In the movie Solo by Sophie Dupuis, the heartfelt cry of Simon, drag queen, to his mother absent from his life, alone sums up his distress and his deepest desire. “I just want you to see me.” » From our first days, we only exist through and in the eyes of those who love us. For many of our young people, existing is a test in a deconstructed, uncertain and less and less intelligible adult world.
Existing in the LGBTQ+ difference is painful for many. Social affirmation, which consists of recognizing their rights and benevolence in the public space, is a necessary step but insufficient in itself for a deep listening to what they are trying to communicate to us. The question of children’s rights only makes sense in a global perspective of their well-being which covers the psychological dimension.
How then can we inform and support school managers and teachers regarding the psychological difficulties of young people who experience sex and gender diversity? The complexity of this issue should not be a pretext for dismissing it, but, on the contrary, a valuable opportunity offered to adults to demonstrate their ability to listen and be present to what these young people are experiencing at school.
This complexity is due to the nature of what is psychological, but also because it invites us to see the young person in his individuality and not only as a member of a legal community. Transgender children and adolescents require special attention from us, because they are exposed to unfortunate, divisive or irreversible consequences.
Adolescents have always expressed the social issues of their time. What should we see in the new social phenomenon of transgenderism of the last two decades? The repercussions of deconstructionism, those of deep disillusionment with the adult world, an unprecedented identity crisis or, faced with the acceleration of technologies and their impact on their lives, a deep search for what, beyond the categories of existence , distinguishes them as individuals and as humans?
One in 300 children suffer from gender dysphoria, a quarter of whom, true transgender or transsexuals, require support in the long process of transition. We also know that the gender transition for the trans individual, far from being a triumphant passage, is rather a laborious psychological work with important and numerous family, social, relational and bodily ramifications.
Using discernment to sort things out when it comes to the trans issue is an expectation of responsible adults and is not transphobia. While it is a question of normalizing identities formerly perceived as deviant, we should avoid the trap which consists of trivializing what the child experiences internally and which he seeks to communicate to us. It is not reasonable to apply a binary vision – in keeping with the times – to the LGBTQ+ question.
“I want you to see me inside. » Adolescence is an identity project where sex and gender identity play an important, but not exclusive, place. In addition to past experience, family, religious, cultural and other elements also constitute the emerging personality and are inevitably intertwined with the questions of the young trans person. There is psychological turmoil and a need for help, even in the absence of pathology, while one in four young people among those who would benefit from being seen receive some form of help.
The teacher and school staff are often the first to detect a disorder in a student or to receive his or her confidences. But are they prepared for this?
Severe gender dysphoria can manifest itself as early as age 5. Non-neurotypical children and adolescents — on the autism spectrum — are four times more likely to have gender dysphoria that will require hormonal-surgical intervention. Medical research is active in endocrinology, genetics, neuroscience and post-mortem studies to provide certain answers to the trans phenomenon and help to identify valuable clues in order to distinguish true trans people from those whose Gender dysphoria calls for a more holistic approach.
I ask the committee of wise people to let themselves be guided by empathy towards young people in the light of scientific knowledge – psychological and medical -, to see to the respect of rights and social affirmation in the community, without cutting corners the emotional and psychological needs of each person.
The child’s first right is the right to childhood. Let us be their aquarium beyond socio-political concerns. I also ask him to see to the need for knowledge and training of administrators and teachers on the vast issue of LGBTQ+ young people. May we say to Simon, “I hear you. You will no longer be Solo. »