Parents Say Child Was Transgender at Age 2: We Want to ‘Validate’ How Child ‘Is Feeling’
A British couple ignited a debate about children and gender this week when they claimed on a popular morning television program that their biological girl began identifying as a transgender boy at the age of two.
Parents Matthew Stubbings and Klara Jeynes appeared on the ITV show This Morning to discuss their 4-year-old child, Stormy, who was born female but they say now identifies as a boy. Stubbings said Stormy began identifying as a boy when “he was” talking “in a way he could express himself properly.”
“[It was] around [age] two and a half – or 18 months ago – because that’s the point when he could really … say it,” the father said. “Before then, we’d sort of thought it, and he was living, certainly, what we would call a stereotype boy lifestyle.”
Stormy has an older brother – a fact that made the parents wonder if Stormy simply was mimicking patterns of the sibling.
“Initially, we just treated him, as a parent, as you would any child,” the mother said. “And it wasn’t until later that it became apparent that we did need to address it and … validate it.”
The parents said they initially showed Stormy pictures of female firefighters and soccer players so their child could see that a woman can be a “strong woman.” But they said it didn’t work.
They chose to “validate how Stormy is feeling,” the mother said.
“You know, 18 months ago, two years ago, if I’d heard this story from somebody else, I wouldn’t have believed it,” the father said. “… I thought it was all made up.”
“… What he has decided and we’ve supported should be celebrated,” the father added.
But the segment received plenty of pushback on the Facebook page of ITV This Morning, with more than 2,000 comments – most of them negative. More than 800 users used the Facebook “angry” emoji indicating they were upset after watching the segment – far more than the 200-plus who indicated they “loved” it.
“My 2-year-old goes around meowing but she’s not a cat; she’s still a girl and hasn’t a clue at this age,” the most popular comment read. “Also, some toddlers that age mix genders up and still, get confused by who is a boy or girl. Why give them praise for now causing confusion to a very young child. Shocking and the parents need help themselves.”
“All these 2 are doing is bringing a child up to be confused and have lifelong issues, poor thing will be bullied,” another person wrote.
“What happened to tomboys??? Why has this even become such a huge issue with such a young child. Just let her be a tomboy for now. I was,” still another person wrote.
On the digital magazine website Unherd, an individual who claims to be a transgender adult also criticized the segment.
“Viewers were told that what the child has decided should be celebrated. As a transgender adult, I beg to differ,” wrote the author, Debbie Hayton. “Stormy is still only four years old. Children of that age believe in all sorts of fantasies. Sometimes we correct them, sometimes we humour them — Father Christmas and the Tooth Fairy come to mind. But by the same token, we should not be cheering them on as their parents bring them up in a fantasy world where children can be whatever the sex they decide to be. Or, more frighteningly perhaps, the sex that their parents decide for them.”
Photo courtesy: May 11, 2021
Video courtesy: ©This Morning
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
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