"Every August... ..in a secret location in America... ..a group of extraordinary children and their families gather for might be the world's most unusual summer camp." "A four-day break for transgender girls." "With exclusive access to the world's first camp for transgender kidsasyoungasfive ..." "CHEERING" "..wemeetastonishingchildren." "..in the one place they can share their secret." "I thought I was the only person - boy who wants to be a girl." "Selfie!" "A place where the kids can have fun, while their parents face theirveryworstfears." "She tried to cut herself one time, she wanted to cut it off." "And with puberty about to start theselittlegirlsare forced to make the biggest decision of their lives." "They must choose whether to start hormone-blocking drugs." "One step closer to being, like... a full woman." "Or face going through male puberty." "Sometimes I think twice - should I just be a boy?" "More and more children are telling their parents they wish they were born the opposite gender." "It's an emotive and potentially distressing subject that continues to divide opinion and tear families apart." "In America, one group of parents have made the controversial step of organising a secret summer camp for transgender kids andtheirfamilies." "Now, for the first time ever, and after a year of negotiations, the organisers have agreed to open up their doors and allow a film crew into the camp." "One of the organisers is mum-of-four Sabrina." "Camp is a special place where families from around the country can come together...and just be." "And not have to worry about any of the...you know..." "What our children face every day." "Sabrina and her husband, Chris, first got involved with the camp because they were determined to support their only son, Ryan." "When Ryan was born - Ryan was born male, right?" "Actually the first boy in my family, so he was just like," ""Ah, the boy!" Blond hair, blue eyes - typically boy." "And around two years old, we started noticing that Ryan liked, you know, pink." "And sparkles." "And we thought that was sort of strange." "SHE CHUCKLES" "After a few months, realising this isn't some phase, my wife started researching it online and discovered this whole community of parents with children that identified as transgender, even at an early age." "At the age of three, Ryan's parents finally accepted that theirchildwastransgender." "'My family didn't understand me, because one time my grandma' got me a Spider-Man and Batman shirt." "And I'm like," ""I don't want it." And she's like, "You like them."" "And I'm like, "No, I don't."" "'Before camp, I thought I was the only person like how I am.'" "Gender variant." "Because when I went to the camp for the first time, you know, I was sceptical and so I was, like, to my mom," ""They're not like me." "No, they're different."" "Mom was just like, "No, they are the same as you, they are also..." ""Well, I mean, boy who wants to be a girl."" "# Ain't no mountain high" "# And no valley low" "# Ain't no river wide..." "# If you need me... #" "Ryan no longer wants to be referred to as "he"." "Now, aged 12, SHE is dreading the physical changes that come with male puberty, and is on the verge of starting hormone-blocking injections todelayit ." "'Well, I think the next decisions I have to make are..." "'I'm going to take blockers soon.'" "Blockers are shots that help prevent certain side effects from puberty, like hair in the armpits and, like, up here." "And um, my voice deepening." "So far, it's not deepening - which I'm happy..." "I'm a late bloomer." "SHE CHUCKLES" "# Whoa, baby!" "#" "Blockers will stop Ryan from going through male puberty, making it easier to undergo gender reassignment surgery in the future." "Something she's already thinking about." "The upcoming camp will be a rare opportunity for Sabrina to discuss such huge decisions with other parents." "If you have a child that's not picture-perfect, cookie-cutter, you're going to have it harder, that's just how that goes." "'Camp is where you have that freedom to say, "You know, this stinks." "'"And I wish it weren't like this." Or, "I feel like this..."" "'Or "How did you work through this?"'" "It's very easy to be isolated." "It's very easy to create a wall around you." "It's just not conducive to you or your children." "With camp just days away, Sabrina and Ryan are heading out to buy supplies." "I have the glow sticks already." "Bubbles?" "Bubbles are always fun, right?" "Bubble machine?" "Like what we did last time." "No, no." "We didn't do a bubble machine last year." "Yeah, we did." "Unlike many boys their age, the transgender children attending camp enjoy dressing up as princesses and getting makeovers." "Glitter paint!" "At the top of the shopping list are glitter, tiaras and feather boas." "Get ones with glitter on, that are sparkly, will you?" "Glitter glue and tubes." "Got the clowns." "I'm just looking for the fashion show - if we need pins." "Ah!" "Tattoos!" "Yes!" "Oh, this is cool, it's body art and it's got, like, stencils." "Boas!" "Who doesn't love boas?" "OK." "Do you think that this is a good colour?" "Or should we get a different colour?" "'We have about half the new families that are coming that are new,' and half that are veteran." "And they walk in and they see this table full of things that they feel comfortable with, that speaks to them." "Beads, fairy dust." "All right, good, so we got these." "And that's what it is." "You want them to able to feel like they fit right in, this is their, this is their thing." "Their domain." "This is their domain." "Girls, come on." "Don't hit yourself." "No." "This is all for camp." "For camp." "Camp." "Wow." "The camp has its critics, and Sabrina has learnt that it's sometimes better to be vague about the details." "It's um, a camp for families that, you know, have kids who get to just be expressed and safe and..." "CLATTER" "Fun." "What did you do?" "Let's go, you." "I think we're loaded up good - five days." "We're in a countdown, five days." "Not long till we have some fun!" "That's right, so we're just coming in under the wire and getting everything ready and there's much more to do." "Much more to do." "And all very much worth it." "So, it's coming up quick." "The camp will welcome children from across America, some attending for the first time, some seasoned regulars for whom the camp is the highlight of their year." "So, this is my dressing table, this is all my make-up, which I use on a daily basis, I don't..." "Just a small bit of mascara, some eyeliner and a little bit of blush sometimes." "Born Max, Maxy wanted to be a girl from the age of two." "Now aged 11, this year is her fourth camp." "The first time I went to camp, I was, like, "Oh, oh..."" "And I was like, "I'm just going to be quiet and play on my phone," ""and be in a hoodie." And then I met other friends and I was like," ""Oh, my gosh!" And every year we went back." "Last time...?" "There was this thing in the water that was so disgusting, it smelled really bad, and we were like..." "SHE SHRIEKS We jumped in the water and we were like, "Ahh!"" "We were literally just screaming like..." "SHE SCREAMS" "It was so funny." "We went on the canoes and we tipped over." "One of my friends didn't go and I was really sad because I wanted to see...him?" "I think it was a him." "Or her." "I dunno." "I couldn't really tell." "What should I say? "It"?" "I don't wanna say "it"." "Um, "them"." "Them." "I really wanted to see them." "At camp, every moment we're like, "We're transgender," ""so we're friends."" "Like, it has nothing really to do with that." "It sort of does, but it's just mostly because... ..we just connect." "And I guess it has mostly to do with how we're transgender, but they're nice and they're like..." "They are just really good friends to have." "So, that's what makes it." "If they were mean and transgender," "I probably wouldn't be friends with them." "So, like, "Well, you're mean." "But I guess you're transgender," ""so we can be besties!"" "Maxy's parents realised they were dealing with a transgender child atanearlyage ." "It was clear from the get-go... ..that Maxy had an alternative gender identity." "And then when she went to school, and suddenly gender is a huge thing, right." "It determines where you're going to line up and who you're going to sit with, and what you're going to be able to do." "That's when it really became very distressing." "I went into her room and I was tucking her in, and I saw her doing this." "And what she was saying was " ""Dear, God, please make me a girl." "Let me wake up a girl."" "I realised that that's how she was putting herself to sleep every night." "So far, Maxy has had little trouble looking effeminate." "But as she gets older, things will only get harder, and with junior high school starting after camp, rumoursarealreadyspreading." "I make something up - saying that you have a twin brother..." "That was a while ago, right?" "No, it was a few days ago." "You just get scared and..." "Yeah..." "It's OK." "..and I had to tell her that, so..." "I just wanted to tell you." "Maxy now has no choice but to consider revealing her transgenderidentityat school." "I've been having some trouble." "There was some rumours about me and really dumb rumours that didn't even make sense." "They were really stupid." "This is one of the things that I, as a brother, am very nervous about, now that she's in the sixth grade." "Because she's about to go through the next, three, four and... in high school especially - some of the hardest years of her journey, because that's when kids really start to just..." "During this stage where they are changing themselves." "Becoming harsher and meaner." "It's natural." "It happens to everyone, really, um..." "And that's something I'm very nervous about." "This year's camp may be Maxy's last chance to be with other kids who accept her for who she really is." "In middle school they are getting to the point where they're starting to understand it more, and they're starting to see, like, the surgery and the hormones and all that, which they didn't understand and then they're going to be, like..." ""What?" "!" You know." "And they're not going to agree and they're going to be really, like... uh...harsh about it." "At camp, life is so different, it's so much better." "And it's happier." "It's just open and it's just, like, you have no secrets, you have nothing to hide." "Hiding is a way of life for many transgender kids." "With bullying and ridicule ever-present fears." "But hidden in a forest in America's Midwest," "Maxy and others like her can finally feel free." "MUSIC:" "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love) by Natalie Cole" "#Thiswillbe" "#Thiswillbe" "#Everlastinglove" "#Thiswillbe...#" "At camp, the transgender children and their families can play as they wish." "But it often seems to revolve around one thing..." "Lipstick." "#I 'msogladthat..." "#Thiswillbe" "# An everlasting love for me... #" "The next four days could be life-changing for these children." "#Lovingyou...#" "You know, there's, like, workshops and there's events for the kids." "But more than anything, it is just a haven." "Four or five days of haven for these families and kids." "#Fromnowon...#" "It's day two at the camp for transgender girls and their families." "You have to switch chairs, but the person in the middle has to try to get the chair." "And Maxy and Ryan are in their element." "SHE GASPS" "The camp activities include swimming, dressing up and arts and crafts." "All building up to the big event at the end of the week, thefashionshow." "But up next for the kids and their siblings is the talent contest." "Often, transgender kids are withdrawn in everyday life." "Butheretheyhog the spotlight." "Welcome, welcome to our talent show." "We have quite a line-up of talent." "ENERGETIC MUSIC" "THEY SCREAM" "It's been delayed for nine hours." "# Yankee doodle went to town" "# Riding on a pony. #" "CHEERING AND APPLAUSE" "Next up, it's camp newcomer Linzey, who'll be singing in public for the first time since transitioning." "The eight-year-old has been preparing for months..." "Boing, boing, boing, boing, boing, boing... ..and has even made her own dress." "It ends right here and it goes around this side, then it ends in the back, like right here." "So.." "and then it's got a little bit of hang-down." "And this..." "And it has butterflies on it." "It might represent Katy Perry pretending to be Pocahontas, because it's unique." "Foot, foot, foot." "You got it?" "For Linzey, singing in front of an audience is a massive deal." "I sing in my sleep." "I sing while..." "I sing while I get dressed." "I sing while I, um, eat." "I sing while I..." "while I'm in the car." "I sing while I watch TV." "SHE SNEEZES I sing while I'm at school." "Just a year ago, Linzey loved nothing better than to perform." "But a year ago, Linzey was very different." "At the start of second grade, this was my precious Connor." "This is the before, and here's the after." "This is this year." "As Linzey." "# A, B, C, D, E, F, G... #" "This is Linzey, and she's Connor here, and she is very much going between," ""Now this is me singing this as a boy." ""Now, I'm singing it as a girl."" "Are you going to sing the boy one right now?" "SincetransitioningfromConnor," "Linzey has felt more comfortable in her own body." "But,ateightyearsold,  she's still learning about how the outside world might react." "She knows that her situation is not usual." "She knows that most of the boys feel like boys," "And...she doesn't." "She'll do a lot of quiet things by herself, drawing." "She's in her head a lot as well." ""What's wrong with me?" is what she's said before." "And to be able to show her the big wide world, there's a whole great big range of diversity out there." "I want to show her with camp that she is not so very different." "That there are other people in the world like her." "Linzey has spent hours practising for her performance in the talent show with her grandmother, Catherine." "# Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon?" "#" "SHE CONTINUES TO SING" "Oh, I don't know what you just said!" "What did you just say?" "I didn't hear you." "# You can..." "# You can paint with all the colours of the wind. #" "Oh!" "CATHERINE CHUCKLES" "Linzey, take the microphone out of your mouth, you funny...girl." "Linzey's gender transition has been hard for her grandmother to come to terms with." "One year ago, I was pushing back and I wrote a LONG letter to Kari and Trevor of all the reasons why this was just not a good idea." "My concerns was that she was leading the way for attention and a melodramatic little girl." "Little boy, rather." "While Catherine has learned to accept the change, dad Trevor is still struggling with his once only son becoming his only daughter." "I grew up in the suburbs of Dublin." "Yeah, the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains." "What do you think it would be like being back home?" "Mm." "I have the suspicion that it would..." "If I was back home, that we would be hiding this a lot more." "We'd probably have to change our entire group of friends." "The Ireland that I left ten years ago would not have been OK with this, er, transgender situation." "Both myself and Kari have felt a sense of loss for Connor." "I didn't really know how to relate to her any more." "All right, moving on and we have the fabulous Linzey!" "CHEERING AND APPLAUSE" "# You think you own whatever land you land on" "# The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim" "# But I know every rock and tree and creature" "# Has a life has a spirit, has a name" "# You can hold the Earth and still" "# All you'll own is earth until" "# You can paint" "# With all the colours of the..." "# Wind. #" "CHEERING AND APPLAUSE" "For us, camp was very much all of us as a family accepting, er," "Linzey for who she is." "I suppose it was a further affirmation of the fact that..." "Linzey is Linzey." "CHEERING" "When I got up on stage I just felt..." "Wah-hoo!" "I did not..." "I did not see that coming!" "CHILDREN CHATTER" "One of this year's returning kids is Maxy." "Having known she wanted to live as a girl since the age of two, camp is one of the only places that she can share her secret." "I think it's, like, really awesome how a lot of people can get together the same, like, stuff going on." "And we can just, like, be out with it and not, like, be embarrassed." "And that's pretty cool." "But for an 11-year-old transgender kid like Maxy, puberty presents unique challenges." "Sometimes I think to myself," ""Is it the right thing to be transgender?"" "Like, so many people are hating on you and so many people spread rumours about you and say it's so bad and horrible, that sometimes I think twice, should I just be a boy?" "Should I just, like, not be who I am?" "And then it's..." "I just cry about it and I talk to them about it and my mom, you know?" "And that's a lot of the stuff I've been thinking about this year." "Beingtranscanbeisolating, and over 40% of adult transgender Americans have attempted suicide." "Something the camp was set up to try and address." "It can also be difficult for parents to adjust to having a transgender child." "It's not something that I would have chosen for us as a path." "It's hard to...to say..." "I mean, what sometimes you dream of, as a parent, is your kid is going to excel at some sport or some academic." "But if you were to say," ""You're going to raise a child that's, you know, gender diverse," ""and is going to go through all of the challenges that it takes..."" "It's really difficult." "I wouldn't..." "I wouldn't wish that upon anyone." "Do you agree with everything he said?" "No!" "Sorry." "You know, we can't choose." "We don't choose any quality that our child has." "I would wish upon any parent... ..the children that we have." "Fair enough." "As Maxy and the kids at camp approach puberty, their parents are faced with a decision that few others could even conceive - whether to stop male puberty using hormone-suppressing drugs." "How do you make these kinds of decisions for a 12-year-old kid?" "She could be sterile, and, oh, my God..." "And what are the long-term effects for oestrogen and bone density and all of this stuff?" "You see, I didn't have any of that." "There was no information at all." "So the first time I ever heard of blockers was at camp." "Ryan was almost five, and they were talking about it and it scared the heck..." "That day, we were like, my husband, we turned round and we said," ""We're not doing this."" "Blockerscanbe divisivetopic." "Andkidswhogoonto transition are unlikely to ever be able to have children of their own." "She wants to father a child." "I said, maybe you'll be with a female..." "LAUGHTER" "..who want to express as male..." "SHE LAUGHS" "She goes, "That is so wrong!" ""You have a mother who's really a father," ""a father who's really a mother " ""it's like, how screwed up will that kid be?"" "She's like, "I'm not doing that."" "I'm like, "OK, sorry." "Wrong, bad idea!"" "Sabrina's child, Ryan, has only recently decided to start blockers, but Frank's daughter, Maxy, has been on them for nearly a year." "She has no idea." "She just wants to feel normal going into school and with her friends and be who she is." "We're in the car, driving home." "And she just completely falls apart." "She says, "I don't want to live." ""Why did God make me this way?" "I don't want to live."" "And just completely, you know, sobbing." "And, you know, it rips the heart out of you because this is not what you want your kid to feel." "Yeah." "And, um..." "And we knew." "I mean, it was..." "No matter how difficult it is to give a shot, and that is kind of odd to give that shot, she gets uplifted after she has it." "Because, for her, she was fragile." "She was, um..." "She tried to cut herself one time." "She wanted to cut it off." "It didn't belong." "Hidden away in the American Midwest, a group of unusual children are enjoying a summer camp - fortrangendergirls." "Although traditional summer camp activities are on offer, the kids are more interested in make-overs." "Activities co-ordinator Calum is working at the transgender camp forthefirsttime." "OriginallyfromManchester, he's never met a group of kids like this before." "If I were to stay in England, I definitely wouldn't have heard about this." "I wouldn't have known about this kind of group, these kind of people." "It's upsetting that it makes me feel as though from where I'm from, might not necessarily accept this." "Temperatures are soaring and it's time for all the children tocooloffinthepool." "Fortransgenderkids, swimming costumes can cause all sorts of issues." "Swimming could be a problem for these kids in the fact that, obviously, girls wear certain bathing suits, and if these are young men, certain things might show and certain people might notice and ask questions." "And it's obviously a big confidence issue, but I found that here, they're so open, and cos they're in such a group, they're all the same, and it makes you realise, you don't" "have to try and fit in to the norm." "You can just do what makes you happy." "At camp, the children are free to do what they want, and wearing a swimming costume is a huge moment." "It's kind of hard to wear a girl's bathing suit." "Unless you have, like, shorts or a skirt over it, your part will be noticeable!" "That's the best way I can put it." "For the transgender kids at camp, some embarrassment in the pool is only a hint of what's to come." "With male puberty about to start, their voices and bodies may become more masculine." "11-year-old Maxy is already taking blockers - the divisive hormone-suppressing drugs that cost nearly ?" "10,000 a year." "The medicine is so that she doesn't go through male puberty and that would just be..." "Disastrous." "Yeah." "Every time it's over, I'm always excited." "You know, one step closer to being, like, a full woman." "That's why we push through it." "At the end of the day, I have a happy child." "It's very expensive, and that's a lot of the anxiety, in giving the injection, because... it's so expensive - ?" "1,000 a shot." "It's like injecting crystals in my leg." ""Mix the microspheres thoroughly by gently shaking the syringe" ""until the powder forms a uniform suspension."" "You OK?" "Yeah." "A little nervous." "Yeah." "All right. 90 degrees into the muscle." "No blood?" "Do you feel the burn, Maxy?" "Um..." "A little bit." "Yeah." "Good job, Mummy!" "Thank you." "I felt the burn." "It's gotten easier, though." "Yeah." "Is it possible for it to fall out of your leg?" "Mummy, thank you!" "It's always the same." "It's always scary." "Like you're going to cry." "It's always scary." "I often ask myself, are we doing the right thing?" "But, you know, I don't feel like it's been my decision." "I really just got out of her way." "I just am letting her be who she is." "I have this dream of my husband, like, taking care of me and he's, like, kissing me every second." "Yeah, it's not always about being fabulous and beautiful and sparkly and terrific for you." "Oh, no, no, no!" "It's about being nurturing and having that kind of that receptive feminine energy." "Oh, yeah." "Definitely." "I mean, there's all of that, too." "If I only cared about being very..." "extremely girly and being sparkly and being... outfits and everything, then I would be a gay man." "But then there's this feeling inside you that you can really tell for sure, saying, like," ""girl, girl, girl"!" "This is who you are, you know." "For now, blockers mean Maxy can remain feminine and get back to having fun with her friends." "A frog!" "Oh, no, thanks." "Wait, wait, wait..." "SQUEALING AND CHATTERING" "Stop!" "SCREAMING" "No!" "For their short time at camp, the transgender kids take every available chance to be as feminine as possible." "She doesn't donate anything." "Iggy Azalea?" "No, she actually does good songs." "Yeah." "Kim Kardashian does nothing, Paris Hilton, nothing." "Today, Calum is attempting to engage the kids and their siblings in a more rugged activity - paddleboarding." "If you can stand a little bit more forward." "Sorry." "It's OK." "Butwithcampendingsoon , some of the kids refuse to let go of the make-up and dresses." "Who's your partner?" "'Knowing that these were young boys transitioning into girls, 'it was hard for me to find different activities for them 'to do which would...' suit them, basically." "They didn't want to do very masculine, very boyish things." "When I work with kids who are transgender," "I find that they're just like every other kids." "There's nothing different." "She got a lily flower!" "A young boy, you know, who thinks he's a young girl and is going through that transition, if he feels as though he is a young girl, he is." "He acts the same way, he has the same beliefs and he just needs that kind of confidence so he knows that he's safe." "SCREAMING" "Oh, no!" "No, no!" "Sorry!" "After a shaky start, camp first-timer Linzey has found her feet andevenpickedupa newfriend." "Isn't this fun?" "Yeah, sort of." "Sort of?" "Tell you what, they may be onto something with this dress thing, with it as muggy as it is right now." "It's almost the end of camp and preparations are underway for the biggest event of the schedule - the fashion show." "See?" "Exactly." "See how it's going to shine on it and then, when they've got lights, it's..." "The transgender children all have their favourite activities, but the fashion show is the most popular." "It's their last chance to dress up amongst like-minded kids before having to return to their normal lives." "The fashion show is really the highlight that they'll never forget for the whole year long." "It is those moments when they're on the stage, doing their thing, and applauded." "So these racks are where we put all the dresses when we change." "This is body art, so if you want to do a design on your skin or your face, you could do that." "And these little beads right here, they stick on and shimmer." "Like Maxy, Ryan has decided she'll soon start hormone-blocking drugs todelaymalepuberty." "ButmumSabrinaisstillunsure whether she'll go on to have gender reassignment surgery later in life." "It is concerning for Ryan, going on blockers, because she is..." "I mean, at 12, she wants to have her own children, and she knows that if she goes on blockers and then transitions," "she couldn't, cos she won't have developed, you know, as a man to be able to do that." "She won't have developed sperm." "She won't have it." "For her, it's heartbreaking." "There's just not a right answer, so...we don't know." "The summer camp for transgender kids and their families isreachingitsbig finale..." "I'm going to press really hard." "..thefashionshow." "SHE LAUGHS" "OK." "It's the highlight of the week and, despite all the positive feedback, the camp continues to meet with fierce criticism." "Is camp indoctrination?" "No, simply because there's such a freedom to be." "So it's not like they get there and they put on their go-go boots and miniskirts and their wigs and off they go." "It's just..." "It's so open and freeing that they don't have to conform one to another." "It's not like," ""Oh, here I'm at camp, so now I must present fully as a girl."" "In fact, it's the freedom to not." "They may be free not to wear skirts and make-up, but most do, and tonight is their chance to shine." "# I'm going to swing... # CHEERING" "# From the chandelier From the chandelier" "# I'm going to live" "# Like tomorrow doesn't exist" "# Like it doesn't exist" "# I'm going to fly" "# Like a bird through the night... #" "When I first started coming to camp," "I guess I actually was pretty lonely, cos when I was younger, I didn't have that much friends." "Oh, my...!" "We all have one thing in common here, which I don't have in common with my friends back home, which really changes a lot of things." "And so having people going through the same thing that you're going through is real comforting." "(It's really comforting.)" "# Cos I'm just holding on for tonight" "# On for tonight" "# On for tonight. #" "BIRDSONG" "After four days, time is up for the transgender children." "My name is Maxy and my favourite part of camp was reuniting with all the friends that I haven't seen the whole year." "Seeing the friendships that form." "Everything about this camp, like going outside, the tyre swing, the lake, the pool..." "I love watching my three kids play and enjoy themselves." "I really like how a lot of the first-timers here came out of their shell." "The thing I like most about camp is just the people." "Camp is officially over." "For this year!" "For this year." "CHEERING" "Great." "Come back next year?" "I would stay here forever if I could." "It's an emotional farewell as it means returning home to the problems of everyday life." "Camp was the first time Trevor and Kari got to meet other parents dealingwiththesameissues." "SHE SIGHS Emotional would be my word." "It was joyful, it was a lot of learning." "'I was so thankful for the people to be open enough to share...'" "To know that you're not alone and there's other people out there dealing with the same issues." "I guess there's just a strength-in-numbers kind of feeling." "Eight-year-old Linzey has made her first set of transgender friends." "She connected so quickly." "I've never seen that type of quick connection with other children and I think it's because she just recognised in them her, herself," "you know?" "And she knew she had allies immediately." "We always say that she's slow to warm." "But not here!" "Not in this case." "With junior high school starting when she gets home, time is running out for 11-year-old Maxy to decide whether to come out as transgender." "She's spent the past few days thinking about whether to tell people at her new school the secret she's kept her whole life." "I feel like they're judging me, a lot of the kids at school, but then, whenever anyone spreads a rumour about me," "I could just say, "Not true."" "But inside I'm hurting and I'm like, "Does it matter?" You know?" ""Does it matter if I'm transgender?" "Does it change the person I am?"" "Since camp, Maxy is settled in at her new school." "So, 4 x 5 = 20, plus one is 21, so this is 21 over 4." "The 11-year-old has been worried about being exposed at school, but she's recently made a critical decision withthehelpofherparents." "Good girl." "Oh, you've got to sit down." "You've got to sit." "'I think what scares me the most for Maxy is that, 'as much as there's a group of people that we have found 'to be supportive, I think society as a whole is really struggling 'to wrap their head around what this is about.'" "As much as children that are gay are going to come out and be supported," "I think that it's even harder for a child who is trans." "Maxy's decided that today she'll finally begin the process ofcomingoutastransgender by speaking with her school principal." "When it comes to my friends, when they ask about me being transgender and me being not like them or anything, now I would tell the truth." "There was actually a case where a friend, she was like," ""There's some rumours going around about you being transgender."" "And I was like, "Well, I am," and it felt amazing when I said that." "Was that the first time you said to somebody, "Yes"?" "Just out, yeah." "I did it to another friend after that." "It's interesting that you would say the word amazing " ""It was amazing to be able to say yes," cos I feel like..." "I love that word." "I think that for your friends and even people you meet, your future friends," "I think your comfort level, your ability to say yes very casually," "I think will instantly make them feel at ease." "Mm-hm." "I think that you're right." "I think there's probably friends of yours, or maybe even kids who've grown up with you who may want to ask, but they don't want to make you feel uncomfortable" "and, I think, the more comfortable you are responding, that will put them at ease and then, the conversation will go well." "So for you to say, "Yeah."" "All of a sudden it's like, "Oh, OK."" "When I tell them, "Yes," and stuff like that, it makes me feel like it's me telling the story, not them." "They're not saying I'm a boy, I'm a girl, I'm transgender," "I'm the one saying it and I feel more in control of my life and stuff." "That feels really nice." "Talking to Maxy, I saw somebody in front of me who was..." "I was almost ashamed of my 12-year-old self to watch how confident she seemed, how comfortable she seemed talking about these issues, so I look forward to actually watching her journey the next couple of years and I feel like now" "I got a little bit of insight into some of the things that she's going to be probably wrestling with, cos I do feel like there'll be some bumps along the way, but I feel lucky that we have her in our building." "I'm so glad to know that my principal supports me, cos it's a new school and the principal is the main part of the school, so to know that he supports me makes me feel really good." "Most of the school doesn't know, because it's all the elementary schools that didn't know me and it's going to be difficult telling them and stuff." "Are you ready for it?" "Yes." "Mm-hm." "I'm ready for it." "Although the future is likely to be difficult for kids like Maxy, thisnexttransgendergeneration are refusing to keep who they are a secret." "It sometimes worries me to be out, because I know that I'm going to get a lot of hate and a lot of people are going to hate me, and that is going to be really difficult," "but what encouraged me to be out was the people that are transgender." "The people that want to know about being transgender and even people that are against it, I really want them to see that people are proud that they're transgender." "Even if they hate me," "I'm not changing who I am, I'm becoming who I am." "Subtitles by Ericsson"