14 March 7 • 2019
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continued from page 12
“I told my mom, ‘
I don’
t think I’
m
a girl or a boy, and I think I want to
change my name’
,” Lee says. “She was
very supportive but, at my middle
school, they weren’
t as supportive.”
Lee started a group at school to
promote equality for those in the
LGBTQ+ community but eventually
changed high schools because they
felt unsafe.
“I realized I don’
t really fit in
public schools,” says Lee, who now
attends a charter school focused on
the arts. “It’
s been really good; they’
re
really supportive.”
Like Apap, Lee feels fortunate to
have an understanding family.
“I’
m much happier because I know
this is who I truly am. I don’
t want to
be like everyone else because that’
s just
boring and not who I am,
” Lee says.
“The discrimination is tiring, but now
I’
m in a safe place, it’
s worth it.
”
Lee wishes other people would
be more respectful and place less
importance on the issue of gender.
“We get asked so many questions,
like what’
s in your pants, things
that should never be OK,” Lee says.
“When people meet me, they identify
me as the transgender kid. I wish
they would just know me as Lee.”
PROFESSIONAL POINTERS
Teens who identify as transgender
or other sexual and gender minority
categories have higher rates of anx-
iety and depression than cisgender
(those who identify with their birth
gender) and other LGBTQ+ individ-
uals, according to licensed clinical
psychologist Melissa Farrell, Psy.D.
“In a very real biological sense,
transgender people have the brain
of one gender born in the body of
another,” said Farrell, who specializes
in the treatment of LGBTQ+ youth
at Great Lakes Psychology Group in
Dearborn. “Since we can’
t change the
brain, our only recourse is to change
the body.”
She believes families have a huge
impact on whether vulnerable ado-
lescents will create positive identities
for themselves or develop shame
about who they are. Teens who are
made to feel they disappointed their
families will carry those negative
feelings into adulthood.
Ypsilanti-based psychothera-
pist Anthony J. Beasley, L.M.S.W.,
M.S.W., agrees that people not sup-
ported in their gender identity and
expression face more difficult chal-
lenges. For many transgender and
nonbinary individuals, acceptance,
respect and safety are scarce.
“In school settings, they experi-
ence bullying and are often chal-
lenged with the issue of bathrooms
and which ones they can use,”
Beasley says.
Those who hide their gender or
sexual identities also experience
stress, especially when others make
derogatory comments about gay or
transgender people in front of them.
“People can either out themselves
or stand idly by and let people say
these horrible things,” Farrell says.
Situations such as the recent ban
on transgender people in the military
and the steadily rising murder rate
of transgender people adds to the
tension this population is already
experiencing.
“There are national discussions
about whether they (transgender
people) should even be allowed in
schools,” Farrell says. “All the media
attention creates stress. We talk about
cyberbullying — these kids are being
cyberbullied by the news.” ■
Azriel Apap and his mother, Deb Kovsky, show the love and playfulness in their relationship.
jews d
in
the
Stephen H.
Schulman
Millennium Fund
for Jewish Youth
Zuckerman/
Klein
Family
Foundation
Motor City USY
Please join us for a special screening of LIKE, the newly
released IndieFlix original documentary, hosted by
Federation in partnership with Congregation Beth Ahm
and MCUSY.
LIKE explores the impact of social media on people of
all ages—especially kids—and inspires us to live balanced
and meaningful lives.
The Maple Theater
We Need to Talk is a community-wide youth mental health initiative
provided in collaboration with Jewish Detroit’s social service agencies,
schools, congregations and Jewish identity building organizations
Register by March 18th at
jewishdetroit.org/like
Seating is extremely limited.
This event is open to the community at no cost thanks to the generosity of
the Steven H. Shulman Millennium Fund for Jewish Youth, the Susie and Norm
Pappas Challenge Fund, and the Zuckerman/Klein Family Foundation.
A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT OUR LIVES ON SOCIAL MEDIA