8-Year-Old Transgender Boy Performs Epic Coming-Out Rap [Video]
Internet fandom be warned: Elementary school student Alex has become a social media phenomenon after standing in front of a live audience rapping the story of his coming out as transgender.
With a few friends as support, the 8-year-old wrote a rap describing his telling his mother about his transgender identity and the fears he had coming out to her, sharing the tale on stage at Camp Aranu'tiq, a camp for transgender and gender-variant youth, according to Queerty.
Huffington Post reports that the organization based in Newton Lower Falls, Massachusetts, places an emphasis on "building confidence, resilience and community for transgender and gender-variant youth and their families through camp experiences." Founded by trans activist Nick Teich in 2009, Camp Aranu'tiq is a safe space for transgender youth who want to attend a summer camp with kids like themselves.
LGBT-centric website The Advocate notes, "With lines like 'Basically I said this girl is your son / and I've always felt this way and it hasn't been fun / [Mom and I] sat there together for a little while / I thought she was sad but then I saw her smile / She told me I was brave and that she was so proud / that I came to her so she could help me sort things out,' it's clear that Alex (maybe with a little lyrical help from Mom) feels proud and self-assured when discussing his gender."
With good parenting on his side, Alex looks prepared to take over the world.
Adult support is imperative for trans children to feel like they can be themselves. LA Times reported in January that a "whopping 41 percent of people who are transgender or gender-nonconforming have attempted suicide sometime in their lives, nearly nine times the national average," with 69 percent of transgender people who became homeless stating that they had tried to kill themselves because of bias against their gender identity.
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