Posted on 09/15/2011 11:59:10 AM PDT by Brookhaven
The father of a 7-year-old born a girl said the second-grader, prohibited from using the boys bathroom at school in McIntosh County, has never fit traditional gender roles.
At 18 months, the child told Tommy Theollyn, 28, "I'm a boy."
The child's father, who gave birth a year before beginning his own gender transition, said he wants school officials in this rural southeast Georgia county to view his son the way the child has always viewed himself.
"I'm fighting to get a second grader back in school," said Theollyn, who pulled his son out of Todd Grant Elementary after his teacher forced the youth to use the girls bathroom.
The 28-year-old Atlanta native on Thursday will present a petition to the McIntosh Board of Education containing roughly 40,000 signatures supporting Theollyn and his son, nicknamed "D."
"My child is transgender; put simply this means he looks like and identifies as a boy, but has the body parts assigned to girls," Theollyn writes in the petition posted Aug. 24 on Change.org. "Forcing him to use a bathroom that does not match his presentation effectively discloses his status as a transgender child and thus endangers him."
D. effectively came out as a boy last year, Theollyn told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He even began telling classmates he was trans.
"Last year, we reached a very distinct and definite point when [his son] identified as a boy," said Theollyn, adding D. typically dresses as a boy.
There was little controversy at the time because D. was attending a more liberal private school in Atlanta, his father said. Financial problems forced Theollyn and his son south to McIntosh County: population 14,333.
Theollyn met preemptively with his son's teacher, who said she would accommodate D., allowing him to use the boys facility when it was unoccupied.
After D. was told to use the girls bathroom instead, Theollyn arranged a meeting with McIntosh school superintendent William Hunter, who threatened to alert the state's Child Protective Services division about the situation. The superintendent did not return calls for comment from the AJC; Theollyn said CPS was never contacted.
"All I'm asking for is a conversation," said Theollyn, adding he understands why people may have a difficult time accepting his son's situation. "I'm not offended that people are concerned about the welfare of my child. Their questions are valid."
Theollyn said he has taken D. to a child psychologist and pediatricians who verified his son has reached his own conclusions about his gender identity.
"We sought help as a family to find out what we should do, how we should handle this," he said. "People should know I'm not the one who told him he's trans. That came from him."
The American Psychological Association advises parents of "gender-atypical" children to work with schools to address their needs and ensure their safety.
"In most cases it is not helpful to simply force the child to act in a more gender-typical way," the APA said.
Theollyn said he's talked with other parents of trans children who've faced similar problems, though overall more people are understanding of the challenges those kids face.
"Things seem to be changing," Theollyn said. "Kids are coming out younger and they're being heard earlier."
But he acknowledges McIntosh County may not be as open to transgender persons as, say, San Francisco or Atlanta.
"This is Step 1," Theollyn said. "The next step will be to take on issues of bullying that will inevitably arise."
D. understands the situation, said his father.
"I'd say he's pretty well-aware," Theollyn said. "He talks intelligently about it."
Mostly, "he just wants to go to school and be safe," he said.
I wasn’t very happy to hear Megyn’s big mouth sticking up for Chez Bono appearance on DWTS, against a doctor who advised parents of the danger of letting their childern watch that show.
These are crazy people. Normal people understands this.
The media doesn’t.
When I read these articles, the media always gets it exactly wrong.
If they say “man”, they mean woman.
If they say “boy”, they mean girl.
It’s intentional. And I’d like to see the media blamed.
“My child is transgender; put simply this means he looks like and identifies as a boy, but has the body parts assigned to girls,”
Your child has a mental illness. Your child is a girl.
Powerful medication, and intensive psychological treatment should be considered for this child, to treat their serious mental illness.
The child is actually just modeling. Trying to be like the parent. In this case, the parent is crazy. And the child is just acting like the parent. If the parent was not crazy, the child would not be crazy.
Where is child protective services or whatever organization is out there to take kids away from parents?
And someone should be suing the media.
agreed about suing, it shows just how so called journalism has hit the gutter.
That was horrifying. She was so wrong. She kept insisting that there was no scientific proof whatsoever that seeing a trannie being celebrated would influence kids to become trannies.
A) It has never been done before in the “family hour.”
B) Megyn must have never heard of advertising, not to mention copycat murders.
She really jumped the shark with that bs.
This is nuts! it don’t know what it is!
Poor, ruined child.
Megyn Kelly really showed herself up and showed she is out of touch with America and she was not professional at all.
She invited that Doc , not to get his opinion but to attack him and then defend her elitist Manhattan pals.
Now, it’s the normal parents that are the freaks for not wanting their children to have to deal with this bullshit while TRYING to learn. Unisex bathrooms will be required, as will mandatory brainwashing of children to believe nothing is taboo.
The more insanity is tolerated, the more insanity will grow. This has to be stopped now! Trangendered proceedures should be stopped. People who do this are sick and they are passing their mental illness on to their children. The children should be taken away from the parents who produced this abomination.
The more insanity is tolerated, the more insanity will grow. This has to be stopped now! Trangendered proceedures should be stopped. People who do this are sick and they are passing their mental illness on to their children. The children should be taken away from the parents who produced this abomination.
Didn’t I just hear that the pervs are now talking about allowing transsexuals into the military?
The military is going to resemble San Francisco during Mardi Gras.
Weirdo momma/dad probably told the toddler...”You can be a boy or a girl. It all depends on what your want. I was a girl but I decided that I wanted to be a boy, so I became one. You can choose to”.
check the dna and I’m sure we’ll be able to determine the gender. In the case of this girl, they haven’t even mutilated her yet.
It is ridiculous for this parent to choose a death sentence for this child. This is a case where child services should be involved but won’t be.
Anyone disagreeing “ probably need mental help themselves.” This is why the homosexuals invented the word “homophobic”. It was their comeback word to anyone who called them deviant. The word was actually invented in the 1970s. When I first heard the word “homophobic” in the 1970s, I looked it up in the dictionary and the word was not even there. They made up a new word as if it referred to a real mental health condidtion. A phobia is an intense fear of something such as agorophobia being a fear of leaving the house, arachnophobia being a fear of spiders.
If one of Megyn’s kids starts acting trans, what will she do then? I hope she isn’t introducing her kids to homo and trans friends. Any sane parent would keep them as far away from their children as possible.
The psychologist and pediatrician who approved this should also lose their licenses.
Could you tell me what O.R. means?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.