a huge issue with women on birth control gaining weight, like at least 10 lbs. per year, every year. Be careful about your body self-image, based on your age and changes still happening, the results may not be as predicted. And please don’t try it on your own, though it is likely cheaper.)</p>
<p>I wouldn’t be incredibly comfortable, but I wouldn’t care either.</p>
<p>My school is a mix of rural and urban. It’s so weird. One side of the lunch is the ghetto kids from the boudary of the city and one side is the redneck kids who grew up in the town. There are a lot of gay kids in my school and they don’t get much hate, besides the occasionally mean Instagram comment.</p>
<p>i personally wouldnt give a crap, in that i would start considering them a member of the opposite sex than previously assumed, but i go to a v conserv hs and they’d probs be subtly ostracized + laughed at behind their backs</p>
<p>Well considering I do not think “gender” should be a concept, I would be confused. Nonetheless, he’s a person, and so am I, and so are we all, so what’s it matter?</p>
<p>Someone came out as transgendered in middle school, but her transition was more gradual (first grew her hair out longer, then started carrying a purse, then started wearing makeup and typical girly clothes, ect). As far as I am aware, her friends were really supportive and no one had any issue with it, or made fun of her behind her back. The main conflict was actually the bathroom and locker room situation - guidance and administration made her use the nurse bathroom for the first 6 months after she came out which was definitely alienating for her. I know when she was allowed to use the girls bathroom and locker room, some people were a little uncomfortable; although I think a lot of this was because we were 12 and 13, and so we were uncomfortable with everything then: boys, our bodies, ect. That being said, although people were uncomfortable, no one was mean to her in retaliation. We just weren’t used to the circumstances. Personally, I was never bothered. </p>
<p>It’s a very unfortunate fact that many schools will not be tolerable of trans students. However, as you can see by the responses here, many people are more open-minded these days, so you shouldn’t have too hard of a time transitioning. Of course, if you’re in a very large rural school or something like that, it may not be so easy. I know that at my old school, most trans kids did not feel very comfortable. </p>
<p>Also, just so all of you know, saying “I wouldn’t care!” or “I don’t care about their gender!”, while your intent is positive, it’s actually somewhat of a microaggression to say such things, as obviously the person you’re referring to cares very much about being their correct gender, as would anyone else. :)</p>
<p>I wouldn’t care because I wasn’t raised in the jungle</p>