THE GUERRILLA ANGEL REPORT — Trans youth Coy Mathis, now 7, made the news in June when the Colorado Civil Rights Division, in a landmark case, ruled that the action of her school of banning her from using the girl’s bathroom violated a state law that protects transgender people.
Next month Coy is being profiled in Rolling Stone in piece titled “About A Girl”. The very first sentence is the RS piece begins with “By the time Coy Mathis was four years old, he knew one thing for sure: that he wasn’t a boy.”
When Coy was a year and a half old she loved playing dress-up more than anything else. By the time she was two, she was handing action figurines to her brother saying “this is for you.”
When she was three, she asked her mother, “when are we going to the doctor to have me fixed? . . . To get my girl parts?
But in kindergarten, Coy came home crying — “my teacher doesn’t even know I’m a girl!” This is when Coy’s parents realized they’ve bumped up against the harsh realities of our society. Later hurdles eventually resulted in the lawsuit against the school district.
Coy is now at a new school in a new city, registered as a girl, and according to her mom, is a happy little girl with ‘tons of girly-girl friends!’
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This article is hands down one of the best transgender pieces written by someone outside of the community on mainstream media that I’ve read. Indeed, an ideal piece for someone trying to get a handle on the trans thing, And of course, for confused parents, this article will make a world of difference. My hat’s off to the writer, Sabrina Rubin Erdely.
I wrote about the lawsuit victory in June: https://lexiecannes.wordpress.com/2013/06/24/schools-barring-of-trans-child-from-girls-bathroom-ruled-discriminatory/
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Note: There is no link to the Rolling Stone story at this writing. The magazine will likely publish the story online at a later date. www.Rollingstone.com
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Categories: Discrimination, Equality, Civil Rights, Judicial, Courts, Transgender, Transsexual, Trans
LEXIE CANNES STATE OF TRANS 
great story, and a wonderful kid.
That “teacher” that discriminated against her is an idiot, not a teacher
So, what exactly are the parameters within which ‘born this way’ is good enough? When you’re a homosexual inhabiting a body with the parts that you desire? So confusing, and confusion isn’t good.
What on earth are you talking about?
Seems to me a case like this for wrong gender may also be caused by harmful gender stereotypes. Maintaining outmoded gender stereotypes only compounds the problem and causes enormous pain and alienation for those who can’t conform. Why can’t girls like action toys and boys like dolls without it causing a huge fuss or worse at best or a gender re-assignment at worst?
At three years old? Really? Strains the imagination just a little bit. My BS sensors are on full blast and this whole story just pushes the limits of credulity. I say this as a long transitioned female. To be honest I just dont believe this story at all.
its true
There’s always an offside chance that some of fact might get skewed along the way, but we’re talking Rolling Stone here. I’m sure the writer did a bit of vetting. Besides 3 years olds do show traits that become a lifetime thing. Thanks for the comments.
Everyone KNOWS their own gender. To tell someone what their gender is, is ridiculous on its face. Anyone with half a brain should be able to realize this, but I guess many people have very strong preconceived notions, about others. They are usually wrong.
Almost everyone. But not quite. If by sex, you mean physical body, then yes. But if you are referring to the internal sense of self, then no, not everyone does and a rare few feel ambiguous, uncertain or two spirited. Its not common but its not unheard of. In fact, many of us who transition have some period of time where we are unsure or uncertain.
I should be clear Lexie. Im not doubting Rolling Stone or that the facts as reported were accurate. I do question a three year old having such a significant degree of awareness of their genitals and the fact that they are incorrect and can be changed with surgery. Someone told her this, someone talked to her about this, at three she cant even read enough to understand. It smells, more than a little. No question, many trans people feel from the youngest age strongly about their gender. But to be so aware of something insignificant like genitals at three? No, this idea was not her own.
To me, this crosses the line between allowing a young person the freedom to express themselves and convincing them as to how to behave. Very disturbing. It feels wrong, just not in the way we are accustomed.
If I’m correct, kids only get hormone blockers until they are much much older. I don’t see any trans kids advocates pushing for surgery right off the bat. But thanks for your comments though. We need to consider all views.
I think it’s more of a vague awareness of doctors being people who fix things that are wrong with other people than a knowledge of the actual procedures. You know, like she perceived something as very obviously wrong with her body and so figured that it could be solved by a doctor.
All I can say is to quote the article .
When she was three, she asked her mother, “when are we going to the doctor to have me fixed? . . . To get my girl parts?
I understand your point but this young lady had something considerably more than vague awareness.
Lexie, we are not talking about puberty blockers here. This girl is no where near puberty. We are talking about parents who, being as generous as possible, have intervened in a chlds normal development and understanding. Its disturbing and not precisely normal. Parents can cause harm in more than one way.
I just presented a paper on this story today for my Sociology class as a final paper. My topic was “How does parents acceptance or nonacceptance of their transgender child affect the child transitioning as a youth?” I was not able to find very much peer reviewed or scholarly research but I did find articles like the one about Coy. Most of my research found that specialist in this field say children as young as 2 or 3 can identify themselves as being born the wrong gender. I was only doing a literature review but I found the information so fascinating that I knew I needed to find out much more about this. So today I asked the head of the department if I could do an independent research project next semester and present it at the national research convention INCUR next year, with her help. She has agreed, but warned me I will have a very hard time finding families or people who would be willing to give me an interview because there is still such a stigma attached to trans issues. I’m sorry this went so long, I was just excited that this topic was here, today of all days. I am very excited and emotionally involved in getting started on this research and making new friends. I hope that what I discover will help families accept their gender variant children and connect them with others who can help them with their child’s transition.